The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin has a long and complex history. This is a magnificent monument of history and architecture of several eras, having their own face. The famous cathedral was a personal temple of Russian tsars and grand dukes.
Its oldest part was erected at the very end of the fourteenth century, and the latest in the nineteenth century. In the descriptions of the history of the temple of the nineteenth century there are not documented legends about the construction of a small wooden church, called the Annunciation. It was built by Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, son of Alexander Nevsky, in 1291. During this period of time, the princely family ruled in Moscow, and there must have been a temple at his court. However, the Annunciation Cathedral was officially mentioned in chronicles only in 1397. That is why historians and researchers believe that the stone Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was erected at the end of the fourteenth century.
In the fifteenth century, Ivan the Third began the large construction of a magnificent grand-princely residence. By this time, the beginning of the construction of new Kremlin walls and the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, a large temple of the Moscow Kremlin, which turned out to be unsuccessful, suddenly fall - the walls collapsed. According to the preserved chronicles, the Annunciation Cathedral was built by Pskov masters. At first, he had three chapters - the central (largest) and two in the eastern corners of the temple. In the sixteenth century, four chapels were built with their own chapters, and two more appeared on the main volume. So the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin became the nine-domed. In 1508, its central dome was covered with gilding. In the middle of the sixteenth century, all the chapters and the roof were treated with gilded copper. Since then, the cathedral has received the name "Golden-Domed."
The building is rich in decoration. Its walls are decorated with an arcature belt, the origins of which are laid in Vladimir traditions. Thanks to him, he is in harmony with the neighboring Assumption Cathedral.
The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was significantly damaged in the year nineteen seventeen during the shelling. An artillery shell destroyed his porch, and in March 1918 the cathedral, like the Kremlin itself, was closed. Today, the famous temple acts like a museum. Previously, there was another church in the Kremlin called the Annunciation Church. It was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, and now almost no one remembers it.
The Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin was the tomb of Russian tsars and grand dukes. The building is built of snow-white stone. Its height is twenty-one meters. At the very end of the sixteenth century, the walls of the cathedral were painted, but the frescoes remained only in the deacon, where the tomb of Ivan the Terrible is located. The best painters painted S. Arkhangelsk Cathedral - S. Ushakov, F. Zubov, I. Vladimirov, F. Kozlov. Especially valuable is the “portrait” part of the lower tier mural. It consists of 60 images of the great princes buried in the cathedral. At the most honorable place is the portrait of Vasily the Third.