DORMITION CATHEDRAL IN MOSCOW

Throughout the ages Dormition Cathedral in Moscow has been tied up with the most important events in the life of the country. Dormition Cathedral served as a place of coronation of Russian Tsars, a place of election of the head of the Russian Church and the shrine of Moscow metropolitans and patriarchs.

In the end of XII century, on the site of today’s Dormition Cathedral a wooden church stood. One hundred years later Moscow Prince Daniel Alexandrovich built on this spot the first Dormition Cathedral. For a quarter of a century the cathedral loyally served Muscovites until Ivan Kalita, who lured the metropolitan from Vladimir to Moscow and embarked on building a luxurious, as he thought, stone construction striving in this way to underline Moscow’s status as the capital of the Great Princedom –– an heir of Kiev and Vladimir. But Kalita’s ambitions obviously exceeded the capacity of the treasury of that time, and the stone cathedral he built was in no way able to claim the role of the nation wide temple. Regardless of the metropolitan’s moving to Moscow, the old Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir continued to remain the main temple of Russian land; ceremonies of enthronement of the Grand Princess of Russia were held in it. Besides, Ivan Kalita’s cathedral soon became obsolete, so that 150 years afterwards it had to be supported by pillars to be able to stand.

In the beginning of XIV, Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III ordered construction of a new cathedral be started; that cathedral by its appearance was supposed to correspond with the united Russian State he was creating. The erection of the new temple was commissioned to masters Myshkin and Ivan Krivtsov. They were ordered to use as a pattern the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, but to exceed it in width and length.

Krivtsov and Myshkin began construction of the temple in 1472. In 1473-1474, the walls of the cathedral were assembled and vaults were erected. But when they began to lay the brickwork at the top the cathedral collapsed. The reasons of the fall were irrational structure of the staircase leading up to the chorus and poor density of the solution, “becauseth of poor ability of solution it did not stick together.” The destruction of the almost ready temple left a very sorrowful impression on the Muscovites. Ivan III invited masters from Pskov, who at that time were considered best in Russia, to continue construction. But the Pskovites who came to Moscow, after seeing the ruins of the cathedral, gave a flat refusal to continue the work. This caused Ivan III to take unprecedented measures. He invited architects from Italy to carry out the grandiose rebuilding of the capital he conceived. Dean Simon Talbuzin was sent by him to Italy and met Aristotle Fiorovanti, a famous Italian builder from Bologna. Fiorovanti soon agreed to go to far away and unknown Muscovia –– just in time when he found himself in an unpleasant conflict with the municipality of Bologna and travel to far away Muscovia could safeguard him from the allegations of the authorities.

Aristotle Fiorovanti arrived to Russia in March of 1475 together with his son Andrea and young apprentice Pietro. He brought with him a lot of new technical ideas, which later on solidly became practice of Russian school of architecture. Thanks to his knowledge and experience in Russian building, thick solution began to be applied, a combination of whitestone with brick, small thickness of vaults –– one brick, uplifting mechanisms, iron ties, brick that was more convenient in format. Fiorovanti suggested new methods of bricklaying –– “regular” and “semi-circled” that right away affected architecture of buildings.

Fiorovanti was forced to put up with Russian architectural tradition and to adjust the forms of Italian architecture that he knew to Russian ground.

Having got acquainted with the churches of Novgorod and Vladimir, Fiorovanti laid the Dormition Cathedral by new principles –– in a chamber-like manner –– and, thus, created an original construction as far as architecture and art are concerned. The Dormition Cathedral after joining in itself achievements of Novgorod, Vladimir-Suzdal and Italian (the epoch of early Renaissance) architectural schools became the chief temple of the country. Towering over the city it was perceived as “one stone” and being relatively of small size left an overwhelming impression. Its evenly illuminated interior, which resembled a huge hall, struck the contemporaries by its “grandeur and height, brightness and ringing acoustics and space.” “And the church was very wonderful in its grandeur and height, brightness and ringing acoustics and space. Such a thing had never happened in Russia,” the chronicler wrote. And reverent Joseph Volotskiy noted, “It is worthy to be called earthly heaven shining as the great sun in the midst of the Russian land.”

The grandiose and magnificent Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin opened a new leaf in the history of Russian architecture. It overshadowed all the previously existing buildings in Russia and up to the end of XVII century served to Russian architects as a pattern starting a completely new architectural epoch.

Three side chapels of the cathedral remind of the ancient churches that existed in the Kremlin until the construction of the cathedral. In one of them named after saint Dmitry Solunsky Prince Yuri of Moscow, Ivan Kalita’s brother, is buried. The second side chapel is dedicated to supreme Apostles Peter and Paul; the third one named Laudation to the Holy Virgin was designed by St. Iona, Moscow’s metropolitan for the sake of redeeming Moscow from the Tatars’ invasions.

Inside the cathedral strikes with its strictness and rich luxuriousness. It is decorated by “super-splendid” paintings, on which the best masters of the country worked for years. The system of the painting of the Dormition Cathedral expresses an idea of the triumph of the Universal Church. The location of the icons in the iconostasis is submitted to this idea; paintings on the walls and in the vaults of the temple serve the same idea. The builders of the temple followed in this an ancient technique –– studying the law of God through images, since not everybody could read, and only a few were able to read spiritual literature because the books, which at that time were copied by hand, were few and they cost very much.

After the dedication the cathedral stood for two years without being painted, until in 1481 a great Russian icon painter of XV century Dionisy with his disciples Timothy, Yarts and Konei began to work on it. The paintings of Dionisy in the altar of the Dormition Cathedral in part are preserved intact to this day. Several icons of the Dormition Cathedral were also created by his brush: temple icon “Dormition of the Holy Virgin,” icons “For You He Is Joyful,” “Metropolitan Peter and His Living.”

They began to paint the northern, western and southern walls of the cathedral only in 1513. How this painting looked like is unknown, because a fire of 1626 damaged it very much, and in the same year a decision was made to paint the cathedral from a scratch. More than one hundred painters came to Moscow on the Tsar’s order. They labored for two years. The new painting was richer and more luxurious than the old one –– it cost more than two thousand thin leaves of gold only for gilding. And eight years after the finishing of the painting of the cathedral the masters of Troitse-Sergiev Monastery created a new iconostasis that exists up to this day.

As new lands were joined to Moscow especially revered icons were brought to the Dormition Cathedral. In this way the concept of uniting all Russian lands obtained sacred significance. Ancient icons by Novgorod painters of XII century got brought to the Dormition Cathedral –– “The Glad Tidings of Ustyug” and “Deesis,” an icon of XII century “Increate Savior” from Vladimir, “Deesis” by Vladimir-Suzdal icon painters of the end of XII century, icons that date back to the earliest period of Moscow statehood: “the Golden-haired Savior” and “Archangel Michael” dating back to the end of XII-beginning of XIII centuries, icons of the time of Ivan Kalita –– “Wrathful Eyed Savior” and “Boris and Gleb on Horseback” by the brush of Moscow masters of XIV century.

In the Dormition Cathedral one of the main sanctities of the Russian state was kept –– the Vladimir icon of the Holy Virgin, brought here in 1395 from Vladimir. In that year the hordes of Tamerlan, having taken Yelets, approached Moscow and there seemed to be no salvation to the reigning city… At that time from Vladimir to Moscow the Vladimir icon of the Holy Virgin was brought, and on that same day “Temir Aksak, the tsar, became fear-stricken and terrified… and showed his rear to Rus as if being severely pursued.” As tradition has it, The Vladimir icon of the Holy Virgin was painted by saint Evangelist Luke and brought from Constantinople as a gift to Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky (God lover).

The southern doorway of the cathedral is decorated by gates by Balkan masters of XIV century brought here in 1401 from Suzdal’s Nativity Monastery. On brass plates of the monastery in gold layering Biblical scenes and themes are depicted. Every epoch left its memorial traces in the Dormition Cathedral. In 1551, at the time of Ivan the Terrible wood carvers made and installed in the temple the ornamented “Tsar’s Chair” or as it was begun to be called “The Throne of Monomah.” Four animals carved of wood serve as the throne’s legs, while the sidings of the throne are covered with bass relieves depicting Vladimir Monomah receiving Tsar’s regalia in Constantinople. Over the throne there is a carved tent on small ornate pillars. They say that during the preparation of the coronation of Catherine I this throne was to be removed from the temple, but Peter the Great said, “I consider this place to be more precious than gold for its antiquity as well as for the fact that all my ruling ancestors, Russian monarchs, stood on it.”

In the altar of the Dormition Cathedral there were three big crucifixes called Korsunskie. According to tradition, St. Prince Vladimir brought them from Korsun to Kiev from where they were brought to Vladimir and then –– to Moscow.

In the sacristy of the cathedral a big jasper vessel is kept for precious ointment that was used for anointing of the Russian Tsars for reigning –– the so-called Augustus’ Krabia. This vessel, according to tradition, once used to belong to Roman emperor Augustus. From Rome it was brought to Constantinople and later sent to Vladimir Monomah as a gift by Alexei Komnin. Among the cathedral’s furniture two communion cups brought by Ivan the Terrible from Novgorod are of note. As tradition has it, they used to belong to saint Antony the Roman and were brought by him from Rome.

Tragic events of the Great Patriotic War of 1812 have to do with the Dormition Cathedral. The French used the cathedral as the stables. Before fleeing from Moscow, they carried away from the cathedral more than five thousand tons of silver and around 300 kilos of gold. After the war, the central chandelier of the temple was cast of the silver that was captured back from the French.

In the Dormition Cathedral all the metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow are buried –– Peter, Iona, Philip, metropolitan Feognost, Ciprian and Fotyi and others except for St. metropolitan Alexey who was buried in Tchudov Monastery and overthrown patriarch Nikon who was buried in New Jerusalem Monastery.