From time immemorial, Russian princes considered the Archangel Michael, who defeated Satan and guarded the gates of the Garden of Eden, the patron of their squads. Each time, going on a campaign, they served him a prayer service. That is why in the middle of the 13th century a wooden temple dedicated to him appeared in the capital, which became the predecessor of the current Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, which turned into a cathedral during the 14th-18th centuries. to the royal and grand ducal tombs. Let's look at his story.
Wooden predecessor of the future cathedral
According to historians, the wooden church in honor of the Archangel Michael appeared on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin around 1248, during the reign of Alexander Nevsky's brother, Grand Duke Michael Horobrit, and was not intended for the burial of the rulers of the state. This is evidenced by the fact that the ashes of Prince Michael himself, who died during the Lithuanian campaign, were buried not in Moscow, but in Vladimir. Only two representatives of the grand ducal family were buried in this church. They were the nephew of Khorobrit Grand Duke Daniel and his son Yuri.
The votive temple
This earliest church stood for a little less than a hundred years, and in the 30s of the next century gave way to the first stone cathedral. It was erected in 1333 by decree of the Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow Ivan Kalita, who vowed to build it on the territory of the Kremlin if the Lord would save Russia from starvation caused by a crop failure.
Now it is difficult to judge what this building looked like, since its images have not been preserved. But the description of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin of that time, which has come down to us among other historical documents, says that it was small and, apparently, had four pillars. Subsequently, two new chapels were added to it.
Temple struck by lightning
Despite the fact that this temple was built of stone, its age also proved to be short-lived. In the middle of the 15th century, during a terrible thunderstorm, lightning struck it, and although the fire that had begun was extinguished in a timely manner, the walls were seriously damaged. The cracks formed in them increased over time, and by the end of the century this second Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin threatened to collapse at any moment. To prevent misfortune, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, who ruled in those years - the grandfather of the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible - ordered to dismantle the emergency structure and build a new cathedral in its place.
Who built the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin?
It should be noted that the moment forthe erection of the temple was quite suitable. At that time, Moscow, actively growing, was decorated with new churches, monasteries and boyar chambers, which caused an influx of foreign builders and architects, mainly from Italy. Their monument can be the battlements of the Kremlin walls, made in the form of "dovetails" and are a vivid example of the Lombard style.
So for the construction of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, the photo of which is presented in the article, an architect was invited from Milan, who entered Russian history under the name Aleviz Fryazin Novy. It should not be surprising that the Italian architect had a Russian surname. In fact, the word Fryazin was a nickname denoting, in the jargon of that time, hired craftsmen ordered by princes from abroad. It is characteristic that this is how the Italian was registered in the pay books, according to which he received a salary.
Solve a complex architectural problem
It is known that even before the start of work on the construction of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Aleviz created projects for several secular buildings, which the customers liked very much. But it is one thing to build a residential or public building, and quite another - a religious building, in which it is necessary to strictly adhere to the established canons. The difficulty was that Ivan III wanted the temple to meet the requirements of European fashion and at the same time not go beyond the Orthodox tradition.
To the credit of master Aleviz, it should be said that hebrilliantly coped with such a difficult task. His brainchild perfectly combines the strict geometry of the Italian Renaissance with the characteristic elements of Russian temple architecture. The five-domed cathedral erected by him has a traditional cross-domed system and semicircular vaults in its layout, which makes it similar to the tower style of ancient Russian churches.
In addition, in accordance with the requirements of the canon, a two-tiered porch and choirs were built inside, from which representatives of the princely family could observe the course of the service. Otherwise, the architecture of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin corresponds to the style that was then widespread in Western Europe and became a hallmark of the Renaissance.
Under the patronage of Vasily III
The beginning of construction work was preceded by a complete (and according to some sources - partial) dismantling of the former temple, erected by Ivan Kalita. Upon its completion in October 1505, Ivan III personally laid the first stone in the foundation of the future structure, and, by a fateful coincidence, died a few days later, passing the reign to his son, who went down in Russian history under the title of Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III and became the father of the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. He controlled the entire course of construction work, which lasted four years.
It was Vasily III who came up with the idea to make the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin the burial place of Russian tsars. He issued a corresponding decree in 1508, when the constructionwas coming to an end. It is characteristic that until the twentieth century, only men were buried in the cathedral, while representatives of the royal family found eternal rest in the walls of the Kremlin Church of the Ascension of the Mother of God. Only after it was blown up by the Bolsheviks, all the female remains were transferred to the Archangel Cathedral.
The Cathedral that became the tomb of the kings
Today, under the shadow of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, there are 54 male burials. Before St. Petersburg became the capital of Russia in 1712, hierarchal memorial services were performed near each of them on the anniversary of the Assumption. With a few exceptions, all Russian rulers from Ivan Kalita to the brother and co-ruler of Peter I, Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich, found eternal rest here. Here, in 1730, the ashes of 15-year-old Tsar Peter II, who died of smallpox, were placed. Despite the fact that by that time the Peter and Paul Cathedral of the new capital had become the burial place of the tsars, an exception was made for it, fearing the spread of infection.
Among the Russian rulers of those centuries, whose remains were not included in the burials of the Archangel Cathedral, only two can be named - this is the Grand Duke of Moscow Daniil Alexandrovich (1261-1303), buried in the Danilov Monastery, and Tsar Boris Godunov (1552- 1605). His ashes were thrown out of the cathedral by False Dmitry, and later reburied in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
The mystery of the death of Ivan the Terrible
Among the most famous historical figures associated with the history of the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin,Tsar Ivan the Terrible also applies. During his lifetime, he repeatedly endowed him with rich gifts, and at the end of his days he wished himself and his two sons to allocate special places for burial. Fulfilling the will of the sovereign, after his death, his body was placed in the southern part of the altar - the so-called deacon, where it is customary to keep sacred objects such as the Gospel, crosses, tabernacles, etc.
One of the interesting facts about the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is the research of the outstanding Soviet anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov, who in 1963 opened the grave of Ivan the Terrible and, based on the study of the skull, managed to recreate the portrait of the deceased monarch. It is curious that in the bones of the king and his wife Martha, whose remains are also in the cathedral, he found a high content of mercury, indicating that they were systematically poisoned, and the blood-drinking king did not die a natural death. This hypothesis has been put forward before, but in this case it was given scientific confirmation.
Restoration and restoration work carried out in the 19th century
Over the past two centuries, the Archangel Cathedral has been repeatedly repaired and subject to restoration. Usually this was due to its natural wear and tear, which is an inevitable consequence of the past centuries, but sometimes extraordinary circumstances became the cause. So, in 1812, the French who captured Moscow set up a military kitchen in the altar of the cathedral. The iconostasis and part of the wall painting were seriously damaged from the smoke of fires and steam rising from the boilers. After exilethese European barbarians had to carry out large-scale restoration work. At the same time, part of the columns that were part of the decoration of the lower tier was replaced, and the unique carving of the iconostasis was restored.
What did the 20th century bring to the cathedral?
A large amount of work on the improvement and restoration of the cathedral was carried out in 1913, when the tercentenary of the Royal House of Romanov was celebrated. For the celebrations organized on the occasion of such a significant date, a marble canopy was built over the tomb of the founder of the dynasty - Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. It was made according to sketches made by Grand Duke Peter Nikolayevich, the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I.
Once again, significant damage was done to the cathedral in 1917, when, after the October armed coup, it was under fire from artillery shelling the Kremlin. Soon after this, worship services in it ceased, and for a long time the doors of the temple remained locked. Only in 1929 they were opened to bring into the basement (lower floor) of the tomb with the remains of women belonging to the Rurik and Romanov dynasties. As mentioned above, this happened after the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin was blown up, where they had been until then.
Resurrection from oblivion
In 1955, a museum was opened in the premises of the cathedral, where services had not been held for a long time, which made it possible to carry out some restoration work and save it from further destruction. This status was kept for himuntil the fall of the communist regime, which marked the beginning of the return to the Church of property illegally taken from her.
Among other shrines, the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin returned to her bosom, the address of which is extremely simple and known to all residents of the capital. It consists of only two words: Moscow, Kremlin. Since then, it has resumed spiritual life, interrupted for almost eight centuries.
