Cathedrals & Monasteries, Moscow

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Favorite thing: Can you imagine, they built this as a brand new cathedral in years 1992-2000...
On the same place used to be a swimming pool.

I recommend you to visit the Cathedral, I think I have never seen so much gold altogether at one place...which does not necessarily presume a tasteful interior. Anyway from outside the building looks magnificent.

Locks on the bridge leading to the Cathedral left mainly by couples in love as a symbol of their feelings.

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Favorite thing: L’église de la Trinité est située à proximité du palais d’Ostankino, richement décorée de dômes verts.
Elle a été construite entre 1678 et 1683 pour la famille Tcherkasski, propriétaire du domaine d’Ostankino avant les Chérémétiev. L’église de la Trinité d’Ostankino arbore les traditionnels kokochniki et cinq coupoles mais diffère des édifices semblables par ses deux chapelles construites de part et d’autre (au nord et au sud) de l’édifice central, chacune avec son entrée et couronnée d’un dôme.

The church of the Trinidad is situated close to the palace of Ostankino, richly decorated of green domes.
It has been constructed between 1678 and 1683 for the family Tcherkasski, owner of the domain of Ostankino before the Cheremetievs. The church of the Trinidad of Ostankino raises the traditional kokochniki and five domes but defers similar buildings by its two constructed on all sides chapels (to the north and to the south) of the central building, each with its entry and crowned of a dome.

Fondest memory: La construction très élaborée, en brique, est ornée de pierres et de carreaux blancs, décoration typique de la période baroque moscovite. Eglise fermée dans les années 1920, après la Révolution bolchevique, période à partir de laquelle elle fut très dégradée, pillée, puis utilisée successivement comme musée, comme entrepôt de pommes de terre, et, pendant la guerre, comme lieu de stockage des biens les plus précieux du palais voisin d'Ostankino. Son intérieur fut progressivement restauré à partir des années 1970 et, dans les années 1980, l'église accueillait des concerts de musique classique. Finalement restituée au patriarcat de Moscou en 1991.

The very elaborate construction, in brick, is decorated of stones and white tiles, decoration typical of the Muscovite odd period. Closed church in the years 1920, after the Bolshevik Revolution, period from which she/it was damaged very, robbed, used then successively like museum, like warehouse of potatoes, and, during the war, like place of storage of the most precious goods of the neighboring palace of Ostankino. Its inside was restored progressively from the years 1970 and, in the years 1980, the church welcomed concerts of classical music. Finally restored to the patriarchy of Moscow in 1991.

Favorite thing: There are still preserved many orthodox churches - in Moscow in spite of Stalin's violent attitude for them. But for instance the church Napoleon commented: "The most beautiful church I ever seen!" has been destroyed. There is only an empty place instead.

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Favorite thing: This is one of the most beautiful convents in Moscow and its was founded in the early 16th century. Its main cathedral was consecrated in honour of the Smolenskaya Icon of the Mother of God Hodigitria. According to legend, the icon was painted by St. Luke himself, and it is closely linked with the convent's foundation.

Fondest memory: The icon was brought to Rus from Greece in 1046 by Tsarina Anna Monomakh, the wife of the Chernigovsk Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, and later ended up in Smolensk. In 1398 Sofia, the wife of Prince Vasily I, went to Smolensk to visit her father, the Lithuanian Duke Vitovt. He allowed her to take the icon back to Moscow, and it was placed in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation. Several years later the citizens of Smolensk asked the Moscow Grand Prince to return their object of worship. Eventually Vasily II the Dark, who had succeeded Vasily I, acceded to their request in 1456. He had an exact copy of the icon made, and then sent the original revered icon back to Smolensk. The icon was solemnly accompanied by a religious procession to the banks of the Moscow River opposite the Vorobyovy Hills, where a service was held. From that day onwards (up to the revolution) a religious procession was held annually at this place.

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Favorite thing: Anyone who witnesses an Orthodox liturgy for the first time will be struck by its frank appeal to the senses. The central actions of the Liturgy are, to be sure, the consecration and distribution of the bread and wine that constitute the Lord's Body and Blood.

The Orthodox church building is nothing more (or less) than the architectural setting for the Liturgy. Originally, converted houses served the purpose. The history of the church as a conspicuous structure begins with the official toleration of Christianity by Constantine the Great in 313, although there is evidence that sizeable churches existed before his time in some large cities. In the fourth and fifth centuries, buildings were erected to facilitate baptism (baptistries) and burial (mausolea) and to commemorate important events in the lives of Christ and the saints (martyria); but it was the building designed primarily to accommodate the celebration of the Eucharist that became the typical Christian structure - the church as we think of it today.

Fondest memory: The Basilica
As early as the fifth century, church plans varied from one part of the Empire to another. But most were basilicas, long rectangular structures divided into three or five aisles by rows of columns running parallel to the main axis, with a semi-cylindrical extension - an apse - at one end (usually the eastern) of the nave, or central aisle. The altar stood in front of the apse. The flat walls and aligned columns of a basilica define spatial volumes that are simple and mainly rectangular (except for the apse); they also are rationally interrelated and in proportion to each other, with a horizontal "pull" toward the bema, where the clergy would be seen framed by the outline of the apse.
Beyond the Empire, Byzantine plans were taken over with few changes or used as a point of departure for indigenous designs.In Russia the familiar "onion" dome was developed by the thirteenth century, perhaps in response to weather conditions (it sheds snow easily, preventing it from accumulating at the seam between the dome and the drum). Also in Russia, alongside churches of domed cubical shape, are "tent" churches, developed most energetically in the sixteenth century from native traditions of timber architecture. A tower with a huge steeple, its silhouette contrasting with the flat landscape, rises over the monocameral body of the church and is topped with a tiny lantern or dome: St. Basil the Blessed in Moscow's Red Square (actually not one church but a cluster of nine) has the best-known example.

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Favorite thing: After I visited this cathedral, I wnt back home and asked to the owner of the flat where I rented a room, which was its name.She said: wait a minute and came back with a huge book about that cathedral history and, as the book was in cyrillic I was really afraid she could try to read to me all the story.
Fortunatly she used the book only to show me the relevant photos and told me a summery of the storyThe first cathedral of Christ the saviour was built to celebrate the vicory against Napoleon betwen 1839 and 1883. Then it was destroyed by Stalin who wanted to build at its place a “palace of Soviet” 315 meters high with a statue of Lenin 100 meters high, but this project was never realised as they needed the metals to build new weapons for the war.So years later here was built the biggest swimming pool of the world untill when the majour of moscow decided to rebuild the church that finally was finished in 1997, it’s not made by real gold like the first one(even if it costed 350 milion dollars) but it’s still worth a visit. It’s opened every day since 10 to 17.

Fondest memory: I can say what I do not miss: the looong lines to enter also this cathedral cause of the slow metal detector controls.

Favorite thing: The Monastery was founded in the middle of XIV century. The famous icon-painter, Andrey Rublev, was this monastery's monk at the end of XIV - the beginning of XV centuries. Fragments of A. Rublev's frescoes remain on the walls of the Spassky Cathedral, which belongs to the Monastery. On the Monastery territory there are a lot of graves of great and famous Russian cultural and art figures, whose monuments have been kept.

Fondest memory: Nowadays on the Monastery territory there is the Museum of Russian Ancient Culture and Art named after
A. Rublev, which contains a unique collection of old icons from all over Russia. In the Museum you can acquaint yourself with the process of making icons, the technology of making boards and paints, which interprets the meaning of a certain icon, and with the history of various schools of Russian icon-painting of different epochs

Favorite thing: Nunnery was founded in 1524 by Vasily III. It was the place where the members of Tsar family's women lived by different reasons. The nunnery complex is one of the beautiful ones within the city. On the picture you see the main architectural building, Smolensky Cathedral that was built in XVI century and has icons of XVI-XVII centuries. In 1812 Patriotic War, French troops that stayed in the territory of nunnery, during their retreat, made an attempt to blow the nunnery but it was failed. Most of graves you can see on the territory date back to times of the beginning of XIX century. The monastery is on the UNESCO list. In Soviet times the nunnery was closed and museum was opened here. In spite of the nunnery was back to the church in 1994, it is still possible to see things of XIX century and icons and frecos of XVII-XIX centuries. The fee is RUR 80 (EUR 2.2) and extra fee for making photos on the territory, RUR 50 (EUR 1.4).