Cathedral of the Annunciation, Moscow

Annunciation Cathedral
Annunciation Cathedral
Благовещенский собор
	Russian

The Cathedral of the Annunciation (

Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where it connects directly to the main building of the complex of the Grand Kremlin Palace, adjacent to the Palace of Facets. It was originally the personal chapel for the tsars, and its abbot 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 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

Russian Tsar) Ivan the Terrible

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

Bolshevik

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

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 that are dressed and decorated.

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, which includes icons of the 14th to 17th centuries, including the ones painted by Andrei Rublev, Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor, and 19th century, as well, particular on the middle tiers.

Throughout the interior, there are fragments of murals painted by Theodosius (1508) and by others (second half of the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries). Behind the altar (where once the sacristy was located) a large silver reliquary containing the remains are of about 50 saints from different places in the Middle East was discovered in 1894.

References

Klein, Mina. The Kremlin: Citadel of History. MacMillan Publishing Company (1973).
ISBN 0-02-750830-7

Tropkin, Alexander. The Moscow Kremlin: history of Russia's unique monument. Publishing House "Russkaya Zhizn" (1980). ASIN: B0010XM7BQ

v t e Kremlin and Red Square
Kremlin Wall and Towers	Borovitskaya Vodovzvodnaya Blagoveshenskaya Tainitskaya Pervaya Bezymyannaya Vtoraya Bezymyannaya Petrovskaya Beklemishevskaya Konstantino-Eleninskaya Nabatnaya Tsarskaya Spasskaya Senatskaya Nikolskaya Uglovaya Arsenalnaya Srednyaya Arsenalnaya Troitskaya Kutafya Komendantskaya Oruzheynaya
Administrative buildings	Kremlin Senate Kremlin Arsenal Amusement Palace State Kremlin Palace Grand Kremlin Palace Terem Palace The Armory Palace of Facets Tsarina's Golden Chamber State Historical Museum
Churches	Cathedral of the Assumption Cathedral of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Archangel Ivan the Great Bell Tower Church of the Deposition of the Robe Nativity Church Patriarch's Palace and the Church of the Twelve Apostles Verkhospassky Cathedral and the Terem Churches Saint Basil's Cathedral Kazan Cathedral
Squares and gardens	Red Square Ivanovskaya Square Cathedral Square Taynitsky Garden Grand Kremlin Public Garden Alexander Garden Manezhnaya Square
Monuments	Kremlin Wall Necropolis Monument to Minin and Pozharsky Monument to Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Lobnoye Mesto Tsar Cannon Tsar Bell Alexander Garden Obelisk Red Porch Iberian Gate and Chapel Lenin's Mausoleum
Former	Ascension Convent Chudov Monastery Armorial Gate Robespierre Monument Kremlin Presidium (Building 14)

History

Architecture

References

External links