Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin: description, history and interesting facts. What's in the royal graves now?

During the turbulent history of Peter and Paul Fortress, not only its external architectural appearance, but also its memorial appearance was formed. In fact, today it is a whole necropolis, with facade, half-open and not yet explored sides.

Who is buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Official burials appeared on the territory of the fortress even before the completion of the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which became known as the Peter and Paul Cathedral. In the wooden church in 1708, the first to be buried in infancy was Catherine, the daughter of Peter I. In 1715 - 1717, the graves of three more young children of the sovereign appeared in the unfinished cathedral - daughters Natalya, Margarita and son Paul. At the same time, Tsarina Marfa Matveevna found her last refuge here.

Despite inter-family feuds and accusations of conspiracy, at the behest of Peter the Great, his disgraced eldest son Alexei (died under unclear circumstances in 1718) and sister Maria (March 1723) were laid to rest in the imperial tomb. Their graves are located under the bell tower in the chapel of St. Catherine. In 1725, the body of the deceased Peter I was also transferred to the church.

Peter the First

The last Tsar of All Rus' (from 1682) and the first Emperor of All Russia (from 1721) died at the age of 52 in January 1725 in the Winter Palace. In accordance with the regulations of the ceremony, which he himself developed, the body for farewell was initially exhibited there in the funeral hall. The Emperor was in the coffin in brocade clothes embroidered with lace with a sword and St. Andrew the First-Called on his chest.

After a month, he was embalmed and transferred to a temporary wooden church, specially erected in honor of the sad occasion, installed directly in the unfinished Cathedral of Peter and Paul. And only six years later, in 1731, at the behest of Anna Ioannovna, who reigned at that time, Peter the Great, together with his wife Catherine I, who died two years later than the sovereign, were buried in the imperial tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Their crypt tombs, the chambers of which are located under the floor, are located at the southern entrance to the temple. As evidenced by inscriptions and crosses made of pure gold.

Tombs in the Peter and Paul Fortress

The fortress church became the last home for almost all the sovereigns of Russia, including Alexander III.

Catherine II

The tomb of Catherine the Great located in the Peter and Paul Cathedral is missing the epitaph that the empress personally composed during her lifetime. “Having ascended the Russian throne, she wished well and tried to bring happiness, freedom and property to her subjects,” the empress wrote about herself. Her death was as turbulent and shrouded in gossip as her life.

But the most tragic thing is that his son Pavel, who inherited the crown, ordered his mother to be buried next to the body of the murdered man, delivered from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and personally crowned by him Peter III. The crippled former spouses lay side by side in the mourning tent of the Winter Palace for 4 days in early December 1796, and then were moved to the cathedral for burial.

“You will think that these spouses spent their entire lives together on the throne, died and were buried on the same day,” Nikolai Grech wrote about this event.

The general list does not include only Peter II, who was laid to rest in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, as well as John VI Antonovich, who was killed in the Oreshek fortress. After the burial in 1831, at the request of Nicholas I of his brother Konstantin Pavlovich, funeral services for members of the imperial family began on the territory of the temple.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess

The granddaughter of Paul I found her last refuge in the cathedral on May 4 (16), 1894, dying after a long illness. The Grand Duchess was famous for her charitable activities in Russia, promoting female education and conservative views.

After her death, a funeral litany was held in her home - the Mikhailovsky Palace. Alexander III took part in the burial in the imperial tomb. The name of Ekaterina Mikhailovna went down in history as an example of philanthropy and care for one’s neighbor.

Due to the overcrowding of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, a Grand Ducal Tomb was erected nearby in 1897 - 1908, connected to it by a covered gallery. During the period from 1908 to 1915, the graves of 13 people appeared in it, 8 of whom were reburied from the cathedral. Since 1992, the tradition has been resumed, and to date, 4 burials of members and close associates of the imperial family have been added.

Still buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Next to the cathedral there was a commandant's cemetery, where almost all the commanders of the fortress were buried. In addition, from the moment the first prisoners appeared in Petropavlovka in 1717 until the official closure of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison in 1923, cases of suicide and natural death were repeatedly recorded here. Therefore, it is possible that not all the dead were taken outside the citadel for burial.

Periodic random discoveries since the late 80s of the last century of so-called execution pits with the remains of those killed in 1917 - 1921 indicate that these little-studied graves are chronologically the last in the history of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

He founded the fortress, calling it St. Petersburg, in the name of his heavenly patron. In the summer of this year, along with other buildings, a wooden church was laid, which was named in honor of the saints and Paul. After the Poltava victory in 1709, St. Petersburg began to be built up with magnificent buildings, because it is now the capital of the Russian State.

Necropolis of the dynasty

The Peter and Paul Cathedral is an outstanding architectural monument of the early 18th century, it is widely known, and the sparkling gold spire is one of the symbols of the city. But not everyone is aware that the cathedral is the tomb of the Russian Imperial House , , as well as all subsequent crowned heads of the dynasty.

But contemporaries perceived the cathedral primarily as a crypt of the House of Romanov; only those sacraments that were dedicated to these sad events took place there; baptisms and weddings were not held. The best architects and artists of St. Petersburg were involved in the design of funeral ceremonies. Unfortunately, only contemporaries of the events could see the funeral processions, after which all the decorations were dismantled and the temple took on its usual appearance.

Traditionally, burials in the cathedral took place not only of embalmed bodies in hermetically sealed coffins, but also of internal organs laid out in vessels. The day before the official ceremony, they were placed at the bottom of the grave. As a rule, only members of the “Sad Commission” who were involved in organizing the funeral and the clergy were present during this procedure.

From the history of the cathedral

In 1712, on the city’s birthday, in front of many dignitaries, he laid the first stone of the cathedral on the site of a wooden church. The temple was consecrated in 1733; it is designed in the Baroque style and is one of the majestic architectural monuments. The cathedral is a rectangular building located from west to east, above its eastern part there is a drum with a dome, and from west side there is a bell tower with a gilded spire of 122.5 meters, which is still the tallest building in St. Petersburg. Since 1858, the temple has been called “Peter and Paul”. In the second photo you see the interior of the cathedral where Peter 1 is buried.

Under the leadership of the king, the cathedral was built very quickly. Domenico Trezzini - a Swiss engineer - was appointed architect, he was given the best craftsmen. After 8 years, the outside construction of the cathedral was completed. Clocks with chimes were brought from Holland; they were purchased for a huge amount of money - 45,000 rubles. After 3 years, a gilded spire was installed. The iconostasis, the work of which Peter the Great entrusted to the architect Zarudny, took 4 years to complete. Under his leadership, artists Ivanov and Telega worked from the drawings.

Where is Emperor Peter the Great buried?

Most likely, already at the beginning of construction, the king, following the example of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, wanted to turn the cathedral into the tomb of his dynasty. Before the construction of the cathedral, all tsars were buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin (Boris Godunov rests in

For two centuries, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where Peter 1 is buried, was the burial place of almost all the emperors up to Alexander III and many family relatives, only John VI is buried in a different place. The very first, in 1708, still in a wooden church, was Catherine, daughter of Peter 1, who was laid to rest at the age of one and a half years.

Celebrity graves. Peter I and his descendants

Before construction was completed, other burials were carried out in the cathedral. In the summer, in 1715, the remains of the daughters of Peter 1 - Natalya and Margarita - were brought here. In winter - Queen Marfa Matveevna (Apraksina), who was the wife of the Tsar. In 1717, they buried the son of Peter 1 - Paul, in next year The soul of the eldest son of Peter 1, Alexei Petrovich, from his first wife Lopukhina, who was executed on the orders of his father for anti-state activities, rested in peace. 5 years later, in 1723, Maria Alekseevna, the disgraced one, was buried here. The graves of Tsarevich Alexei and Tsarina Martha Matveevna are located under the bell tower in the chapel of St. Catherine. The grave where Peter 1 is buried is pictured below.

It was here, in the unfinished cathedral, that on March 8, 1725, the body of Emperor Peter the Great, who had fallen asleep forever (January 28), was placed. According to the design of D. Trizini, a temporary wooden church was built inside the cathedral, and Peter the Great and his daughter Natalia, who died on March 4, were transferred there with a magnificent ceremony.

The tightly closed coffin where Peter 1 was buried was placed on a hearse trimmed with gold fabric, under a canopy. In the summer of 1727, a coffin with his deceased wife, Empress Catherine 1, was placed there.

Ashes to earth

In May 1731, Empress Anna Ioanovna ordered the ashes of the couple to be interred. The burial took place with a special ceremony on May 29. Among those present were persons from the Admiralty, generals, and collegiate ranks. When placing the coffins in a specially designated place in the Imperial Cemetery, 51 salvos were fired from the fortress.

Peter and Paul Cathedral - the tomb of representatives of the Romanov dynasty

Imperial burials of the 18th century. are located in the southern nave of the cathedral in front of the iconostasis, where the icon of the Apostle Peter is placed in an icon case. They are located in two rows. In the first row, in addition to Peter I and his second wife, Empress Catherine I, their daughter Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was laid to rest. Empress Anna Ioannovna, Emperor Peter III and Empress Catherine II are buried in the second row. Thus, Peter I the Great and his grandson Peter III are buried in front of the icon of their patron saint, the Apostle Peter.

Imperial burials in the northern nave of the Peter and Paul Cathedral

In the northern nave, in the iconostasis, there is an icon depicting the Apostle Paul; Emperor Paul I, his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna, their eldest son Emperor Alexander I and his wife Empress Elizabeth Feodorovna are buried in front of it. In the first row there are three graves: Emperor Nicholas I, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the eldest daughter of Peter I, Princess Anna Petrovna, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp - the mother of Peter III. In the northern nave, in the same row as Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna, their son Emperor Alexander III rests. On September 28, 2006, Empress Maria Feodorovna (nee Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 11/14/1867–10/13/1928) was reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral next to her husband Emperor Alexander III. Maria Feodorovna died in Denmark and was buried in Roskilde Cathedral near Copenhagen.

All tombstones in the Peter and Paul Cathedral are made of white Carrara marble, except for two, created from semi-precious stones. The burial of Alexander II is decorated with a tombstone made of green Altai jasper, weighing about 5.5 tons. Above the grave of his wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, a tombstone made of rhodonite, weighing about 6.5 tons, was installed. These magnificent monolithic tombstones were made according to the design of A. L. Gun at the Peterhof Lapidary Factory near St. Petersburg and installed in 1906, when the 25th anniversary of the death of the Tsar-Liberator, who abolished serfdom, and the Tsar-Martyr, who died from a Narodnaya Volya bomb after multiple assassination attempts, were celebrated.

In addition to emperors and empresses, family members were also buried in the cathedral: in early XVIII V. Relatives of Peter I were buried here, and from 1831 the graves of grand dukes began to appear.

V. Reinhardt. Peter and Paul Cathedral. North nave This is what the graves of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna looked like before they were replaced in 1906.

In 1939, at the request of the Greek government, in the presence of representatives of the museum, both governments and the clergy, the grave of the nee Greek princess Alexandra Georgievna, wife of the son of Alexander II, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, was opened. Her remains were sent home for reburial. In 1994, the body of Tsarevich Georgy Alexandrovich was exhumed to identify the remains of his brother Nicholas II. After the necessary research, Georgy Alexandrovich was buried in the same coffin and crypt in the presence of clergy, and a memorial service was served.

During the restoration work in the cathedral after the fire of 1756, a wall was built that separated from the main hall of the temple three rooms located under the bell tower: the vestibule through which parishioners enter the temple, the sacristy and the chapel, consecrated in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. After this, the main building of the cathedral was often called the “Main Temple”, and the Catherine’s chapel was often called the “Small Temple”. Separate services were held here.

On July 17, 1998, in the Catherine's chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the remains of members of the family of Emperor Nicholas II, a servant and a doctor, who were shot in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, were interred. The tombstone is made of three types of Italian marble, the tombstone is made of Carrara white marble. Under it is a two-tier crypt, on the lower tier of which are buried: doctor E. S. Botkin, maid A. S. Demidova, footman A. E. Trupp, cook I. M. Kharitonov.

On the upper tier of the crypt there are coffins with the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and three daughters: Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia. Memorial plaques on the walls of the Small Church contain information about all family members, but for Grand Duchess Maria and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, whose remains were not found, there is no indication of the burial place. The funeral was attended by: President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, representatives of foreign states, and a large number of guests. The delegation of the Romanov family, consisting of 52 people, was headed by the great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Nikolai Romanovich Romanov. More than 1,000 correspondents covered the media mass media this event. The funeral requiem service was celebrated by clergy of the St. Petersburg diocese, led by the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Boris Glebov. During the burial, 19 shots were fired.

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church believes that “...The decision on the identification of the remains as family owned Emperor Nicholas II, caused serious doubts and even confrontations in the Church and society. In this regard, the Holy Synod speaks out in favor of the immediate burial of these remains in a symbolic grave-monument.”

In August 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized members of the family of Nicholas II, but did not change its attitude towards burial in the Catherine Chapel.

From the moment of the consecration of the stone Peter and Paul Cathedral, church and service life was largely determined by its use as an imperial tomb. Over time, funeral services for persons of the reigning house became the main activity of the clergy. The sacraments of baptism and weddings were never performed here.

In May 1919, by order of the commandant of the fortress, the cathedral was closed. Since the early 1990s. services have resumed here.

On the eve of the revolution, the large Romanov family numbered more than 60 people. 18 of them died during the years of revolutionary terror (four were shot in January 1919 in the Peter and Paul Fortress). The rest managed to leave their homeland. Their lives in exile developed differently. Now the Romanovs live in many countries of the world, have different professions. During their visits to our country and St. Petersburg, descendants of emperors visit the graves of their ancestors in the Peter and Paul Cathedral to venerate their memory.

Grand Ducal Tomb

TO end of the 19th century V. There was practically no room left in the cathedral for new burials, so the building of the Grand Ducal Tomb was erected next to it according to the design of the architect D. I. Grimm, with the participation of A. O. Tomishko and L. N. Benois.

Combining features various styles the building fits well into architectural ensemble Peter and Paul Fortress and forms a single ensemble with the Peter and Paul Cathedral, being its chapel, consecrated in 1908 in the name of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, one of the patrons of St. Petersburg.

The tomb is connected to the building of the Peter and Paul Cathedral by a gallery where rooms were provided - the Royal Rooms, intended for rest of members of the ruling family when visiting the graves of loved ones.

Grand-ducal tomb. Photo beginning XX century

Unlike the cathedral, sixty concrete crypts with a depth of 2.2 m, located in rows from east to west, were immediately prepared in the Grand Ducal Tomb. The grave was closed flush with the floor with a white marble slab, on which the title, name, places of birth and death, and the date of burial of the deceased were engraved. When they were buried in this building, the funeral service took place in the cathedral. By 1916 there were thirteen burials here, eight of which were moved from the Peter and Paul Cathedral. After the revolution, the tomb, like the cathedral, was closed and sealed. The bronze decorations and bars of the altar were sent for melting down. The building was subsequently used as a warehouse, at which time the tombstones were broken. In 1954 the tomb was transferred to State Museum history of the city.

Funeral procession Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Photo 1911

Funeral of Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov. Photo 1992

Funeral of Leonida Georgievna. Farewell to the body in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Photo 2010

Currently there are seventeen graves here. The burial in 1992 of the great-grandson of Emperor Alexander II, Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov (08/30/1917–04/21/1992), whom supporters considered a contender for the Russian throne, served as a precedent for subsequent burials. In 1995, the remains of Vladimir Kirillovich’s parents – Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (30.09.1876–12.10.1938) and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (13.11.1876–2.03.1936) were reburied in the Grand Ducal Tomb from Coburg (Germany). On June 3, 2010, next to Vladimir Kirillovich in the Grand Ducal Tomb, his wife Leonida Georgievna (nee Princess Bagration-Mukhranskaya, 09.23.1914–05.23.2010, Madrid) was buried.

Church and parish life of the Peter and Paul Cathedral

The first wooden church in the Peter and Paul Fortress was consecrated on April 1, 1704 in the name of the apostles Peter and Paul. Little information has been preserved about the services in this church, but it is known that solemn services were held there in honor of the victories of Russian weapons, and trophies obtained in the Northern War were kept. . In 1712, when St. Petersburg became the capital of the state, construction of a new stone church began around the wooden church, which lasted 21 years. During the construction period, the clergy was preserved and services were held. Already in the first wooden church, the daughter of Peter I, Catherine, was buried; the burials of the Tsar’s relatives continued during the construction of the stone temple. When the remains of Peter I and Catherine I were interred in the cathedral in 1731, the temple became the imperial tomb. Indications that the cathedral was created by the cathedral decree of Anna Ioannovna in June 1731 are in the chronicle of the Peter and Paul Fortress and in Bogdanov-Ruban, but in the Complete Collection of Laws Russian Empire no such decree has been found.

On June 29, 1733, the consecration of this unique and huge “notoriously built church” took place in the presence of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The re-consecration of the cathedral took place on June 23, 1757, after a fire that destroyed the bell tower a year earlier.

On July 6, 1737, Anna Ioannovna imposed a resolution on the report of the Synod on the staff of the clergy and clergy of the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Synod drew the empress's attention to the small number of priests and their inconsistency with the high status of the temple: they are “unlearned people,” while for such a “noble church” they rely on “worthy, learned, skillful and benevolent people” and “infinite numbers” as ministers. The staff was significantly expanded, and from that time on, regular episcopal services began in the cathedral, led in turn by the highest hierarchs of the Russian Church.

Before the establishment of the St. Petersburg diocese in 1742, the cathedral was considered synodal and subordinate to the Holy Synod. In the Peter and Paul Cathedral, as a cathedral, clergy were promoted to the rank of bishop and St. Petersburg metropolitans were ordained, and here the new metropolitan was to hold his first service.

Already from the first years of its existence, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was not the only place for bishops' services. It was quite difficult to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress, especially in spring and autumn due to the “danger of the Neva,” so increasingly such services began to be held in other churches, and the Peter and Paul Cathedral began to lose its importance as the main one. In addition to the territorial inconvenience, it was important that members of the imperial family were buried in the cathedral; it became a memorial place, in which funeral services began to play a leading role.

In 1858, St. Isaac's Cathedral became the cathedral church of the St. Petersburg Metropolis, which is confirmed by the “Highly approved Ceremony of the consecration of the St. Petersburg Cathedral in the name of St. Isaac of Dalmatia on May 30, 1858.”

In 1859, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was transferred from the jurisdiction of the diocese to the court construction office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1883, together with the clergy, it was assigned to the Court Spiritual Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the cathedral received the status of a court, which was fully consistent with the historical situation, and retained it until 1917 In 2007, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir (Kotlyarov) named the Peter and Paul Cathedral the first. cathedral St. Petersburg.

Due to the fact that the cathedral is the tomb of the House of Romanov, a special church and service life of the temple developed: funeral services and memorials were held here for the deceased members of the imperial family, and such ordinary services as baptism and weddings were not held. Cathedral members took part in all ceremonies of the monarchs' funerals and memorial services. Sometimes the funeral service was held in the cathedral for the commandants of the fortress, who were buried in the Commandant Cemetery. By the end of the 19th century. a “List of church and service activities of the Peter and Paul Cathedrals” was established, indicating the regular holding of divine services. Due to the location of the cathedral in the center of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the duties of the clergy included performing religious rites for those who made up the parish of the church: soldiers of the fortress garrison, prisoners held in the fortress, and Mint workers. On the eve of holidays, Sundays and highly solemn days, all-night vigils were served, after each liturgy all persons buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, starting with Peter I, were commemorated.

Another aspect of the activity of the cathedral clergy is the swearing in of Mint workers and young soldiers. The clergy of the cathedral taught the law of God to the young soldiers of the fortress bastion and oversaw the observance of penance (punishment) imposed on prisoners, soldiers and officers of the fortress garrison.

The temple holidays of the Peter and Paul Cathedral were: June 29 - the day of the patrons of the cathedral, the supreme apostles Peter and Paul; November 24 - Holy Great Martyr Catherine in memory of the patron saint of the small church - Catherine's chapel; August 30 (transfer of the relics to St. Petersburg) and November 23 (burial) are the days of the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, which began to be celebrated after the consecration of the Grand Ducal tomb in honor of this saint in 1908. Holidays were also dedicated to temple shrines, and religious processions were held.

After 1917, services continued for some time, but apparently stopped in 1919, when the temple was closed by order of the commandant of the fortress A.I. Poppel, however, the staff and income were maintained until 1922, after which the staff disintegrated.

In 1922, the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Grand Ducal Tomb were assigned as museum objects to the Glavnauka, created under the People's Commissariat for Education. In 1924, the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison, and in 1926, the cathedral and tomb were transferred to the Museum of the Revolution. A new page of history opened for the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1954, when it came under the jurisdiction of the State. Museum of the History of Leningrad (since 1991 - St. Petersburg).

One of the first and basic legal documents Initiating the transfer of religious property to believers in post-Soviet times was the Order of the President of the Russian Federation of April 23, 1993, in which the Government of the Russian Federation was entrusted with the gradual transfer of federally owned religious property to the ownership or use of religious organizations. In 1997, Minister of Culture E. Yu. Sidorov determined the forms of contractual relations with the church regarding monuments: 1. Form of ownership (rarely used); 2. Free use (often used); 3. Sharing (rarely used). The third type of use includes such monuments as the Moscow Kremlin, Peter and Paul Cathedral, etc.

In the early 1990s. two parishes were registered: one for the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the other for the Grand Ducal Tomb with its rector, Archpriest Boris Glebov. In 2001, the current parish was registered, the chairman of the parish council (headman) of which is B. A. Almazov, and the treasurer is N. N. Valuysky. The rector of the cathedral is Abbot Alexander (Fedorov). There was no new consecration of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in post-Soviet times; after the registration of the parish before the celebration of the temple holiday on July 12, 2002, a new antimension was issued by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir (Kotlyarov).

1992 can be considered the beginning of the resumption of services, mainly of a memorial nature; this became possible after the burial of Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov in the Grand Ducal Tomb. In 1997, the cathedral hosted the first all-night liturgy after the revolution; a year later, on July 17, 1998, Father Boris Glebov held a service for the innocent murdered, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the execution of the family of the last Russian emperor and the burial of Yekaterinburg remains in the Catherine Chapel. On July 12, 1999, on the day of the apostles Peter and Paul, the first all-night and metropolitan liturgy was held in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was conducted by Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. From this time on, services became regular.

In 2007, the St. Petersburg Diocesan Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church turned to the Chairman of the Federation Council S. M. Mironov with a request to head the Board of Trustees of the Imperial Peter and Paul Cathedral, the result was the signing between the diocese and the museum of an agreement on the joint use of the cathedral and the organization of regular services from the beginning of 2008.

On the night of April 27, 2008, for the first time in the post-Soviet period, the rector of the cathedral, Abbot Alexander Fedorov, held an Easter service, and on July 12, 2009, Patriarch Kirill performed the Divine Liturgy in the cathedral, thus marking the city’s name day. This was the first patriarchal service in the entire history of the temple. Previously, even if the patriarchs visited the cathedral, but did not conduct divine services, there is no need to talk about the Russian Empire in this context due to the absence of the institution of patriarchy in it. The Patriarch presented the cathedral with a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which is now kept in the central nave on the salt to the left of the Royal Doors. Vicar Bishop Ambrose, on behalf of the diocese, presented the bishop with an icon of the apostles Peter and Paul as a gift. Patriarchal services have become a new tradition. On July 12, 2010, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also celebrated the day of the apostles Peter and Paul.

On September 30, 2009, a historic agreement on services was reached between the metropolis and the museum; in accordance with it, excursion work is not conducted during services. Divine services are held on Saturdays - All-night vigil and on Sundays - liturgy. Services mark all the main twelfth holidays and Easter, memorial services are held for the deceased emperors, some empresses and members of the imperial family, temple holidays are traditionally celebrated: the days of the apostles Peter and Paul, the Great Martyr Catherine and the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky.

In the general list of churches of the St. Petersburg Metropolis, the cathedral is listed as the “Imperial Memorial Cathedral in the Name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul” at No. 126.

In November 2010, President D. Medvedev signed the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the transfer of state or municipal property for religious purposes to church organizations. The future will show how this law will affect the fate of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

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Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel ( Cathedral of the Archangel) The Cathedral of the Holy Archangel Michael (Arkhangelsk Cathedral) in the Kremlin was the tomb of the great princes and Russian tsars. In the old days it was called the Church of St. Michael on the Square. The current cathedral was erected

From the author's book

PETROPAUL CATHEDRAL In 1703, soon after the construction of the timber-earth fortress of St. Petersburg (Peter and Paul) began, two wooden churches were erected on its territory. Orthodox in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul was founded by Peter I himself. The second -

TOMB OF THE RUSSIAN EMPERORS

The Peter and Paul Cathedral of St. Petersburg was built in 1721–1733, but burials took place there even earlier. In the northern aisle of the current cathedral, at the doors leading to the grand ducal tomb, bronze plaques are placed above the supposed burial place of the son and four young daughters of Peter I and Catherine. In January 1716, at the entrance to the cathedral, on the site of the future chapel of St. Catherine, the body of Tsarina Marfa Matveevna, the widow of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, Peter’s half-brother, was interred. Then, under the unfinished bell tower, a third tomb appeared, where Princess Charlotte of Brunswick-Luxembourg, the wife of the unfortunate Tsarevich Alexei, who died shortly after giving birth to her son, the future Emperor Peter II, was buried. IN last days June 1718, in the presence of Peter I, the body of her tortured husband was buried nearby. Later, Maria Alekseevna, the sister of Peter I, also rested in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

But the Peter and Paul Cathedral acquired the rank of an imperial tomb only after the death of Peter I, who died early in the morning of January 28, 1725 from a serious illness that worsened after a cold he received in the fall of 1724. A special mourning commission headed by Count Y.V. Bruce drew up a program for the funeral ceremony, which included the decoration of the funeral hall in the old Winter Palace, the procession to the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the burial itself. On February 13, 1725, the embalmed body of the emperor was exhibited in the funeral hall: Peter lay in a fob, dressed in a green brocade camisole, decorated with Brabant lace, in boots with spurs, with a sword and the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. For forty days the country said goodbye to Peter the Great, and meanwhile, at the beginning of March, his youngest daughter, Natalya Petrovna, died, and her coffin was placed nearby.

Two days before the burial, by a special decree, “trading shops, free houses and taverns” were closed, “so that there would be no noise or quarrels.” From the palace to the Peter and Paul Fortress, the entire road was strewn with sand and covered with spruce branches. Along a living corridor formed by 1,200 grenadiers, to the ringing of church bells and cannon fire, the coffins with the bodies of the emperor and his daughter were carried across the ice of the Neva from the old Winter Palace to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. In front of the procession walked 25 guards non-commissioned officers with halberds tied with black cloth; they were followed by goff couriers, musicians with kettledrums and trumpets, court gentlemen, foreign merchants, representatives of the Baltic cities and nobility, etc. Next they carried the standards of the Admiralty, the Russian banner with the state emblem and Peter I’s own banner; then came the emperor's personal horse, followed by two knights - black and gold; carried the coats of arms of the kingdoms that were part of the Russian Empire... Next came the clergy - in the same order as at the removal of the kings in Moscow.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral had not yet been completed, so a temporary wooden chapel was hastily erected in it, the walls of which were covered with black cloth. The coffins were placed on a raised platform under a canopy, the participants in the funeral ceremony were accommodated partly in the chapel and in the unfinished cathedral, and the guard regiments lined up on the fortress wall. After the funeral service, the body of Peter I was sprinkled with earth, the coffin was closed and covered with an imperial robe. For six years he remained in a temporary chapel in the middle of the cathedral under construction, surrounded by coats of arms and banners.

A permanent tomb for Peter I was built only in 1731, and two years later the Peter and Paul Cathedral was consecrated. The coffin with the body of the emperor was interred at its southern wall, and from that time on the cathedral became the tomb of members of the Russian imperial family. Almost all Russian emperors and empresses are buried here, except Peter II, who died in Moscow in 1730 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral, and Emperor John VI, dethroned as an infant and killed in the Shlisselburg fortress.

Peter I rests in a double coffin: an outer one made of oak and an inner one made of metal, sealed. His closest relatives and successors, including Empress Catherine I, were buried next to the emperor.

Above the tomb of Anna Ioannovna before the revolution there were two icons - the Mother of God of Jerusalem and St. Anna the Prophetess - in gold frames, with pearls and precious stones. Not far from Anna Ioannovna, two daughters of Peter I and Catherine I are buried - the eldest Anna and the youngest, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.

Peter III was initially buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and upon the accession of Paul I to the throne, the remains of the murdered monarch were solemnly transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. This happened on December 5, 1796, simultaneously with the burial of Empress Catherine II, and the crown in front of the emperor’s coffin was carried by Alexei Orlov, one of his murderers. On the tombstone of Paul I himself there was a diamond crown of the Order of Malta, which disappeared after 1917. In addition to the tomb in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, in the depths of the park there is also a memorial mausoleum of Paul I, erected in 1805–1808. This building was made according to the designs of I.P. Martos and Thomas de Thomon with great taste and grace, reminiscent of a small ancient temple.

The order of burial of persons of the imperial family was regulated by the highest approved ceremony. On the day of the burial, invited persons with special tickets arrived at the Peter and Paul Cathedral at the predetermined hour; To enter the fortress, coachmen were required to have a separate ticket. The honor guard remained until the grave was closed and the vault of the coffin was sealed, after which a temporary and then a permanent tomb was installed over the grave. The imperial regalia (crown, scepter and orb) were sent to the Diamond Room of the Winter Palace, the personal weapons of the emperors were sent to the Kremlin Armory, the orders were transferred for storage to the Arsenal, where the funeral chariot was located. The State Chancellor returned foreign orders to the states that issued them.

Emperor Alexander I was buried in March 1826 - a few months after his death in Taganrog. And although the coffin with the body of the late emperor stood for several days in the Kazan Cathedral for farewell, there were many rumors in court circles and among the people.

The Emperor died unexpectedly - during a trip to southern Russia in November 1825. The version that is still widespread is that Alexander I did not die then, but went into a monastery. And in the coffin they put a soldier who died in the hospital and whose face looked like the emperor. Many years later, the elder monk Fyodor Kuzmich, who worked miracles, appeared in Siberia. Some of his contemporaries considered him Alexander I, and L.N. also adhered to this version. Tolstoy. However Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Romanov, the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, having carefully studied all the circumstances of the death of Alexander I, came to the conclusion that the legend about Fyodor Kuzmich has no historical basis.

No less mysterious was the death of the emperor’s wife, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna. According to the official version, she died unexpectedly, shortly after the death of her husband, in Belev, Tula province, when she was returning from Taganrog to St. Petersburg. According to other sources, in 1834 an unknown wanderer Vera Alexandrovna appeared in Tikhvin, who stood out for her secular manners, knowledge of court life and foreign languages. Already in her name itself, many saw a hint of the events that had taken place: Vera - leaving everything worldly for God, Alexandrovna - in memory of her crowned husband. Since 1840, she was a silent monk in the Novgorod Syrkov Monastery, where she died in 1861. A portrait of Vera Alexandrovna in a coffin has been preserved, very similar to the portrait of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. The legend tells...that death (or departure from the world) imperial couple preceded by strange events. For example, in October 1825, shortly before the death of Emperor Alexander I, one night residents of Taganrog saw two stars above the palace, which converged and diverged three times. And then one star turned into a dove, which landed on another star. After some time it disappeared, and then the second star gradually disappeared.

There were also rumors about the sudden death of Emperor Nicholas I, who ruled Russia with an iron fist for 30 years. There was even an opinion that the emperor poisoned himself, unable to survive the defeat in Crimean War. The defeat undoubtedly brought the death of Nicholas I closer, but the version of poisoning itself is considered very doubtful in scientific circles, although the death of this emperor was preceded by a number of mysterious and enigmatic events.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, daughter-in-law of Nicholas I, said that shortly before the death of the Tsar in his country house in Gatchina, she and Prince A.I. A white ghost appeared to Baryatinsky. A few days before the emperor’s death, the vision was repeated in the Winter Palace, and in the last days of the emperor’s life, a large black bird, which is found only in Finland and is considered there as a harbinger of evil, flew every morning and landed on the telegraph machine, located on the turret above the room where later Nicholas I died. A sentry was sent to drive away the bird, and then it flew away to the spitz of the Peter and Paul Cathedral and disappeared. But 26 years later, the same bird appeared again in the Winter Palace, and a few days later Alexander P. died from a terrorist bomb.

Celebrating everyone historical events, associated with the life of a particular monarch, was always accompanied by the laying of gifts that were installed on their monuments. Together with the relics kept on the tombstones from the moment of the burial of the emperors, they formed the treasury of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Most of these relics adorned the tomb of Peter I; at its foot, Empress Catherine II placed the trophy of the Battle of Chesme in 1770 - the flag of the captain pasha of the Turkish fleet. Then several commemorative medals appeared on Peter’s tombstone: gold - for the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg and the 200th anniversary of the birth of the first Russian emperor, gold and bronze - for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, silver - for the 200th anniversary of the capture of Narva and etc. On the wall near the tombstone in 1898, a silver bas-relief depicting the monument to Peter I in Taganrog was mounted; Next to it, in a gold frame, hung an icon with the face of the Apostle Peter, notable for the fact that its size corresponded to the height of Peter I at birth...

Initially, the tombstones over the tombs of Russian emperors were rectangular oblong slabs different sizes(marble or Putilov stone). All of them were covered with brocade bedspreads. In 1824, the magazine “Domestic Notes” reported that during a trip to Russia, Madame de Stael wanted to have a souvenir from the tomb of Peter I. She tried to cut off a piece of the brocade bedspread, but the church watchman noticed it. Madame had to quickly leave the cathedral, and Wichman, who accompanied her, remained to calm the vigilant watchman.

In 1865, during a major reconstruction of the cathedral, new tombstones were installed, the design of which was carried out by architects A.A. Poirot and A.L. Goon. The sarcophagi were made of white Carrara marble with large bronze crosses on the top edge. Bronze imperial eagles were located at the corners of the imperial tombstones; bronze plaques were attached to the heads of the sarcophagi indicating the name of the deceased, his title, place and date of death, as well as the date of burial.

In 1906, new tombstones were installed over the graves of Emperor Alexander II and his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. They were made from semi-precious stones at the Peterhof Lapidary Factory designed by architect A.L. Guna. The emperor's tombstone was made of green wavy jasper, the empress's was made of pink veined eagle.

In 1896–1908, next to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, according to the design of the architect D. Grim and with the participation of the architects A. Tomishko and L. Benois, a grand-ducal tomb for 60 tombs was built. It was attached to the cathedral on the north-eastern side and connected to it by a covered gallery.

After the October Revolution, the fate of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was tragic. In 1919 it was closed, and a detachment of the Red Army was stationed in the fortress itself. At the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919, mass executions of hostages took place near the Vasilyevskaya Curtain. Probably, here, among others, the Grand Dukes Pavel Alexandrovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, George and Nikolai Mikhailovich were killed. According to the assumption of M.D. Pechersky and S.S. Belov, in 1919–1921, the tombs in the grand ducal tomb were destroyed, and the royal burials were soon opened by security officers who were looking for treasures in them. The doctors embalmed the emperor's body so skillfully that he lay as if alive, stretched out to his full height. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, the emperor was dressed in the green uniform of a colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment. An eyewitness to the autopsy later recalled that Peter had a proud face framed by dark curls. When the lid of the coffin was removed, the emperor's hands suddenly moved, and it was such a menacing sight that the commissars in leather jackets rushed to the exit, crushing each other and dropping their torches.

At the end of May 1992, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, the great-grandson of Emperor Alexander II, was buried in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. He died in Paris, but bequeathed to be buried in Russia. In this regard, the restoration of all tombstones of the grand ducal tomb has begun.

From the book 100 Great Palaces of the World author Ionina Nadezhda

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From the book 100 Great Necropolises author Ionina Nadezhda

TOMB OF THE CHINESE COMMANDER YUE FEI In the 13th century, when the Song dynasty ruled in Southern China, warlike Jurchen tribes invaded the country and approached its capital, the city of Hangzhou. The army of General Yue Fei came out to meet the enemy, and although the forces were unequal, the enemy was

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (AN) by the author TSB

TOMB OF THE DANISH KINGS IN ROSKILLE Roskilde - ancient capital Denmark, from where its kings established their power on the islands with sword and fire. Nowadays, just over 30,000 people live in this small provincial town, located near Copenhagen.

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (SB) by the author TSB

GRAND DUKAL TOMB IN THE KREMLIN Originally on the site of the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, on south side Borovitsky Hill, a wooden church was erected in honor of the Archangel Michael - the heavenly patron of Russian princes in their military affairs. Certificates of

From the book Travelers author Dorozhkin Nikolay

TOMB IN THE SMOLENSK CATHEDRAL OF THE NOVODEVICHY MONASTERY Foundation Novodevichy Convent associated with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which, according to legend, was painted by the Evangelist Luke. At first the icon was in Jerusalem, then in Constantinople, and in Rus' it

From the book Around Paris with Boris Nosik. Volume 1 author Nosik Boris Mikhailovich

TOMB OF THE TIMURIDS IN SAMARKAND In the 15th–17th centuries, near Samarkand Rukhabad (“Abode of the Spirit” - the tomb of Sheikh Burnaheddin Sagardzhi) there was a small mosque, a house filled with water and a gate, from which a path paved with white stones led to the ensemble

From the book Walking in Europe with the Love of Life. From London to Jerusalem author Morton Henry Wollam

TOMB OF THE SPANISH KINGS In August 1557 there was a great battle at St. Quentin in Flanders, in which the Spaniards defeated the French. This battle was doubly significant for the Spaniards, since August 10 was St. Lawrence Day. However

From the book I Explore the World. Wonders of the world author Solomko Natalia Zorevna

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From the book The Court of Russian Emperors. Encyclopedia of life and everyday life. In 2 volumes. Volume 1 author Zimin Igor Viktorovich

Islands of the Russian Emperors Having rested for about 2 months, the expedition in November 1820 again headed for the “ice continent”. Having passed Macquarie Island, in mid-December the ships endured a fierce storm with “such great gloom that it was barely 30 fathoms

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The tomb of the kings in the “Red Capital” Saint-Denis Cathedral on the ancient road New troubles and new temptations The barbarity of the great revolution. About the proximity of Saint-Denis, its famous abbey and the famous cathedral, which is just some nine kilometers from the Paris cathedral

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Tomb of Charles Edward Stuart Everyone is familiar with the story of Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. After his star set forever on the Field of Culloden, the prince was forced to flee to the remote Hebrides. For a while

From the author's book

Shrine of St. Andrew A young man fell on my head at the very moment when I was comfortably seated on the hotel veranda with a bottle of white Orvieto. The view from here was most magnificent: long rows of green vineyards stretched along the hillside and

From the author's book

Only for Emperors! The history of the Imperial City in Beijing, where mere mortals were prohibited from entering, is closely connected with the rulers of the Qin and Ming dynasties. It was they who achieved the highest power of the empire and built themselves palaces and temples of the Forbidden City, which is still there today

From the author's book

Chapter 8 Spiritual confessors of Russian emperors The relationship between Russian autocrats and the Orthodox Church had its own very dramatic history. It should be remembered that all Russian monarchs were religious people, but the Orthodox Church as an institution of power

(from the collection of the State Scientific Research Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev).
Comments on the photographs are also by M.G. Rogozina, I have highlighted them in italics.

These photographs were published a long time ago, but somehow I did not pay attention to their “mystery”, but it is clearly there.
In fact, only these photographs by Fischer and Barshchevsky demonstrate the state of the interiors and necropolis of the Kremlin's Archangel Cathedral in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
First of all, the chaos shown in the photo draws attention, because we do not forget that we are talking about one of the main cathedrals of Russia - the tomb of all the Moscow kings.

Cathedral of the Archangel. General view from the north. Photo by I.F. Barshchevsky. 1889 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. number: MPA 2032.

Below is the oldest photo of Barshchevsky from 1895, on it we see the tombstone of Prince. Andrew of Radonezh before the restoration in 1905, still with old cast-iron floors, they were later replaced with granite. It is clear that the tombstone has “grown” into the floor; one can also note the incredible asceticism of the situation, outright dirt and the wildly uneven coloring of the tombstone. Let’s not forget once again - the Archangel Cathedral is the most important temple in Russia.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Tombstone of the book Andrew of Radonezh at the northern wall. Photo by I.F. Barshchevsky 1895. From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. number: MPA 2498.

Below, the same tombstone after removing the floor. It is noticeable that the white stone slab of the side wall stands on some bricks, i.e. located significantly above the floor surface. And the floor, presumably, is earthen. There is no special crime here; as you know, the floors in churches increased with every century. Apparently, in 1905, when the cast-iron slabs were removed (and they were most likely installed in the 18th century - it was fashionable then), part of the bedding on which these slabs lay was also torn down.

View of the sides of the gravestones of the book. Andrei Vladimirovich of Radonezh (after 1372-1426) and Andrei Vasilyevich Uglitsky (1446-c.1494). The gravestones are located near the northern wall. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-30, 31.

Of course, it is necessary to outline what the tombstones themselves were like. These were brick boxes, their sides were lined with white stone carved slabs. The burials themselves were located under the floor in the crypts (though it is not clear how deep). The tombstones, in most cases, are all late - they began to be created only in the 17th century, while the cathedral itself was erected in 1505-1508.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Perspective of the ends of the tombstones of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676), Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich (1654-1670), Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich (1596-1645), infant princes Vasily and Ivan Mikhailovich. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-27, 55.

It is noticeable that the tombstones “stand” very high relative to the old floor; we will find it in the photo below.
The problem is that based on these photographs, the layers of ancient floors are in no way visible, only a layer of earth is visible. If we assume that the floors covered the tombstones with a margin, as in the second photo here (Barshchevsky 1895), then the layer of earth in the cathedral can reach up to half a meter or more. And this is somehow suspiciously a lot for a simple backfill under removed cast iron slabs of the 18th century.

Cathedral of the Archangel. View of the side of the tombstone of the book. Georgy Ivanovich Dmitrovsky (1483-1509). The tombstone is located against the northern wall near the shoulder blade. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905. From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-60, 61.

Personally, I could not find any mention of the ancient floors of the Archangel Cathedral, other than those visible in the photographs of Fischer and Barshchevsky, and those that exist now.
The 1905 photo below shows an old stone floor covered with a thick layer of soil. Perhaps the layer of earth was even thicker, judging by other photographs. There were cast iron slabs on it, they were completely removed, so these slabs are not in the photo.

But, most importantly, no “intermediate” sexes are visible. Perhaps the tiled stone floor is from the cathedral floors of 1505, and then there is a thick layer of earth on which lay the 18th century cast iron floor - and that is all.
Personally, I don’t understand why it was necessary to pile half a meter of earth on the old floor? If it was necessary to add soil under cast iron slabs, it would be possible to limit it to a layer of 5-10 cm. But why half a meter?

Cathedral of the Archangel. “View of the ancient decoration of the walls and tiled stone floor, covered with earth in the parish from the Altar to the deacon.” Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-38, 69.

An incredibly wild conclusion suggests itself - the soil was not added, it grew on its own, like a cultural layer, because the floors were not washed or cleaned. And this is in the Kremlin - in the main tomb of all the Moscow kings!! And then a cast iron floor was laid on these piles of earth in the 18th century. As an option, in the 18th century they wanted to hide the terrible hell and Israel with earth, which was happening in the lower tier of the cathedral, i.e. don’t fix it, don’t fix it, but take everything and cover it with earth :)

In this case, I am guided only by what I see in the photo; I am not aware of any research on this topic.
But, indirectly, this conclusion can be confirmed by the terrible state of the entire cathedral.
Below, an interesting hole in the tombstone of Peter II, apparently someone was very interested in what was inside)

Cathedral of the Archangel. General view of the tombstone of the imp. Peter II from the side, in the background part of the northwestern pillar. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-21.

Cathedral of the Archangel. The crypt at the southwestern pillar with north side, where the Kazan prince is buried, in St. baptism Alexander Safasireevich. From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-34.

A special artistic genre is painting tombstones with something dark. I have already mentioned here the uneven coloring of the tombstone in the second photo here (Barshchevsky 1895). It may seem that the paint has simply peeled off over time, but the photo below proves that this is not the case. It is clear that someone tried to make two broad strokes - one horizontal and the other vertical (on the right). All together, this pictorial creativity resembles the dream of a drunken painter) Let us not forget again that this is the main necropolis of the state - the graves of Ivan III and Vasily III, the greatest rulers of Russia, during whose reign the Archangel Cathedral was built. And this is not happening in godless Soviet times, but in the Orthodox Russian Empire, and not in some distant monastery, but in the center of the Moscow Kremlin.

Cathedral of the Archangel. The ends of the tombstones Vel. princes Vasily II the Dark (1415-1462), Ivan III (1440-1505) and Vasily III (1479-1533) and Tsarevich Dmitry (1552-1553). Photo by K.A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866- 65, 66.

Also completely clumsy coloring of the tombstones and complete devastation.
In general, it is clear that the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was an extremely mysterious place)

Cathedral of the Archangel. View of the ends of the tombstones of Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky (1557-1613), princes Staritsky: Vladimir Andreevich (after 1533-1569), Vasily Vladimirovich (c. 1552-c. 1574) and Andrei Ivanovich (1490-1536). Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-62, 63.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Perspective lower parts ends of tombstones Vel. book Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (1350-1389) and Prince. Dmitry Ivanovich Zhilka Uglitsky (c.1481-1521). Tombstones in the 2nd row near the southern wall. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-16, 17, 18.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Longitudinal side of the book's tombstone. Dmitry Ivanovich Zhilka Uglitsky (c. 1481-1521). The outermost tombstone is in the 2nd row near the southern wall. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-04, 05.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Perspective of the ends of the tombstones of Tsars Fyodor (1661-1682) and Ivan (1666-1696) Alekseevich. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 "c). Stone slabs covering a crypt located under brick tombstones.” From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-12, 32.

Cathedral of the Archangel. Perspective of the ends of the tombstones Vel. book Vasily I Dmitrievich (1371-1425), prince. Ivan Ivanovich the Young (before 1473-1490) and Prince. Dmitry Ivanovich (1483-1509). Tombstones in the 3rd row near the south wall. "b). The upper part of the stone coffin, located under the brick tombstone at the level of the existing floor.” Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-71, 72, 73.

Cathedral of the Archangel. View of the ends of the tombstones Vel. book Ivan Danilovich Kalita (d.1340) Simeon Ivanovich Proud (1316-1353) and Prince. Georgy Vasilyevich (1533-1563) Tombstones in the first row near the southern wall. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KP-of number 4866-20, 56.

Cathedral of the Archangel. "The base of the pilaster located at the north door of the Cathedral." Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Shchusev. Inv. KPof number 4866-39, 67.