The Cathedral of the Annunciation () in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

is a

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

dedicated to the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...

. It is located on the southwest side of Cathedral Square in the

Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

in Russia, where it connects directly to the main building of the complex of the

Grand Kremlin Palace The Grand Kremlin Palace () is a building in the Moscow Kremlin. For much of the 19th century, it served as the official residence of the Russian emperor in Moscow, which was not then the capital of the Russian Empire. Designed by a team of arc ...

, adjacent to the

Palace of Facets The Palace of the Facets () is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which contains what used to be the main banquet reception hall of the Russian tsars. It is the oldest preserved secular building in Moscow. Located on Kremlin Cathedral S ...

. It was originally the personal chapel for the

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

s, and its

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

remained a personal confessor of the Russian royal family until the early 20th century. Now it also serves as a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

History

The Cathedral of the Annunciation was built by architects from

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

in 1484-1489 as part of Grand Duke Ivan III's plans for a large-scale renovation of the Moscow Kremlin. Construction work began using the existing foundations in 1484 and was completed in August 1489. A number of the early 15th-century

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s were re-used in the new building. After being badly damaged in a fire in 1547, the then Grand Duke (and subsequently first

Russian Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

)

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

began a restoration of the church, which was completed in 1564 Many of the church treasures were lost during the occupation of Moscow by the armies of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

in 1612 at the close of the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...

. It was also damaged by the great Kremlin fire of 1737. During the French occupation of Moscow in 1812, the cathedral was used as a barracks and was mostly robbed. It was restored in 1815–1820. During the

1917 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

, the cathedral was damaged during the fighting. Afterwards, it was closed by the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

regime. During the 1950s, along with the other surviving churches in the Moscow Kremlin, it was preserved as a museum. After 1992, occasional religious services resumed. The church building underwent a restoration in 2009. From the time of Ivan the Terrible's coronation as tsar, the members of the royal family worshiped at the Annunciation Cathedral, got married and baptized their children there.

Architecture

Onion domes of Cathedral of the Annunciation

Compared with the other two major Kremlin cathedrals, the Annunciation Cathedral has slightly smaller dimensions. The cathedral was built of brick, with facades of white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

that are dressed and decorated. Iconostasis in Moscow

The interior of the cathedral consists of the central prayer area and several surrounding galleries, with the additions of side altars in the 16th century. The main vault of the cathedral has a large

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

, which includes

s of the 14th to 17th centuries, including the ones painted by

Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev (, ; ) was a Russian artist considered to be one of the greatest medieval Russian painters of Orthodox Christian icons and frescoes. He is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 29 January. Ear ...

Theophanes the Greek Theophanes the Greek (; ; – ) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek artist, active mainly in Russia. He greatly influenced the style of painting in Novgorod and Moscow in the 15th century. He is also known as being the teacher and mentor o ...

and Prokhor, and 19th century, as well, particular on the middle tiers. Throughout the interior, there are fragments of murals painted by

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

(1508) and by others (second half of the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries). Behind the altar (where once the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

was located) a large silver

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

containing the remains are of about 50 saints from different places in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

was discovered in 1894.

References

*Klein, Mina. ''The Kremlin: Citadel of History''. MacMillan Publishing Company (1973). *Tropkin, Alexander. ''The Moscow Kremlin: history of Russia's unique monument''. Publishing House "Russkaya Zhizn" (1980). ASIN: B0010XM7BQ

External links

Official Home Page

Satellite photo of the Cathedral of the Annunciation

The Deesis Range of the Annunciation Cathedral

The Church Feasts Range of the Annunciation Cathedral

The article «“The Deesis painted by Andrey Rublev” from the Annunciation Church of the Moscow Kremlin» by Dr. Oleg G. Uliyanov

A.S. Petrov The Reconstruction of the Tsar's “Place of Prayer” in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin
{{Kremlin Buildings and structures completed in 1489 Cathedrals in Moscow Moscow Kremlin 15th-century Russian Orthodox church buildings Museums in Moscow Religious museums in Russia History museums in Russia Art museums and galleries in Moscow Archaeological museums in Russia Churches completed in the 1480s Church buildings with domes Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow