Chapter Two
Cathedral Square certainly was not something I expected to find in the Moscow Kremlin, not the beauty, the antiquity, the peacefulness, the heart of the Kremlin.
Bell Tower of Ivan III( (the Great).
Completed in 1600, the Ivan the
Detail atop belfry.
During the reign of Ivan III, also known as Ivan the Great (1440 – 1505),
Assumption Cathedral
This cathedral is where all the Russian tsars were crowned. It is also called the Cathedral of Dormition. Since its construction began in the latter 15th century, it has been considered the most important church in
There's that tourist getting into the photo again.
Detail of gate lock. I was fascinated with these old locks.
Detail beside door.
Making our way into the cathedral. No photos permitted
Church of the Deposition of the Virgin’s Robe, built in 1484-88.
Be sure to click on the photo below and check out the unique drums supporting the domes.
Above, rooftop detail of Upper Savior’s Cathedral and
The plain building in the center is Ivan III’s
Across the square is the Annunciation Cathedral. This church, built by order of Ivan the Terrible, is where the royal families’ private Orthodox services were held. On the far left, not pictured here because of some construction, is a covered porch built for Ivan The Terrible. He had gotten himself cross-threaded with the Russian Orthodox Church when he married his fourth wife, because divorce was not allowed by the church.
The tsars, when confronted with a the problem of ridding themselves of an unwanted wife, simply shipped them off to a convent where they were required to become nuns. I suppose this was much more humane than how Henry the VIII of England rid himself of wives.
So, Ivan was not permitted inside the church, but had to stand outside to hear the ceremony.
Above is the Archangel Cathedral, built in the early 1500s. It contains many tombs of Russian princes, including Ivan IV (the Terrible) and his son Ivan V, whom he killed during an argument.
The Patriarch’s Palace and Church of the Twelve Apostles is the building pictured below. It contained living quarters. As with all the cathedrals and churches inside the Kremlin walls, it now houses icons, fabrics, and treasures of the Russian empire.
During our visit, we went inside only the Assumption Cathedral where we gaped at the richness of the décor, the priceless icons, and the frescoes. The guide book I have used to identify my photos contains numerous pictures of the riches contained in all these buildings.
The faceted palace, with the
Okay, enough of palaces and cathedrals and kremlins. Time to float this boat.
...to "bottoms up."... No?
In the meantime, I will post the story I've been itching to tell since I started the Russian Journals. Please see below, Part Nine, Kizhi Island.
Early evening, 1714, the small
With a sharp crack the pole snapped into two pieces. Nestor leaned his axe against the pile of firewood and picked up the two pieces of wood. He saw that the wood had been broken in two rather than cut by the axe. He added the last two pieces to the large pile of wood and picked up the axe.
“You need a honing, axe,” said Nestor. “But you’ve done your work. Now you shall rest.” A nearby raven squawked in agreement.
Nestor’s eldest son Alexei approached his father. “You did it, father, and without a single nail. This is surely the most magnificent church in all
Nestor smiled and nodded. He thought of the careful scribe-fitting of the logs, the dove-tails and swallow-tails and hand-mitered joints. He thought of how much his son had learned of craftsmanship, how the lad had become the finest shingle splitter on the island, of how fitting the aspen shingles over the domes had been such exacting work, perfect for the boy’s small hands.
Nestor walked a dozen yards to the edge of
The sun had warmed them all day as they completed their toils, and Nestor and the men were in a good mood because of it. They had fought the rain and wind common to this island for too many months. Now the early evening sun hit the onion domes of the completed church, turning the aspen shingles silver.
During the early morning the domes appeared to be made of gold, and on cloudy days they were occasionally purple. Nestor looked at the bit of his broad axe. The many times he had carefully sharpened the bit had worn the chiseled edge deep into the cheek of the axe head, but the fine Prussian steel held an edge like no other cutting tool he owned. It was an ideal weapon, too, thought Nestor, should I have had to fight those troublesome Poles, or Lithuanians, or Swedes, as my ancestors did.
For a moment, Nestor regretted his decision. He had never owned such a fine tool in all his life. But then, he had never before built such a fine church, either. Father Dmitri had told him it was to be called the
Holding the handle of the axe with both calloused hands, Nestor looked at a spot far out on the lake, and, with a half spin, threw the axe into the water of
As the axe splashed and disappeared, Nestor turned back to the church on rise and said aloud, “Never before has there been, there is not now, and never will there be another like it.”
Would they sit around being all mushroomy and fungal?
Would they imagine their caps on inside-out?
Would they turn their world on edge?
Would they take a coy peek at the world?
Or, would they spread their wings and fly?