The Cathedral of the Archangel

The Cathedral of the Archangel was constructed in 1505-1509 by the Italian architect Aleviz Novy in traditions of Russian architecture, but its rich furnish carries features of the Italian Revival. Construction was begun at Ivan the III and was finished at his son, grand duke Vasily Ivanovich. Earlier, here was an ancient cathedral of the Archangel built by Ivan Kalita in 1333 in memory of disposal of Moscow from strong famine.

In the beginning of the XVI-th century because of its narrowness the cathedral was disassembled and a place for construction of more extensive temple was prepared. Facades of the cathedral are decorated by pilasters with capitals, eaves and a high socle from a white stone. From the outside walls of a cathedral are separated on two layers with a horizontal belt that gives a kind of a two-storeyed civil building to it.

The cathedral is crown by five domes. The central dome is gilt, the lateral are painted by a silver paint. Two one-head churches – Saint  Juan and John Predtechi – were built in the east part of the cathedral in the end of XVI - the beginning of XVII century. In the north and the west the cathedral is decorated by carved portals made from the white stone in style of the Italian Revival. In southern, western and northern parties there were covered galleries that were broken in XVIII century (only southern gallery is kept to nowdays).

In the end of the XVIII-th century architect M. F. Kazakov built a portal in Gothic style in the northern part of the cathedral disassembled in 1920. A stone tent was adjoined to the south-west part of the cathedral. It was built in 1826 on the place of «a court house of the Archangel ancestral lands» in which a judgement against labor-rent peasants who didn’t pay taxes was organized. Cellars of this house were kept up to now.

During Napoleon’s invasion in 1812, Frenchmen suited a wine warehouse in the Cathedral of the Archangel, and an altar was used as a kitchen. All treasures of the cathedral were plundered. After a rout of Napoleonic armies the cathedral was restored in its former kind.

The cathedral of the Archangel was a tomb of great Moscow princes and tsars since Ivan Kalita's times. The most ancient tomb of Ivan Kalita, who died in 1342, - is situated near the southern wall of the cathedral. The Burials in the cathedral proceeded up to Peter I with the exception of the burial place of emperor Peter II who died in Moscow in 1730 (black smallpox). There are 54 burial places or 46 tombs in total (some tombs have two and three burial places).

The tombs were made white-stoned gravestones. There are inscriptions about time of death and a name of the buried prince or tsar cut out with Slavic ligature on them. Dmitry Donskoj and Ivan III (tombs at the southern wall), Ivan Groznyj and his sons (tombs in the southern altar) and other figures of Russian history are buried in the cathedral.

At the right south-east column a shrine of Ivan Grozny’s son - tsarevitch Dmitry whose remains were transferred to the cathedral by tsar Vasily Shuisky in 1606 from Uglich is located. In 1955 it was restored as a monument of history and applied art of the beginning of XVII century and was returned to original form.