CATHEDRAL OF THE ARCHANGEL

Description

Essentials about the Cathedral of the Archangel in brief

The Cathedral of the Archangel is one of the cathedrals on the grounds of the Kremlin and is one of the most historically important churches in Russia. Indeed, almost all Russian tsars before Peter the Great are buried here. Together with the two neighboring cathedrals – the Cathedral of the Assumption and the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Cathedral of the Archangel shapes the architectural image of Cathedral Square, the center of the Kremlin fortress.

The location of the Cathedral of the Archangel

Due to its location near the Kremlin gardens on the slope to the bank of the Moskva River, the Cathedral of the Archangel is clearly visible not only from Cathedral Square itself, but also from outside the Kremlin from the southern direction. For example, looking at the Kremlin from the opposite bank of the Moskva River, the cathedral can be seen between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

The history of the Cathedral of the Archangel

The predecessors of the Cathedral of the Archangel

Probably the first predecessor of the present cathedral was a wooden church built on this site around 1250. It was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, whom Russian princes traditionally venerated as their patron saint in wars. Nothing is known about the exact shape of the church. All that is known is that it was demolished by 1333 to be replaced by one of the Kremlin’s first stone sacred buildings. In 1333, after less than a year of construction, the then Moscow Grand Duke Ivan Kalita had the newly built church, also relatively small, consecrated once again to St. Michael the Archangel. Ivan later also became the first Russian monarch to be buried in this church. Since then all Moscow Grand Princes were buried here, towards the beginning of the 16th century the burial space in the church became scarce. This prompted Grand Duke Ivan III, who at that time had already initiated a major expansion of the Kremlin, to rebuild the Archangel Michael Church as a cathedral.

The construction of the Cathedral of the Archangel

Just as with the Cathedral of the Dormition built two decades earlier, Ivan invited an architect Aloisio Lamberti da Montagnana from Italy to Moscow for the construction of the Cathedral of the Archangel. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid in 1505, it was completed in 1508 and consecrated a year later.

In building the cathedral, Aloisio da Montagnana drew much of his inspiration from the Renaissance architecture of his homeland, which can still be seen today in architectural details of the church, such as the scallop shell motifs on the facade. During one of the most momentous major fires in the Moscow Kremlin in 1737, the cathedral was severely damaged and was rebuilt in a somewhat altered form. Finally, in the 1770s, the church had to undergo extensive restoration after a new tsar’s residence of huge dimensions was planned (but never built) near it – where the Great Kremlin Palace complex stands today – and a foundation was excavated for it. Due to insufficient strength of the foundation soil in this area, this construction measure led to a slight inclination of the cathedral building in the direction of the Moskva River. To prevent the church from sliding down the slope, special supporting structures had to be added to its southern facade, which can still be seen today.

The Cathedral of the Archangel as burial place

Until the 18th century, the Cathedral of the Archangel served as the burial place of the Moscow Grand Princes and later, after the unification of all Russian principalities into the Tsardom of Russia, of the Russian tsars. After Peter the Great had the capital of the tsardom moved to the newly founded Saint Petersburg, from then on the Peter and Paul Cathedral there served as the burial place of the Russian tsars.

The Cathedral of the Archangel in the 20th century

In 1918, the cathedral, along with all other Kremlin houses of worship, was closed to worshippers by the new Bolshevik state power, which moved its headquarters from St. Petersburg to the Kremlin. Most of the church treasures from the cathedral sacristy were transferred as exhibits to the Moscow Kremlin Armory, where the most representative of them are still on display today. After a restoration carried out in the 1950s, the cathedral reopened its doors as a museum. With the end of the Soviet Union, the Cathedral of the Archangel was returned to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since then, the cathedral once again hosts church services several times a year.

The interior of the Cathedral of the Archangel

The interior of the cathdrale stands in stark contrast to its white exterior facade. As is typical for Russian Orthodox churches, strong and dark colors dominate the interior. The vault of the central chancel, which reaches below the central dome, is supported by a total of six columns. The sparse daylight, supplemented by several large chandeliers, enters the room through narrow windows arranged in two rows one above the other.

The walls and vaults of the chancel are painted with frescoes, as is typical of the other Kremlin churches, although only a few fragments of them date back to the 16th century. In the middle of the 17th century the cathedral was repainted by a large group of local masters. The thematic focus of the frescoes are images of Russian princes and motifs of the life and work of the eponymous Archangel Michael. The interior frescoes are complemented by facade paintings above the western entrance portal, which have the Last Judgment as their theme.

Another striking detail of the cathedral’s interior is its four-tiered, 13-meter-high wooden iconostasis with gilded carvings, created in 1678-81. The icons are mostly from the 17th century and also include representations of St. Michael the Archangel, but also of the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist and other particularly venerated saints.

The tombs in the Cathedral of the Archangel

However, the main reason for visiting the Cathedral of the Archangel for most people is the large number of historical figures buried here. With 53 people buried in 46 tombs, the cathedral represents one of the largest necropolis of monarchs in the world. All Moscow’s Great Princes since Ivan Kalita (died 1340) and almost all Russian tsars since the creation of the tsardom by Ivan the Terrible (died 1584) and up to the immediate predecessor of Peter the Great, Ivan V (died 1696) have found their final resting place in the Cathedral of the Archangel. The very last Russian tsar to be buried in the cathedral was Peter II (died 1730), who died when Moscow had briefly become the seat of the tsar’s court again.

All the tombs are similar in design: The remains of those buried here rest about 1.5 meters below ground in sarcophagi, each topped by a large white stone block with names and dates of life carved on it in Old Church Slavonic script. To protect the stone, since the beginning of the 20th century the blocks have been additionally enclosed in special bronze covers. Above the tombs hang on the wall icons with not always authentic depictions of those buried here.