Assumption Cathedral

From Moscowiki

The contemporary building of the Assumption Cathedral (part of Kremlin), or Uspensky sobor was erected in 1479 by Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti in Russian Renaissance style. Its first wooden precursor built by Ivan Kalita in 1326 was the first church on the Sobornaya Square.

The five domes of the cathedral symbolise Christ and four evangelists. Made of white stone blocks, it looks monolithic, “as a single stone”, as it’s mentioned in the chronicle. The inside decoration of the cathedral astonished the annalist with its “magnificence and height”. Wonderful frescoes were made by the team of Dionisy who was a famous Russian icon painter. Superb iconostasis created in 1652 contains icons dating from XII (“The Saint George”, one of the oldest Russian icons) till XIX centuries.

In XV–XIX centuries the Assumption Cathedral was the most important church in Moscow. Its majestic walls remember many generations of aristocracy: it was here that tsars and emperors were crowned and the metropolitans were buried. Russian tsars used to pray here, and “praying place” (pew) for Ivan the Terrible (The Monomakh’s Throne) is one of museum’s exhibits.

Now the Cathedral belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, no services are held here, and this magnificent monument of Russian architecture remains a museum.

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