Kazan Cathedral (russian: Казанский собор), formally known as the "Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan", is a
Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
located on the northwest corner of
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The current building is a reconstruction of the original church, which was destroyed at the direction of then
,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, in 1936.
The original cathedral
Upon recovering Moscow from the armies of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
in 1612 at the close of the
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...
, Prince
Dmitry Pozharsky
Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky ( rus, Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ pɐˈʐarskʲɪj; 17 October 1577 – 30 April 1642) was a Russian prince known for his military leadershi ...
attributed his success to the divine help of the
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
''
Theotokos of Kazan'', to whom he had prayed on several occasions. From his private funds, he financed construction of a wooden church to the Virgin of Kazan on
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
in Moscow, which was first mentioned in historical records in 1625. After the diminutive shrine was destroyed by a fire in 1632,
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantinopl ...
, ordered it replaced with a brick church. The one-domed edifice, featuring several tiers of
kokoshniki
The kokoshnik ( rus, коко́шник, p=kɐˈkoʂnʲɪk) is a traditional Russian headdress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan. The kokoshnik tradition has existed since the 10th century in the ancient Russian city Veliky Novgo ...
, a wide gallery, and a tented
belfry, was consecrated in October 1636.
Kazan Cathedral was considered one of the most important churches in Moscow. Annually on the anniversary of the liberation of Moscow from Poland-Lithuania, a solemn parade led by the Patriarch and the Tsar carried a
processional cross
A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to ...
from the Kremlin. By the end of the 17th century, the church building was expanded and received a bell tower and a redesigned entrance. Numerous other renovations of the cathedral were undertaken during the imperial period, notably during 1801, 1805, and 1865, and much of the original design was lost behind later additions.
The history of the cathedral was tempestuous, as evidenced by the fact that its archpriest
Avvakum
Avvakum Petrov (russian: link=no, Аввакум Петров; 20 November 1620/21 – 14 April 1682) (also spelled Awakum) was an Old Believer and Russian protopope of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nik ...
led the party of religious dissenters, or
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...
.
The distinguished Russian restorer
Peter Baranovsky supervised a complete reconstruction of the church's exterior to its original design in 1929–1932. Some specialists , however, have found the accuracy of this reconstruction lacking.
In 1936, when
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
was being prepared for holding the military parades of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
ordered the square cleared of churches. Although efforts were made by Baranovsky to save it, he could not prevent the Kazan Cathedral from being demolished (though Baranovsky did manage to save another of Red Square's cathedrals,
Saint Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed ( rus, Собо́р Васи́лия Блаже́нного, Sobór Vasíliya Blazhénnogo), commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most pop ...
, from destruction). In its place, initially a temporary building housing offices for the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
was erected. It was later used as a summer café. A temporary chapel marking the original site of the church was built in 1990 as part of the church restoration project, shortly before the collapse of the USSR.
The rebuilding
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kazan Cathedral was the first church to be completely rebuilt after having been destroyed by the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
s. The cathedral's restoration (1990–1993) was sponsored by the Moscow city branch of the All-Russian Society for Historic Preservation and Cultural Organization, and was based on the detailed measurements and photographs of the original church. However, the icon of the Kazan Virgin in the restored cathedral is a copy; the original is now in the
Yelokhovo Cathedral
The Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo, Moscow, is the vicarial church of the Moscow Patriarchs. The surviving building was designed and built by Yevgraph Tyurin in 1837–1845.
The original church in the village of Yelokhovo near Moscow was buil ...
.
Krasnaya Ploshad1802.jpg, The church in 1802
Nikolskaya-1904.jpg, The church in 1904
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Kazan, Moscú, Rusia, 2016-10-03, DD 01-02 HDR.jpg, The church in 2016
Architectural features
The Kazan Cathedral is typical for the first half of the XVII century type of a square in the plan of a single-domed church with a hill of corbel arches, dating back to the old cathedral of the
Donskoy Monastery
Donskoy Monastery (russian: Донско́й монасты́рь) is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from the threat of an invasion by the Crimean Khan (title), Khan Ğazı II Giray, Kazy-G ...
. Among constructions of Moscow suburb, the church of
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
on the
Arbat
Arbat Street (Russian ), mainly referred to in English as the Arbat, is a pedestrian street about one kilometer long in the historical centre of Moscow, Russia. The Arbat has existed since at least the 15th century, which makes it one of the o ...
belonged to this type. The cathedral is surrounded on three sides by open galleries, which lead to the hipped bell tower at the northwest corner and to the northeast aisle of
Abercius of Hieropolis
__NOTOC__
Abercius of Hieropolis (Greek , died c. 167) was a bishop of Hierapolis at the time of Marcus Aurelius, also known as Abercius Marcellus. He was supposedly the successor to Papias.
Abercius is said to have evangelized Syria and Mesopo ...
.
According to the comment of the historian of the Old Russian architecture Pavel Rappoport, the location and the combination of large corbel arches with small ones showed the desire of Russian architects to enrich the bright, major composition with more fractional details - a harbinger of the advent of the era of "uzorochie".
References
External links
*
Kazan Cathedral, Moscow
{{Authority control
Churches completed in 1636
Churches completed in 1993
Rebuilt churches in Russia
17th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings
Cathedrals in Moscow
Russian Orthodox churches in Moscow
Red Square
Church buildings with domes
1636 establishments in Russia
17th-century churches in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow