Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin. Blagoveshchensky cathedral. Architectural features What event is the Annunciation Cathedral dedicated to?

The most famous Moscow temple, consecrated in the name of the Feast of the Annunciation, the Annunciation Cathedral is located in the Kremlin on Cathedral Square. One of the oldest in Moscow, it was founded at the end of the 14th century as a house church of the grand-ducal and then the royal family at the Kremlin grand-ducal palace. And the protopresbyter of the Annunciation Cathedral was the confessor of the august persons until the 20th century.

The first wooden Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin was founded in 1397 by Grand Duke Vasily I, the son of Dmitry Donskoy. The house church stood in the grand-ducal courtyard near the vestibule of the palace, so in the old days it was also called “The Annunciation on the Senya.” Even then, the highest persons got married in it and baptized their newborn children, including the heirs to the throne. And Andrei Rublev, Feofan the Greek and master Prokhor from Gorodets were invited to paint this wooden Kremlin temple.

In 1484–1489, almost a century after its founding, the Annunciation Cathedral was built in stone. Then Grand Duke Ivan III ordered the construction of a new magnificent building, which has survived to this day.

And although at that time the most skilled Italian architects were already working in Moscow, invited to build the Moscow Kremlin, the construction of the Annunciation Cathedral was entrusted by the highest order to the Russian Pskov masters Krivtsov and Myshkin. And this happened a decade after the disaster that happened to the first Assumption Cathedral, which in 1472, even before the Italians, was erected by those same masters Krivtsov and Myshkin. As you know, the almost completely erected Assumption Cathedral unexpectedly collapsed: then a “great coward,” an earthquake so rare for the capital, shook the buildings in the Kremlin in Moscow.

And although a specially appointed commission identified some shortcomings in the work of the masters, they not only received forgiveness, but, along with Italian architects, were again invited to build a grand-ducal house temple in the Kremlin. The task before them was extremely difficult - they had to fit the Russian cathedral into the ensemble built by the Italians, who themselves built exactly according to Russian models of Russian, Vladimir and Kyiv architecture. So the Annunciation Cathedral is an exclusively national creation of Russian masters in the Kremlin.

In 1484, the foundation stone of a new cathedral took place. And during its construction, Ivan III ordered a tent to be erected near the grand-ducal palace for his confessor, so that he could remain at the temple continuously.

In 1489, Metropolitan Gerontius consecrated the magnificent Annunciation Cathedral. It had nine chapters and was built “on the model of Greek temples of the 10th century,” as one ancient Moscow historian wrote. The nine-domed structure of this Kremlin cathedral is explained by its dedication specifically to the feast of the Annunciation: in Russian church architecture, nine chapters symbolize the image of the Most Holy Theotokos as the Queen of the Heavenly Church, consisting of nine ranks of Angels and nine ranks of the Heavenly Righteous.

However, this temple had one feature that was rooted in Greek traditions - this was the conclusion reached by scientists who had been struggling with this mystery for centuries. We are talking about his famous painting.

The son and successor of Ivan III, Grand Duke Vasily III, at the very beginning of his reign, ordered the icons of the Annunciation Cathedral to be beautifully decorated with gold and silver frames and painted. There is an assumption that the icons of Rublev’s writing were transferred to the stone cathedral from the old wooden one, and that the new painting was made according to the exact model of the previous one. It was painted at that time by the “best Russian artist” master Fyodor Edikeev.

And in the wall painting on the porch of the Annunciation Cathedral, images of ancient Greek pagan sages who lived before the birth of Christ appeared: Aristotle, Thucydides, Ptolemy, Zeno, Plutarch, Plato and Socrates with scrolls in their hands containing philosophical sayings close to the truths of Christian teaching. We read from Socrates: “No evil can befall a good husband. Our soul is immortal. After death there will be a reward for the good, and punishment for the evil.” From Plato: “We must hope that God Himself will send down a heavenly Teacher and Mentor to people.”

The unique painting of the Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral has been repeatedly explained in historical literature. The most famous and generally accepted scientific version says that this image of ancient Greek sages on the wall of an Orthodox church came from the custom of Christian teachers to refer to the sayings of ancient philosophers that are consistent with Christian truths. This is how they convinced opponents of the faith, and thus the pagan wisdom of the ancients appeared to be the forerunner of Christian thought.

And it is also believed that Fyodor Edikeev may not have been an innovator, but used images from the first painting of an old wooden temple, “in the taste of Greek writing.” The fact is that the first metropolitans in Rus' were Greeks by origin, and this tradition of remembering the great pagan philosophers could have originated from them. Moreover, in the early Middle Ages, the sciences, to which philosophy belongs, were studied only by people of the clergy. Or this painting was a sign of respect for the church pastors in Rus', where they so figuratively honored their great national culture, which gave rise to thinkers and forerunners of Christianity.

However, Grand Duke Vasily III ordered not only to beautifully paint the new Annunciation Cathedral, but also to richly and festively gild its domes. The stone cathedral was still called “in the Tsar’s courtyard near the entryway,” only because of the abundance of gold on the numerous domes of the temple it was also called the Golden-Domed Cathedral.

Previously, it was connected to the sovereign's chambers, and its eastern porch led to a garden where fruit trees grew and there were well-groomed ponds with fish. And the southern doors of the Annunciation Cathedral served as a special personal and well-appointed entrance for the sovereigns, where they then rested after the Divine service and distributed alms to the poor. Another outlandish rarity: the floor of the temple was laid out from valuable noble stones - marble, agate, and jasper, which, they say, was sent to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by the Persian Shah.

After all, according to the testimony of a pre-revolutionary Moscow historian, “there was not a single sovereign who would not commemorate his zeal with some kind of offering to the temple.” After Vasily III, who also continued his father’s work, this tradition was in turn adopted by his son Ivan the Terrible.

He restored the unique painting of the temple, which was damaged in the fire of 1547, donated to the cathedral the temple image of the Annunciation, which he took in 1561 from the Novgorod St. George's Monastery, and ordered a covered gallery to be built on the left side of the cathedral. There, since 1572, the king stood separately during worship after he entered into a fourth marriage, contrary to church rule. Here, in the southern aisle, his chapel was located. In March 1584, from the porch of the Annunciation Cathedral, Ivan the Terrible saw a cruciform comet. “This is the sign of my death,” he said, and a few days later he was gone.

But his son, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, admiring the gold of the Annunciation Cathedral blazing in the sun, in order to increase the beauty and wealth of the Kremlin temple, installed on its central head a legendary cross made of pure gold - the same one that Napoleon later searched for so long and unsuccessfully in the Kremlin. As you know, in the end the French emperor confused the cross on the Annunciation Cathedral with the gilded cross on the bell tower of Ivan the Great.

There is an interesting legend that at the end of the 16th century, the Patriarchs of Antioch and Constantinople, who were in Moscow, prophesied to Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich the imminent victory of Russia over the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which had conquered Constantinople. And then the tsar ordered to attach a crescent moon to this golden cross, as a sign of the coming victory of the Russian Orthodox state. And since then, supposedly in the image of the central cross of the Annunciation Cathedral, such crescents have appeared on all Moscow churches.

However, this is just a legend. There are many interpretations about the meaning of the crescent symbol called tsata. There are versions that tsata is a Christian image of an anchor as a symbol of salvation, or a trampled worm as a symbol of death, or the Holy Grail into which the blood of Christ crucified on the cross flowed, or still a sign of victory over Islam - over the Mongol-Tatar yoke, or over Ottoman Empire.

But it is this last assumption that is most considered erroneous. At the time when the first images of tsata already appear on Russian Orthodox crosses, neither the Mongol-Tatars had yet come to Islam, much less the Ottoman Turks had yet captured Byzantium. The most substantiated opinion is that tsata is a royal sign, a symbol of Christ as King and High Priest.

Many Orthodox shrines were kept in the Annunciation Cathedral. One iconographically rare image of the Annunciation was painted on the wall of the temple. “Here the Blessed Virgin is depicted at a well, drawing water. When she sees the Angel in the clouds, She looks up at him with an expression of surprise,” an ancient local historian told about him. According to Eastern legend, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary at a well in Nazareth, and Mary received the Good News about the future birth of the Savior from Her. And such an image of the Holiday was even considered the only one, but then similar icons were found in two more Moscow parish churches.

And in the vestibule of the Annunciation Cathedral there was a revered image of the All-Merciful Savior, in front of which candles and a lamp burned unquenchably. According to popular legend, one Kremlin dignitary received miraculous help from this image, having incurred the tsar’s wrath. Through prayer, he received both forgiveness and a return to service. And people began to come to the image, expecting good news and mercy.

Here, in the Annunciation Cathedral, the miraculous Don Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was kept, presented to Dmitry Donskoy after the Battle of Kulikovo (according to legend, St. Sergius of Radonezh blessed him with this image before the battle). And in the 17th century, the Moscow Donskoy Monastery was built in the name of this icon, which had helped Russia more than once.

Finally, let us mention one more fact that is so significant for Moscow and for Russia. It was from here, with the Grand Duke's Palace and its home Annunciation Cathedral, that the history of the Kremlin chimes began. Moscow first began to know the exact time back in 1404. Then the Athonite monk, master Lazar Serbin, behind the old wooden Annunciation Cathedral on the tower of the Grand Duke's palace, installed a clock with a mechanical figure of a man (!), who struck the “hour clock” with a hammer all day long - a bell, at the end of each hour, thus measuring the time. This watch was very expensive - about 30 pounds of silver. And only in 1624, the Englishman Christopher Galovey and the Russian masters Zhdan and Shumilo installed the main clock of Russia on the Spasskaya Tower. It was for these clocks, the future chimes, that the Russian architect Bazhen Ogurtsov erected the first tent on the Kremlin tower. And then similar tents crowned the rest of the Kremlin towers.

The Annunciation Cathedral was heavily damaged in November 1917 during artillery shelling of the Kremlin. The shell destroyed his porch, from which Ivan the Terrible saw the comet. And after the Bolshevik government moved to Moscow in March 1918, the Annunciation Cathedral was closed, like the Kremlin itself. And now the Annunciation Cathedral operates as a museum.

However, there used to be another Annunciation Church in the Kremlin. Destroyed by the Bolsheviks, it is now almost unknown, although it once gave the historical name to the southern Kremlin tower, near which it stood in the Tainitsky Garden, on the inner territory of the Kremlin.

Although it is more correct to say that the Annunciation Tower received its name not from the church, but from the miraculous icon of the Annunciation, for which this church was built near the tower. Before the construction of the temple, the icon was located directly on the outer wall of the tower, facing the Kremlin and the royal palace. According to legend, there, on the tower wall, this image miraculously appeared during the time of Ivan the Terrible.

At that time, in the tower near which the royal Zhitny yard stood, there was a dungeon where some unjustly accused governor was imprisoned. He was sentenced to death for a crime that he did not commit, and while waiting for the hour of death, he prayed without ceasing, when the hope of justification and salvation was already lost. And one day the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to ask the king for release. The prisoner did not believe his dream and did not ask. But the dream repeated itself, and the Queen of Heaven again told him to ask the king for freedom, promising her help. Then he decided to turn to the king and angered him with his request - Grozny, in a rage, ordered the daring captive to be brought to him. However, when the guards came for him to the tower prison, they saw that on the inside of the tower, facing the royal palace, the icon of the Annunciation miraculously appeared. And the shocked king immediately ordered the prisoner to be released and a wooden chapel to be built on the tower for the icon. Since then, this Kremlin tower began to be called Blagoveshchenskaya.

And in 1731, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered the Church of the Annunciation to be built for the miraculous icon. And according to the design of the architect G. Schedel, it was erected in such a way that the wall of the tower with the icon was built into the temple. At the top of the tower itself they built a bell tower and placed a cross on top of it - so the Kremlin tower, crowned with an Orthodox cross, became a church bell tower. And the church in old Moscow was called “Annunciation, on the Zhitny Dvor.”

Just a few years later, in 1737, there was a terrible fire in which the Tsar Bell burned down. The Church of the Annunciation was also damaged in the fire, but the miraculous icon remained unharmed. For centuries, people praying for help flowed into it to the Kremlin.

And in 1816, the ark with particles of the holy relics of St. was transferred to the Kremlin Church of the Annunciation. John the Merciful from the church on Kislovka, which was dismantled at that time, and a few years later a chapel was built in the name of the saint in the refectory.

And in 1891, the restoration of the Annunciation Church began, as they feared the long-term and destructive effects of dampness from the Moscow River. But shocked restorers discovered that the colors of the miraculous icon were untouched by time. During the work, the entrance to the repaired tower was opened, and at the same time a church chapel in the name of St. John the Merciful with a white marble iconostasis. There is an opinion that a chapel was built there in the tower in memory of the miraculous rescue of the imperial family during a train crash at Borki station on October 17, 1888. This chapel was consecrated in the name of the saints celebrated by the Church on that day. However, modern historians consider this information unreliable.

And in this Kremlin Annunciation Church, before the revolution, there was the most revered miraculous icon in Moscow of the Most Holy Theotokos, “Unexpected Joy,” which is now located in the Church of Elijah the Ordinary on Ostozhenka.

After the revolution, she walked a long and tragic path from the Kremlin through old, Orthodox Moscow: first she was transferred to the Church of the Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which stood on Alekseevsky Hill next to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Then, after the demolition of the church, it was transferred to the Prechistensky Church of St. Vlasiya, and after its closure ended up in the Church of the Resurrection in Sokolniki, where at that time all the miraculous and most revered icons from the destroyed Moscow churches were transferred. Then it was transferred to the Elias Church in exchange for a list.

There is a legend that Patriarch Pimen miraculously received help at the front from the “Unexpected Joy” icon.

In 1932, the Church of the Annunciation in the Kremlin was demolished, and its chapel in the tower was destroyed. Instead of a cross, a flag appeared at the top of the Kremlin tower. And now only its old, original name remains - Blagoveshchenskaya.

I would not like to end the essay on a mournful note. The Annunciation was one of the brightest, spring holidays of Orthodox Moscow. In the old days, there was a pious custom - on this April day, birds were released into the wild on Trubnaya Square, where the first Moscow Bird Trade was located.

The department's exhibition features more than thirty private collections received from donors since the 1980s. Currently, the museum collection includes over seven thousand works of Russian and Western European art of the 15th–20th centuries. These are painting, graphics, sculpture, applied art and artistic photography. The collections differ from each other in their focus and structure. They are divided by type of art, among them there are monographic and thematic.

From the practice of large museums around the world, it is known that when private collections enter their collections, they are disbanded and works of various types of art are distributed among several funds. Only the best works are selected for exhibition. Thus, the integrity of a private collection is violated, its originality is lost, the personality of the collector fades into the background, being of interest, as a rule, only to specialists.

The exhibition of the halls of the Department of Personal Collections does not violate the integrity of individual collections and seeks to emphasize the original intention of those who created them over many years. At the same time, special attention is paid to the personality of each collector, his tastes and preferences. According to one of the first authors of the idea of ​​​​creating a museum of personal collections in Russia, Prince Sergei Shcherbatov, such a museum is designed to preserve the “spiritual connection” between the collection and its former owner.

A special place in the collection is given to the collection of the museum’s founder – a famous scientist and cultural figure of the 20th century. I. S. Zilberstein. It contains over two thousand works of painting and graphics, occupying four exhibition halls. These are works of the highest level, executed in various techniques and genres, representing the work of individual masters and various artistic associations, in particular the masters of the “World of Art”. Such collections themselves can be independent museums.

Many collections are valuable due to the preservation of the original intentions of the collector and high artistic quality. These include the collection of Russian realistic painting of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries by S. V. Solovyov, a metal carver, whose example was the work of P. M. Tretyakov; collection of Russian painting of the late 19th - early 20th centuries by Leningrad professor A. N. Ramm; collection of bronze animalistic sculpture by foreign and Russian masters of the 19th century, Colonel of the Veterinary Service E. S. Stepanov.

The museum also introduces visitors to the collections that were collected throughout their lives by representatives of the Russian artistic and scientific intelligentsia. They include not only works of art, but also memorial objects that introduce the personality of the collector. The theme of the artistic environment of a creative personality is embodied in the hall, where paintings and graphic works from the collection of the great musician and pianist Svyatoslav Richter are presented. He was a friend of the Pushkin Museum and the inspirer of the December Evenings music festival, held annually at the museum. Svyatoslav Teofilovich donated to the Department of Personal Collections a collection of paintings and graphics by R. Falk, V. Shukhaev, N. Goncharova, D. Krasnopevtsev and other artists.

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is one of the oldest and most beautiful churches in Russia. Its construction dates back to the 13th century. Many tourists and pilgrims come from different parts of the globe to look at the unique architecture of the building and plunge into the atmosphere of ancient Orthodox Rus'.

History of the Annunciation Cathedral

During the existence of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, it was rebuilt, reconstructed and completed many times. The first mention of the temple dates back to 1291. It is known from ancient legend that the order to begin construction was given by the son of Alexander Nevsky, Andrei. A wooden Annunciation Church was built on the territory of the Kremlin. There is a version that the cathedral was originally called the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady. In 1397, the icon “The Savior in a White Robe” was delivered to the church from Byzantium. According to some historical sources, it is believed that the church was built in the 14th century on the orders of the widow of Alexander Nevsky, who took monastic vows and dedicated the last years of her life to God.

In the 15th century, Ivan III, influenced by European architects, began a grandiose restructuring and reconstruction of the Kremlin. It was also decided to rebuild the Annunciation Church. In place of the wooden building, a three-domed temple grew on a white stone basement. The consecration took place on April 7, 1489. The ceremony was timed to coincide with the celebration of the great church holiday of the Annunciation and was conducted by Metropolitan Gerontius.

In 1547, there was a famous fire in the Kremlin, in which many buildings were damaged and people died. The Annunciation Cathedral also suffered significant damage. Restoration work continued until 1564. The temple was slightly expanded. On the western side, an extension was made to it, topped with two domes.

The Grozny porch was added to the cathedral in 1572. Its construction began on the orders of Ivan the Terrible. After his fourth divorce from his wife, he was excommunicated from the church. Standing on the new porch, he could listen to the liturgies taking place in the temple.

It is noteworthy that at the end of the 16th century, the most famous composer of that time, Fyodor Krestyanin, worked as a priest in the cathedral. Until the 18th century, the Annunciation Church was a personal parish of Russian sovereigns and their families. The rector of the cathedral was always the personal confessor of the king. Within the walls of the temple were kept the holy relics of the rulers: relics, ancient books and valuable vessels, especially revered images.

During the reign of the Romanov dynasty, the temple was protected and decorated. During the First World War, the cathedral's porch was significantly damaged by a destructive shell.

After the revolution, the Annunciation Cathedral was closed and it was turned into a museum. The main goal of cultural workers was to preserve the interior decoration and architecture of the building, its study and restoration. In 1989, the cathedral turned five hundred years old. In honor of this significant event, an exhibition of historical values ​​and household items of ministers and famous parishioners of the church was organized.

The work of the temple was resumed in 1993. The first service took place on the patronal feast of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The ceremony was conducted by Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy II. Since then, it has become traditional to invite the country's main clergyman to conduct a service on the patronal feast of the cathedral.

The basement of the temple today is one of the oldest architectural buildings in the Kremlin. Currently, it houses the “Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin” museum, open to visits by residents and guests of the city. The temple building is an example of Russian architecture and has great historical value. Unfortunately, the interior decoration of the temple walls has suffered significantly over the years: some of the ancient frescoes could not be preserved. A painting by the artist Theodosius, made in 1508, has been preserved. Modern painting accurately reproduces the lost drawings of past years. It is noteworthy that, along with icons, the walls of the cathedral are decorated with portraits of Russian tsars.

The Annunciation Cathedral is considered one of the most significant churches of the royal families. Thanks to numerous passages and galleries, it is part of the palace complex. Many foreign delegations passed through the cathedral galleries to get to the Moscow Kremlin. The Duma chambers of the boyars were located immediately behind the temple. The main role of the cathedral was that it was the home church of the royal families. Here the sovereign's offspring were married and baptized, funeral services were held for deceased family members, and the main persons of the state received communion and confession. The archpriest of the cathedral was necessarily the clergy of the tsar. His duties also included teaching and spiritually enlightening the sovereign’s children and drawing up a will.

Construction of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

A new white stone building with three domes was built on the site of the wooden Annunciation Church. Construction took five years: from 1484 to 1489. The project for the building was developed by Italian architects. The construction work was carried out by Pskov craftsmen, famous for their skill. The result was a unique building in the style of Kremlin architecture with notes of Pskov architecture.

The foundation for the cathedral was laid on the site of the old building, repeating its shape. The walls were made of white stone. Initially, a rectangular building topped with three domes was erected. Small arches diverged from the main building, covered galleries were located around the domed part. The cathedral was connected with residential Kremlin buildings by a system of passages.

In 1508, by order of the sovereign, the domes were gilded. The iconostasis was decorated: the images of saints were covered with gold, silver and beads. In 1520 the porch was painted. The paintings were updated in 1648 and 1667. The paintings depict ancient Greek sages: Aristotle, Ptolemy, Homer, Plutarch, Anaxagoras, Menander. The ancient Roman prophetesses Sibyls are painted on the gate on the north side.

The iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral was originally decorated with icons painted by Andrei Rublev and Theophan the Greek. During a fire in 1547, they burned down and in their place were placed two ancient rows of the same era: Festive and Deesis. The floor covering of the temple is unique: it is made of honey-colored jasper. Tradition says that Ivan the Terrible, while in Rostov, saw this material and ordered it to be delivered to Moscow for decoration of the cathedral.

After a fire in 1547, the main building was repaired and an extension with two domes was built on the western side. In the 60s of the 16th century, Ivan the Terrible ordered the expansion of the Annunciation Cathedral. Four chapels were added at the corners of the galleries, and two closed domes were erected in the western part of the building. The roof and domes were covered with gilded copper sheets. The Moscow Kremlin Cathedral became nine-domed, as can be seen in our time.

Architecture

Exterior architecture of the temple

The Annunciation Cathedral is an example of a mixture of Moscow architecture and Pskov architecture. Erected on a basement preserved from an old wooden church. The appearance of the nine-domed temple with gilded domes has delighted the eyes of Russians since the 60s of the 16th century.

Under the domes of the cathedral, decorative semicircular niches were made around the circumference in the style of Pskov architecture. The facade of the building is decorated with “runner” and “curb” belts made of specially shaped bricks. In the style of Moscow architecture, tiers of kokoshniks and keel-shaped zakomaras were made, continuing with dissected shoulder blades. The main volume of the temple is complemented on four sides by attached chapels. The chapels are erected above the corners of the galleries and are small thin-walled churches topped with a golden dome. According to historical information, the chapels were built in honor of the wedding of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Before the construction of the chapels, the Annunciation Cathedral was no different from many churches in Moscow, but now it has acquired voluminous beauty and grandeur, comparable only to the Intercession Cathedral.

The basement of the temple is much older than the building itself (about 200 years). It is located under the central part of the temple. It is made of white stone and has a quadrangular shape. A massive pillar is located in the center of the basement, from which low arches extend onto the walls. An apse is attached to it on the eastern side. Most likely, the royal treasury was kept in the basement.

The architecture of the Italian Renaissance is clearly expressed in the front galleries on the northern and eastern sides of the building: carved white stone capitals, panels on supporting pillars, ceilings with cross vaults. Through these galleries, the Tsar’s especially revered guests were solemnly escorted to the Pomegranate Chamber.

The southern and eastern galleries were erected in 1489. The eastern one has not survived to this day: it was dismantled along with the chambers attached to it. Most likely, the porch was added by mistake, since usually no extensions were made to the temple from the altar side. Initially, it served to connect the cathedral with the Treasury Chamber. The southern gallery is a closed room in which the chapel of Basil of Caesarea has been located since the 16th century. The kings walked along it to the palace from Cathedral Square.

Great changes have taken place in the external and internal decoration of the South Gallery. The western and eastern walls were rebuilt, the vaults were shifted, and the shoulder blades of the quadrangle were cut off. In the 19th century, the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built here. Later, a cathedral sacristy and an embroidery workshop were built in the southern porch. The decor of the building was significantly damaged and trimmed. Decorative elements were returned to the building after restoration work in 1949. The southern porch, located on the side of the Moscow River, is decorated with carvings. Initially it was open, then it was rebuilt and made closed. Along this porch, the Russian nobility went out into the palace garden, where they rested and distributed favors. The 15th-century carved portal made of white stone has survived to this day.

Initially, the southern porch was richly decorated with exquisite carvings. The surviving fragments testify to this. Beautiful patterns of acanthus leaves in bright colors decorated the capital and columns. In the 19th century, many elaborate decorative elements were replaced with crude copies.

Interior of the temple

The vaults in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin have a cruciform shape. The drum of the central tower is supported by four pillars. Since the cathedral was intended for the princely family, its interior was initially small. Later, the temple premises were expanded by adding additional chapels. Next to the eastern pillar there is an iconostasis. Wide choirs with a staircase leading to them are located in the western part. The legend says that during divine services the female part of the royal family was in the choir. But historians refute this fact, believing that the choir was separated by a two-meter brick wall and, judging by the characteristic drawings of the frescoes, there were three chapels: the Mother of God, the Cathedral of the Archangels and St. George.

The central part of the temple has high vaults, topped by a dome drum. During the day, the dome drum has good natural light from numerous windows, while the lower part of the temple remains dark. Initially, the windows on the southern and northern walls were very narrow, but they were widened in the 18th century. The central part of the temple was reconstructed many times. First, in the 17th century, the choir was dismantled, two centuries later they were restored, and the vault was blocked off with a flat ceiling.

The painting of the cathedral is quite traditional. The domes depict Christ the Pantocrator and the Mother of God. The walls of the temple are painted with images of famous scenes from the Gospel. In the western part of the wall are illustrated scenes of the Last Judgment. In addition to biblical images, the interior decoration of the temple contains the faces of the sovereign's ancestors. Handwritten images of Dmitry Donskoy and Ivan Kalita are on the pillars holding the vaults.

Iconostasis

The majestic iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral is the main decoration of the interior of the temple. It consists of different parts brought to the cathedral at different times. Some parts for the iconostasis were made by modern craftsmen, and some have ancient roots and are considered a historical relic. Each component of the iconostasis was made for the Annunciation Church in honor of some significant event for Russia.

For example, the new Royal Doors of the iconostasis were made after Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow. The cathedral was looted by the French occupiers and the main valuables were taken outside the city. Among them were the Royal Doors. New gates were made in 1818. In the Annunciation Cathedral, they collected all the dilapidated silver items and smelted them into new gates. This can be learned from the inscription made by the craftsmen on the inside of the doors. The Royal Doors of the iconostasis, in the minds of Orthodox people, are a symbolic border between the Heavenly and Earthly worlds. Despite the differences in materials, they are very similar in all Kremlin cathedrals.

The image for the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral was originally painted by Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev. After the fire, icons belonging to the hand of the artist Theodosius were installed in their place.

The appearance of the Royal Doors in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is quite traditional. The upper part of the doors depicts the Annunciation, the lower part is decorated with the figures of the four evangelists and their symbols. Unfortunately, the painted enamel, which was used to make the faces, hands and feet of the saints, has only partially survived; most of it was modified by modern masters during restoration. In 1838, the iconostasis was updated and new columns, a crown and a canopy appeared above the saints.

The setting for the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral was made at the Moscow factory of the famous 19th century jeweler I.P. Khlebnikov in 1896. In 1894, the emperor announced a competition for the manufacture of the basement part, which was won by the architect N.V. Sultanov. He developed drawings for its manufacture. The base was made of hammered sheets of copper and decorated with ornaments in the style of the 16th-17th centuries. On the convex targets along the edges of the base part of the iconostasis there is an inscription stamped with the years of the beginning and end of the work.

The Annunciation Cathedral is located in the southwestern part of Cathedral Square. The nine-domed temple shines with golden domes. Small in size, but majestic. The Orthodox church was built in honor of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was the home church of the rulers - princes and kings.

From the history of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

It is believed that at the end of the 13th – beginning of the 14th century, a wooden church on a stone foundation stood on the site of the modern temple. It was built by Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, son of Alexander Nevsky. Later, at the end of the 15th century, when the Kremlin was being rebuilt, many buildings were erected by foreign architects. However, Grand Duke Ivan III ordered the construction of his house church to the architects of the city of Pskov. A new white stone church with a basement (lower floor) is being built. A two-story storage facility is being built near its eastern wall - the State Yard, where the sovereign's treasury was kept.

Construction of the temple lasted five years. In August 1489, Muscovites were able to see it in all its glory. The archpriests of the temple were the confessors of the Russian tsars. The temple was badly damaged during the fire of 1547.

Under Ivan IV in 1563, when the ancient Russian city of Polotsk was liberated from foreigners, it was decided to rebuild the temple. In honor of the victory, four small single-domed chapel churches were erected at the four corners of the covered gallery of the temple. In addition, two more drums with domes appear on the eastern side of the roof. So the three-domed temple in 1564 became nine-domed. Weddings and baptisms of children of rulers took place there. In 1572, a porch was added to it, called Groznensky.

During the solemn ceremonies that took place on Cathedral Square, the prince or king and his retinue came out of the temple. During the 1917 revolution, the shrine was damaged by artillery shelling. The porch of the temple was destroyed by a shell. In March 1918, when the Bolshevik government moved to Moscow, the temple was closed.

Architecture of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

The temple was built in the traditions of early Moscow architecture with elements of Pskov architecture. It is a four-pillar, three-apse cross-domed church. Snow-white, it is located on a high basement. Elements of Pskov architecture are manifested in the decoration of the dome drums - the runner and curb are made of brick. On the apses there is an arcature belt, similar to the belt of the Assumption Church. Thus, Pskov craftsmen combined two shrines into a single ensemble.

The temple includes buildings created at different times. The construction at the end of the 15th century repeated the building made at the beginning of the 15th century. The temple was surrounded on all sides by porch galleries. Later, the eastern porch was dismantled along with the Treasury Chamber. And you can get to the southern porch through a porch decorated with carvings. There is a legend that this porch was built specifically for Ivan the Terrible, when after his fourth marriage he was deprived of the right to be in the temple. From this porch he listened to sermons. In 1508, the central dome of the church was gilded, and at the end of the 16th century, all the domes and the roof were covered with gilded copper. The temple began to be called golden-domed. The nine chapters symbolize the image of the Most Holy Theotokos as the Queen of the Heavenly Church, consisting of nine ranks of Angels and nine ranks of the Heavenly Righteous. When designing the interior, vertical structures were included to create a feeling of upward movement. This was also facilitated by lighting - the lower part of the temple was darkened, and a stream of light poured from above from the windows of the drum.

Decoration of the Annunciation Cathedral

There are gates leading into the temple from the northern, western and southern sides. The galleries on the north and west sides are decorated with Italian gilded ornaments on a blue background. In the southern part there is an elegant multi-color painting. The famous paintings of the temple are mentioned at the beginning of the 15th century. They were made in 1405 by famous masters Feofan the Greek, Andrei Rublev and Prokhor from Gorodets. It should be noted that the paintings of the temple created by Andrei Rublev under the direction of Theophanes the Greek became his first known work. The main place in the paintings is occupied by illustrations of the Gospel, presented in cycles - holidays and passions, miracles and parables, the appearance of Christ after the resurrection. When examining the paintings, we see many gospel compositions and an illustration of the “Apocalypse”. The “Lives” of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, the “Tree of Jesse” and figures of saints are presented here. Partially preserved are the frescoes of the temple, completed in 1508 under the leadership of Theodosius, the talented son and student of the great Dionysius. The church's paintings were updated several times: under Alexei Mikhailovich, under Catherine II, and three times in the 19th century.

Since the temple was the sovereign's house church, the painting devoted a lot of space to the theme of the succession of power of the great princes and kings. We see images of famous Byzantine emperors and Russian princes. These are Vladimir Monomakh and Alexander Nevsky, Daniil Moskovsky and Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy and Ivan III.

Outstanding masters completed not only the wall paintings, but also the icons for the iconostasis, which can rightfully be called a masterpiece of Russian art. The general design of the five-tiered iconostasis and the design of the icons belongs to Theophanes the Greek. He also painted the three central icons of the Deesis rank: “The Savior,” “The Mother of God,” and “John the Baptist,” as well as “Apostle Paul.” Andrei Rublev painted the Icon of the Archangel Michael and seven icons of the festive rite. The grandeur of the iconostasis is determined by the fact that the Deesis composition is made on boards more than two meters high and more than one meter wide.

Despite the fact that the temple was rebuilt several times, the work done by the great masters was preserved. The iconostasis and icons of the old temple were removed and transferred to the new one. The new painting of the temple was made according to the exact model of the previous one. The temple was painted by master Fyodor Edikeev.

The floor of the temple consists of small blocks of flint interspersed with agate and jasper. According to legend, the floor was brought by Ivan the Terrible from Rostov the Great, where it was delivered from Byzantium.

Relics of the Annunciation Cathedral

The main relics of the temple include the miraculous icon of the Pimenovskaya Mother of God, brought to Moscow from Constantinople in 1381 by Metropolitan Pimen and the cross of Tsar Constantine, sent by the Byzantine Emperor Alexei Komnenos as a gift to Vladimir Monomakh. The icon of Our Lady of the Don, to which Russian soldiers and Dmitry Donskoy prayed before the Battle of Kulikovo, was also kept here. Later she was transported to the Donskoy Monastery.

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is one of the shrines of Russian Orthodoxy. Since 1993, worship services have resumed there. They take place once a year - on the Feast of the Annunciation. According to the old Russian custom, after the liturgy, His Holiness the Patriarch releases the birds into the wild.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral. We continue the series of articles about the external architectural decoration of the temples of the Moscow Kremlin and proceed to a detailed story about the features of the Annunciation Cathedral. (In the first publication, we explained in detail and clearly some architectural terms. In the article we expanded the topic of common architectural techniques that Russian architects used in the construction of religious buildings. In the review of the external decoration we talked about the themes of painting the external walls of the temple.)

The existing Annunciation Cathedral is a construction of different times, a kind of “layer cake”, consisting of fragments from the 14th to the 16th centuries.

The cathedral was built by Pskov craftsmen at the end of the 15th century (1485-1489). (Some sources name the names of Krivtsov and Myshkin, but no mention of this was found in publications of the Moscow Kremlin). Just like on the Annunciation Cathedral, the architects left their signature mark - rows of “runner” (it is often called “runner”), “curb” and arched niches above them.

Fragment of the drum of the central dome of the Annunciation Cathedral
Fragment of the drum of the dome of the Church of the Deposition of the Robe

The decorative belts of both churches differ only in the structure of the upper belt of the arched niches - on the Annunciation Cathedral they are deeper, three-stage. At shallower levels, they consist of two shallow steps.

The low central drum is decorated with alternating arches. The arches are separated by semi-columns with capitals in the form of tied sheaves. Windows are embedded in the narrow arches, while the wide arches are blind.


The decoration of the four side reels is slightly different from the middle one. The windows are noticeably narrower, the space between them is much wider, framed by double arches. On the half-columns the same capitals and the same beads are noticeable as on the central drum.

The walls of the temple are traditionally divided by shovels.

Fragment of the southern wall of the Annunciation Cathedral, divided by blades

The division of the walls on the Annunciation Cathedral is not easy to see because of the gallery-promenade with which the temple is built. The walls traditionally end with zakomaras.

Eastern wall of the cathedral. Three keel-shaped zakomaras are clearly visible above the apses.

We saw the same keel-shaped mosquitoes on.

Church of the Deposition of the Robe. Keel-shaped zakomaras of the eastern wall.
Keel-shaped zakomars of the Annunciation Cathedral above the eastern apses of the cathedral

In the top photo you can clearly see the row of kokoshniks at the base of the central chapter. Keel-shaped kokoshniks repeat the shape of zakomaras.

In architecture kokoshnik called a semicircular or keel-shaped external decorative element. In shape it is very similar to zakomari. But if zakomara is the outer part of the arch, then kokoshnik– a purely decorative detail, its purpose is to decorate. Name of architectural element “kokoshnik” associated with the name of the traditional Russian women's headdress.
Kokoshniks can be located on walls, at the bases of tents and dome drums, crown window frames, and often cover vaults. Vivid examples of rich decoration kokoshniks in Moscow there are churches and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Putinki.

The eastern wall of the Annunciation Cathedral is decorated with a decorative arcature-columnar belt. It is placed in the upper part of the altar apses, because previously the eastern wall was covered by a gallery.

The belt consists of twisted semi-columns, intercepted by beads with arches thrown between them. Along the top there is a series of small stepped niches separated by balusters. ( Balusters– low figured columns in the form of columns (sometimes with carved decor).

Sources claim that the temple was originally three-domed. One chapter was central, two were located above the altar. In 1560, two more blind domes were added. At the same time, chapels or, as they were called earlier, churches were added to the Annunciation Cathedral. Thus the temple became nine-domed.

All nine chapters of the cathedral can be seen from the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

The northeastern chapel was consecrated in memory of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, later consecrated in memory of the Archangel Gabriel.

The northeastern chapel of the Archangel Gabriel is located above the entrance to the Annunciation Cathedral. Eastern wall (from the side of the Archangel Cathedral).
North-eastern and north-western aisles of the Archangel Gabriel and the Cathedral of Our Lady. Northern wall (from the Chamber of Facets)

The northwestern aisle was consecrated in honor of the Cathedral of Our Lady. The southwestern aisle is in the name of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.

Southwestern aisle of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.

The south-eastern aisle is St. George; in the 19th century it was rebuilt and re-consecrated in memory of Alexander Nevsky.

The south-eastern aisle of Alexander Nevsky is located above the south-eastern Grozny porch. Eastern wall.
South-eastern aisle of Alexander Nevsky. South wall

All aisles are decorated with flies and end with small kokoshniks, which successfully repeat the shape of the zakomars and kokoshniks of the central chapter.

Flies (square and rectangular recesses) of the eastern wall of the south-eastern aisle of St. Alexander Nevsky.
Kokoshniks of the south-eastern aisle of Alexander Nevsky.

The drums of the chapel domes are decorated with bolsters, the walls are cut through with narrow windows.

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is one of the few Orthodox churches, the entrance to which is not from the west, as required by the canon, but from the east.

True, this entrance does not lead to the temple itself, but to the walkway gallery, which surrounds the Annunciation Cathedral on three sides. The direct entrance from the walkway to the church is arranged, as it should be, from the west.

The non-canonical location of the entrance is explained by the purpose of the temple. The Annunciation Cathedral served as the home church of the Moscow sovereigns. From the west, from the side of the sovereign's court, the Grand Duke or Tsar himself entered it, and for others a separate entrance was made from the east. The entrance to the cathedral is located in the north-eastern corner of the walkway.

Entrance to the Annunciation Cathedral

However, on the southeast corner there is another porch, called the “Grozny” one.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral. Porch of Ivan the Terrible

According to legend, the Metropolitan of Moscow imposed penance on John IV, forbidding him to attend services because of the sovereign’s fourth marriage to Anna Koltovskaya. According to one of the Church Fathers, Basil the Great, even “there is no Law on trigamy and a third marriage is not constituted according to the Law. We look at this as uncleanness in the church, but we do not directly condemn it, for this is better than direct fornication.”

John Vasilyevich married for the third time to Marfa Sobakina, who died two weeks after the wedding. It is believed that she was poisoned by Mikhail Temryukovich, the brother of the previous, second wife of the sovereign, Marya Temryukovna.
According to legend, after the ban on visiting the temple, a south-eastern porch was built for the sovereign so that he could listen to divine services.

But in fact, this porch was erected earlier, although Ivan the Terrible was indeed forbidden to attend services. His penance was supposed to last until the next Easter, that is, almost a year. However, penance was canceled if the tsar defended the Orthodox faith against infidels.

According to another legend, it was from the southern porch of the Annunciation Cathedral that Ivan the Terrible observed the comet that announced his imminent death. In fact, the king saw the comet from the Red Porch of the Faceted Chamber. According to N.M. Karamzin:

“A Comet appeared with a cross-shaped heavenly sign between the Church of John the Great and the Annunciation; The curious Tsar went out onto the Red Porch, looked for a long time, changed his face and said to those around him: this is the sign of my death!”

In 2006-2010, scientific restoration was carried out at the Annunciation Cathedral. Restorers studied in detail the history of Ivan the Terrible's porch. Now we can see recreated fragments of the interior of the Grozny era. The exhibition includes white stone carved portals returned to their historical places

and a window from the mid-16th century,

fragments of the original masonry walls with white stone carved details,

as well as white stone blocks with carvings from the mid-16th century installed on pedestals. Now we can see with our own eyes what the southern porch looked like in the middle of the 16th century.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral. Exterior wall painting

Above the northern porch (the main entrance to the cathedral) you can see the painting “Cathedral of Our Lady”.

On the northern wall of the temple, facing the Assumption Cathedral, the fresco “Cathedral of the Archangels” has been preserved.

Fresco on the northern wall “Cathedral of the Archangels”.

The frescoes were originally painted in the middle of the 16th century; they were renewed many times.
In conclusion, let us present the view of the Annunciation Cathedral in the 19th century. The reproduction shows how the church porch has changed.

Baudry Karl Petrovich (Karl-Friedrich) “Procession at the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin”, 1860