Andronikov Monastery
Metropolitan Alexis | |
Important associated figures | Andrei Rublev, Avvakum |
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Site | |
Location | Moscow, Russia |
Coordinates | 55°44′56″N 37°40′14″E / 55.74889°N 37.67056°E |
Andronikov Monastery of the Saviour (
Muscovite and Imperial period
The monastery was established in 1357 by
In the second half of the 14th century, a monastic quarter formed outside the walls of the Andronikov Monastery, which started producing
Andronikov Monastery has been ransacked on numerous occasions (1571, 1611, 1812). In 1748 and 1812, its archives were lost in fires. In the 19th century, there were a theological seminary and a library on the cloister's premises. In 1917, there were seventeen monks and one novice in the monastery.
Soviet period and beyond
After the
In 1928, the Soviets destroyed the
In 1985, the Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art was opened on the cloister's premises. In 1991, the Saviour cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Archaeological excavations on the cloister's territory in 1993 uncovered an ancient altar and other relics.
Monuments
Since the 1930s, when the Communists destroyed the 14th-century Saviour Cathedral in the Wood, the monastery's cathedral has attracted a renewed interest as the oldest preserved in Moscow. Consequently, its present outlook is the result of a controversial Soviet restoration (1959–1960), which sought to remove all additions from later periods. Nothing but traces of the frescoes by Andrei Rublev and
The second oldest monument (1504–1506) in the abbey is a spacious
Massive 17th-century walls and towers are reminiscent of the period when the monastery defended the eastern approaches against the Moscow Kremlin. In 1795, they started a Neoclassical belltower, one of the tallest in Moscow. This astonishing belfry was destroyed in 1929–1932, and its bricks were subsequently reused in construction of nearby buildings.
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The fortified monastery used to protect approaches to Moscow from the south.
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Church of Michael the Archangel (1690s, restored 1960)
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The katholikon (1420s, restored 1959)
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Chapel of Dmitry Donskoy (2000–2001)
References
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2010) |