St. Basil's Cathedral was created in honor. St. Basil's Cathedral is a famous architectural monument of medieval architecture. Who built the Intercession Cathedral on Red Square
In 1561, one of the most famous churches in Russia was consecrated - the Intercession Cathedral, or, as it is otherwise called, St. Basil's Cathedral. The portal "Culture.RF" remembered Interesting Facts from the history of its creation.
Temple-monument
The Intercession Cathedral is not just a church, but a temple-monument erected in honor of the annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state. The main battle, in which Russian troops were victorious, took place on the day of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And the temple was consecrated in honor of this Christian holiday. The cathedral consists of separate churches, each of which is also consecrated in honor of the holidays on which the decisive battles for Kazan took place - Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and others.
A huge construction project in record time
Initially, a wooden Trinity Church stood on the site of the cathedral. Temples were erected around it during the campaigns against Kazan - they celebrated the loud victories of the Russian army. When Kazan finally fell, Metropolitan Macarius suggested that Ivan the Terrible rebuild architectural ensemble in stone. He wanted to surround the central temple with seven churches, but for the sake of symmetry the number was increased to eight. Thus, 9 independent churches and a belfry were built on one foundation; they were connected by vaulted passages. Outside, the churches were surrounded by an open gallery, which was called a walkway - it was a kind of church porch. Each temple was crowned with its own dome with a unique design and original drum decoration. The 65-meter-high structure, grandiose at the time, was built in just six years - from 1555 to 1561. Up until 1600 it was the most high building Moscow.
Temple in honor of the soothsayer
Although official name cathedral - the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, everyone knows it as St. Basil's Cathedral. According to legend, the famous Moscow miracle worker collected money for the construction of the temple, and then was buried near its walls. The holy fool St. Basil the Blessed walked the streets of Moscow barefoot, almost without clothes, almost all year, preaching mercy and help to others. There were also legends about his prophetic gift: they say he predicted the Moscow fire of 1547. The son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, ordered the construction of a church dedicated to St. Basil the Blessed. It became part of the Intercession Cathedral. The church was the only temple that always worked - all year round, day and night. Later, by its name, parishioners began to call the cathedral St. Basil's Cathedral.
Louis Bichebois. Lithograph "St. Basil's Church"
Vitaly Grafov. Moscow wonderworker Blessed Basil. 2005
The royal treasury and lectern at Lobnoye Mesto
The cathedral has no basements. Instead, they built a common foundation - a vaulted basement without supporting pillars. It was ventilated through special narrow openings - vents. Initially, the premises were used as a warehouse - the royal treasury and the valuables of some wealthy Moscow families were kept there. Later, the narrow entrance to the basement was blocked - it was found only during the restoration of the 1930s.
Despite its colossal external dimensions, the Intercession Cathedral is quite small inside. Perhaps because it was originally built as a memorial monument. In winter, the cathedral was completely closed, as it was not heated. When services began to be held in the temple, especially on large church holidays, very few people could fit inside. Then the lectern was moved to the Place of Execution, and the cathedral seemed to serve as a huge altar.
Russian architect or European master
It is still not known for certain who built St. Basil's Cathedral. Researchers have several options. One of them, the cathedral, was erected by the ancient Russian architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Barma. According to another version, Yakovlev and Barma were actually one person. The third option says that the author of the cathedral was a foreign architect. After all, the composition of St. Basil's Cathedral has no analogues in ancient Russian architecture, but prototypes of the building can be found in Western European art.
Whoever the architect is, there are sad legends about his future fate. According to them, when Ivan the Terrible saw the temple, he was struck by its beauty and ordered the architect to be blinded so that he would never repeat his majestic construction anywhere. Another legend says that the foreign builder was executed altogether - for the same reason.
Iconostasis with a turn
The iconostasis for St. Basil's Cathedral was created in 1895 according to the design of the architect Andrei Pavlinov. This is the so-called iconostasis with a turn - it is so large for a small temple that it continues on the side walls. It is decorated with ancient icons - Our Lady of Smolensk from the 16th century and the image of St. Basil, painted in the 18th century.
The temple is also decorated with paintings - they were created on the walls of the building in different years. Here St. Basil and the Mother of God are depicted; the main dome is decorated with the face of the Savior Almighty.
Iconostasis in St. Basil's Cathedral. 2016. Photo: Vladimir d'Ar
“Lazarus, put him in his place!”
The cathedral was almost destroyed several times. During the Patriotic War of 1812, French stables were located here, and after that the temple was going to be blown up. Already in Soviet time Stalin's associate Lazar Kaganovich proposed dismantling the cathedral so that Red Square would become more space for parades and demonstrations. He even created a model of the square, and the temple building was easily removed from it. But Stalin, seeing the architectural model, said: “Lazarus, put it in its place!”
St. Basil's Cathedral (Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat).St. Basil's Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat, as its canonical full name sounds, was built on Red Square in 1555-1561. This cathedral is rightfully considered one of the main symbols not only of Moscow, but of all of Russia. And it’s not just that it was built in the very center of the capital and in memory of a very important event. St. Basil's Cathedral is also simply incredibly beautiful.
In the place where the cathedral now stands, in the 16th century there stood the stone Trinity Church, “which is on the Moat.” There really was a defensive ditch here, stretching along the entire Kremlin wall along Red Square. This ditch was filled in only in 1813. Now in its place is a Soviet necropolis and Mausoleum.
And in the 16th century, in 1552, he was buried near the stone Trinity Church blessed Basil, who died on August 2 (according to other sources, he died not in 1552, but in 1551). Moscow “Fool for Christ’s sake” Vasily was born in 1469 in the village of Elokhov, and from his youth was endowed with the gift of clairvoyance; he predicted the terrible fire of Moscow in 1547, which destroyed almost the entire capital.
Ivan the Terrible revered and even feared the blessed one. After the death of St. Basil, he was buried in the cemetery at the Trinity Church (probably by order of the Tsar), with great honors. And soon the grandiose construction of a new Intercession Cathedral began here, where the relics of Vasily were later transferred, at whose grave miraculous healings began to take place.
The construction of the new cathedral was preceded by a long construction history. These were the years of the great Kazan campaign, which was given enormous importance: until now, all campaigns of Russian troops against Kazan had ended in failure. Ivan the Terrible, who personally led the army in 1552, vowed, if the campaign was successfully completed, to build a grandiose temple in Moscow on Red Square in memory of this.
While the war was going on, in honor of each major victory, a small wooden church was erected next to the Trinity Church in honor of the saint on whose day the victory was won. When Russian army returned to Moscow in triumph, Ivan the Terrible decided to erect one large stone church in place of the eight wooden churches that had been built - for centuries.
There is a lot of controversy about the builder (or builders) of St. Basil's Cathedral. It was traditionally believed that Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of the masters Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, but many researchers now agree that it was one person - Ivan Yakovlevich Barma, nicknamed Postnik.
There is also a legend that after construction, Grozny ordered the craftsmen to be blinded so that they could no longer build anything like this, but this is nothing more than a legend, since the documents indicate that after the construction of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, master Postnik “according to the Barma” ( i.e., nicknamed Barma) built the Kazan Kremlin. A number of other documents have also been published that mention a man named Postnik Barma. Researchers attribute to this master the construction of not only St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kazan Kremlin, but also the Assumption Cathedral and St. Nicholas Church in Sviyazhsk, the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin and even (according to some dubious sources) the Church of John the Baptist in Dyakovo.
St. Basil's Cathedral consists of nine churches on one foundation. Having entered the temple, it is even difficult to understand its layout without making a circle or two around the entire building. The central altar of the temple is dedicated to the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God. It was on this day that the wall of the Kazan fortress was destroyed by an explosion and the city was taken. Here full list all eleven altars that existed in the cathedral before 1917:
* Central – Pokrovsky
* Eastern - Trinity
* Southeast - Alexander Svirsky
* Southern - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Velikoretsk Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker)
* Southwestern - Varlaam Khutynsky
* Western − Entrance to Jerusalem
* Northwestern - St. Gregory of Armenia
* Northern – St. Adrian and Natalia
* Northeast - St. John the Merciful
* Above the grave of John the Blessed is the chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1672), adjacent to the chapel of St. Basil the Blessed
* In the extension of 1588 - the chapel of St. Basil the Blessed
The cathedral is built of brick. In the 16th century, this material was quite new: previously, the traditional materials for churches were white cut stone and thin brick - plinth. The central part is crowned with a tall, magnificent tent with “fiery” decoration almost to the middle of its height. The tent is surrounded on all sides by domed chapels, none of which are like the other.
Not only does the pattern of the large onion-domes vary; If you look closely, you will easily notice that the finish of each drum is unique. Initially, apparently, the domes were helmet-shaped, but by the end of the 16th century they were definitely made bulbous. Their current colors were established only in the middle of the 19th century.
The main thing in the appearance of the temple is that it lacks a clearly defined façade. Whichever side you approach the cathedral from, it seems that this is the main side. The height of St. Basil's Cathedral is 65 meters. For a long time, until the end of the 16th century, it was the tallest building in Moscow. Initially, the cathedral was painted “like brick”; Later it was repainted; researchers discovered the remains of drawings depicting false windows and kokoshniks, as well as memorial inscriptions made with paint.
In 1680, the cathedral was significantly restored. Shortly before this, in 1672, a small chapel was added to it over the grave of another revered Moscow blessed - John, buried here in 1589. The restoration of 1680 was reflected in the fact that the wooden galleries were replaced with brick ones, a tented bell tower was installed instead of a belfry, and a new covering was made.
At the same time, the thrones of thirteen or fourteen churches that stood on Red Square along the moat, where public executions were carried out (all of these churches had the prefix “on blood”) were moved to the basement of the temple. In 1683, a tiled frieze was laid around the entire perimeter of the temple, on the tiles of which the entire history of the building was outlined.
The cathedral was rebuilt, although not so significantly, in the second half of the 18th century, in 1761-1784: the arches of the basement were laid, the ceramic frieze was removed, and all the walls of the temple, outside and inside, were painted with “grass” ornaments.
During the War of 1812, St. Basil's Cathedral was at risk of demolition for the first time. Leaving Moscow, the French mined it, but they could not blow it up, they only plundered it.
Immediately after the end of the war, one of the most beloved churches of Muscovites was restored, and in 1817, O.I. Bove, who was engaged in the restoration of post-fire Moscow, strengthened and decorated the retaining wall of the temple from the side of the Moscow River with a cast-iron fence.
During the 19th century, the cathedral was restored several times, and at the end of the century, the first attempt at its scientific research was even made.
In 1919, the rector of the cathedral, Father John Vostorgov, was shot “for anti-Semitic propaganda.” In 1922, valuables were removed from the cathedral, and in 1929 the cathedral was closed and transferred to the Historical Museum.
On this, it would seem, one could calm down. But the worst time was yet to come. In 1936, Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky was called and offered to take measurements of the Church of the Intercession on the Moat, so that it could be calmly demolished. The temple, according to the authorities, interfered with the movement of cars on Red Square...
Baranovsky acted in a way that probably no one expected from him. Directly telling the officials that the demolition of the cathedral was madness and a crime, he promised to immediately commit suicide if this happened. Needless to say, after this Baranovsky was immediately arrested. When it was liberated six months later, the cathedral continued to stand in its place...
There are many legends about how the cathedral was preserved. The most popular is the story of how Kaganovich, presenting to Stalin a project for the reconstruction of Red Square for the convenience of holding parades and demonstrations, removed a model of St. Basil's Cathedral from the square, to which Stalin commanded him: “Lazarus, put it in its place!” This seemed to decide the fate of the unique monument...
One way or another, St. Basil's Cathedral, having survived everyone who tried to destroy it, remained standing on Red Square. In 1923-1949, large-scale research was carried out in it, which made it possible to restore the original appearance of the gallery. In 1954-1955, the cathedral was again painted “brick-like” as in the 16th century. The cathedral houses a branch of the Historical Museum, and the flow of tourists there never ends.
Since 1990, services have sometimes been held there, but the rest of the time it is still a museum. But the main thing is probably not even this. The main thing is that one of the most beautiful Moscow and Russian churches in general still stands on the square, and no one else has any ideas of removing it from here. I would like to hope that this is forever.
Iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession Holy Mother of God. Fragment
Intercession Cathedral on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral) on Red Square in Moscow. 1555-1561. Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Central pillar tent
...in memory
about the victory over Kazan
two skilled craftsmen
The king ordered the construction of a temple.
And these people erected
Unprecedented in the whole world, a motley, fabulous cathedral,
What is it worth so far...
N. Konchalovskaya
Everyone who comes to Moscow for the first time definitely goes to Red Square.
Red Square, Kremlin, Cathedral St. Basil's is the main attractions of Moscow that you need to see first.
Intercession Cathedral ( Cathedral St. Basil's) - Orthodox church. Its official name Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the Moat. Its colloquial name is St. Basil's Cathedral. The famous St. Basil's Cathedral was erected under Ivan the Terrible in 1555 -1561.
The Intercession Cathedral is a magnificent ensemble of amazing harmony and great strength. Cathedral St. Basil's is a symbol of Moscow and Russian art.
The temple is considered one of the best works of ancient Russian architecture. It is also unusual as a work of engineering and construction art. It is a monument of world significance and is included in the List of objects World Heritage UNESCO in Russia. Currently, the Intercession Cathedral is a branch
The construction of churches in Russia has always marked significant events.
For what occasion was the Intercession Cathedral built?
On September 1, 1552, Russian troops took Kazan by storm and annexed it to Russian territory. By order of Ivan the Terrible, a temple was erected in memory of the capture of Kazan and the victory over the Kazan Khanate. The original structure was wooden. The temple stood for no more than six months. In 1555, construction began on a stone cathedral, which has survived to this day. The architects of such a great structure were Postnik and Barma.
Initially the temple was called the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. Why Pokrova?
The temple was built in honor of the Kazan victory. The decisive attack on the Kazan Kremlin took place on the day of the church Orthodox holiday The Protection of the Virgin Mary, symbolizing protection. According to legend, the Mother of God once saved Constantinople by covering it with her veil.
Why on the Moat?
The cathedral was erected near the Kremlin moat.
Why does the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat have a different name - St. Basil's Cathedral?
According to folk legends, a beggar wanderer named Vasily lived in Moscow. On the streets and squares the holy fool begged for alms. He had a sharp tongue and spoke the truth to everyone, even the king. Among the people, Vasily was revered as Blessed, that is, a saint, a saint of God, a predictor. He died in 1588 and was buried in the northeastern part of the Intercession Cathedral. Six years after his death, the elder was canonized. His grave was very revered by Muscovites. Later, a chapel was built above it - a small church of St. Basil. From then to this day, this entire magnificent structure began to be called St. Basil's Cathedral. Folk legends contained stories about miraculous healings that occurred with the help of his relics, which were kept in the Vasilievsky chapel.
The cathedral is intended for contemplation from the outside; inside it is stern and laconic.
Bright, colorful domes are pleasing to the eye. There are nine of them in total and they are all different.
Medieval art has always been symbolic. The temple ensemble consists of eight churches, which are grouped around the ninth pillar-shaped church in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God. Each of the churches is dedicated to a saint, the day of whose celebration coincided with the most stubborn eight days of the assault on Kazan.
Today, July 12, the Intercession Cathedral, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, celebrates its 450th anniversary. This date is not accidental: on July 2 (June 29, old style), 1561, the central Intercession Church of the cathedral was consecrated.
The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Moat, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, is located in the southern part of Red Square in Moscow, near the Kremlin's Spassky Gate, above the descent to the Moskva River. It was built in the mid-16th century by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible to commemorate the conquest of the Kazan Khanate - part of the former Golden Horde - as a sign of gratitude for the victory.
It is not known exactly what stood before on the site of the Intercession Cathedral. Russian chronicles contain fragmentary and contradictory reports about wooden and stone churches. This gave rise to many guesses, versions and legends.
According to one version, soon after the return of Ivan IV the Terrible from the Kazan campaign of 1552, on the site of the future Church of the Intercession on the Moat on the edge of the Moscow River, a wooden church in the name of Life-Giving Trinity with seven aisles.
Saint Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow advised Ivan the Terrible to create a stone church here. Metropolitan Macarius also came up with the main compositional idea for the future church.
The first reliable mention of the construction of the Church of the Intercession of Our Lady dates back to the autumn of 1554. It is believed that it was a wooden cathedral. It stood for a little over six months and was dismantled before the construction of the stone cathedral began in the spring of 1555.
The Intercession Cathedral was built by Russian architects Barma and Postnik (there is a version that Postnik and Barma are the names of the same person). According to legend, so that the architects could not create a new and better creation, Tsar Ivan IV, upon completion of the construction of an outstanding masterpiece of architecture, ordered them to be blinded. This fiction was subsequently proven to be untenable.
The construction of the temple took only 6 years and only in the warm season. The chronicle contains a description of the “miraculous” acquisition by the masters of the ninth, southern throne, after the entire structure was almost completed. However, the clear symmetry inherent in the cathedral convinces us that the architects initially had an idea about the compositional structure of the future temple: it was planned to build eight chapels around the central ninth church. The temple was built of brick, and the foundation, plinth and some decorative elements were made of white stone.
By the autumn of 1559 the cathedral was basically completed. On the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, all the churches were consecrated, with the exception of the central one, since “the larger church, the middle Intercession, was not completed that year.”
The consecration of the Intercession Church and, accordingly, the entire cathedral took place on July 12 (June 29, old style) 1561. Metropolitan Macarius consecrated the temple.
Each church of the cathedral received its own dedication. The Eastern Church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. Researchers are still looking for an answer to why this church got its name. There are several hypotheses. It is known that in honor of the “Holy Life-Giving Trinity” a monastery was founded in 1553 in conquered Kazan. It is also believed that on the site of the Intercession Cathedral there originally stood a wooden Trinity Church, which gave its name to one of the chapels of the future temple.
Four side chapels are consecrated in honor of the saints, on whose days of remembrance they celebrated major events Kazan campaign: Cyprian and Justina (October 2 (15) - on this day the assault on Kazan ended), Gregory, the enlightener of Great Armenia (on the day of his memory, September 30 (October 13), the Arsk Tower of Kazan exploded), Alexander Svirsky (in On the day of his memory on August 30 (September 12), a victory was won over the army of Tsarevich Epanchi, who was rushing from Crimea to help the Tatars), the Three Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander, John and Paul the New (also commemorated on August 30).
Three more chapels are dedicated to Nikolai Velikoretsky, Varlaam Khutynsky and the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The central throne is named in honor of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, since on October 1 (14), on the day of this holiday, symbolizing the intercession of the Mother of God for the Christian race, the main assault on Kazan began. The entire cathedral was named after the central church.
The prefix “on the Moat”, found in chronicles about the cathedral, is due to the fact that across the entire square, later called Krasnaya, along the Kremlin wall from the 14th century there was a deep and wide defensive ditch, which was filled in in 1813.
The cathedral had an unusual architectural composition - 9 independent churches were built on a single foundation - a basement - and connected to each other by internal vaulted passages surrounding the central temple. Outside, all the churches were surrounded by an initially open gallery-promenade. The central church ended with a high tent, the chapels were covered with vaults and topped with domes.
The ensemble of the cathedral was complemented by a three-hipped open belfry, in the arched spans of which massive bells hung.
Initially, the Intercession Cathedral was crowned with 8 large domes and a small dome over the central church. To emphasize the importance of the building material, as well as to protect the cathedral from atmospheric influences, all its exterior walls were painted in red and white colors. The painting imitated brickwork. The material of the original covering of the domes remains unknown, since they were lost during a devastating fire in 1595.
The cathedral existed in its original form until 1588. Then a tenth church was added to it on the north-eastern side over the grave of the holy fool St. Basil, who spent a lot of time near the cathedral under construction and bequeathed to be buried next to it. The famous Moscow miracle worker died in 1557, and after his canonization, the son of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, ordered the construction of a church. Architecturally, it was an independent pillarless temple with a separate entrance.
The place where the relics of St. Basil were found was marked with a silver shrine, which was subsequently lost during the Time of Troubles, at the beginning of the 17th century. Divine services in the saint's church soon became daily, and starting from XVII century, the name of the chapel is gradually transferred to the entire cathedral, becoming its “popular” name: St. Basil's Cathedral.
At the end of the 16th century, figurative domes of the cathedral appeared - instead of the original burnt covering.
In 1672, an eleventh church was added to the cathedral on the south-eastern side: a small temple over the tomb of St. John the Blessed, the revered Moscow holy fool, buried near the cathedral in 1589.
In the second half of the 17th century appearance The cathedral underwent significant changes. The wooden canopies over the walkway, which burned down every now and then in fires, were replaced with roofing on arched brick pillars. The Church of St. Theodosius the Virgin was built above the porch of the Church of St. Basil the Blessed. Above the previously open white stone stairs leading to the upper tier of the cathedral, vaulted hipped porches appeared, built on the so-called “creeping” arches.
In the same period, polychrome ornamental painting appeared. It covers the newly built porches, support pillars, outer walls of galleries and parapets of walkways. At this time, the facades of churches retain paintings imitating brickwork.
In 1683, the entire cathedral along the upper cornice was surrounded by a tiled inscription. Large yellow letters on a dark blue background of watered tiles reported on the history of the creation of the temple and its renovation in the second half of the 17th century. The inscription was destroyed a century later during another renovation.
In the 1680s. The belfry was rebuilt. In place of the open structure, a two-tier bell tower with an open upper platform for ringing was erected.
In 1737, during a huge fire, St. Basil's Cathedral was badly damaged, especially its southern church.
Dramatic changes in its painting program occurred during renovations in the 1770s and 1780s. The thrones of wooden churches demolished to prevent fires from Red Square were moved to the territory of the cathedral and under its vaults. At the same time, the throne of the Three Patriarchs of Constantinople was renamed in the name of John the Merciful, and the Church of Cyprian and Justina began to bear the name of Saints Adrian and Natalia (the original dedications to the churches were returned in the 1920s).
The inside of the church was painted with oil paintings depicting saints and hagiographic scenes. Oil painting was renewed in 1845-1848. and at the end of the 19th century. The outside walls were covered with paintings that imitated the masonry of large boulders - “wild stone”. The arches of the basement (lower non-residential tier) were laid, in the western part of which housing for the clergy (temple servants) was placed. The bell tower was combined by an extension with the cathedral building. The upper part of St. Basil's chapel (Church of Theodosius the Virgin) was rebuilt into a sacristy - a repository of church valuables and shrines.
In 1812, the order was given to French artillerymen to blow up the cathedral. However, it was only plundered by Napoleon's troops, but immediately after the war it was repaired and consecrated. The area around the cathedral was landscaped and surrounded by an openwork cast-iron lattice, designed by the famous architect O. Bove.
At the end of the 19th century, the task of returning the cathedral to its original appearance arose for the first time. The specially created Commission for the restoration of the monument included famous architects, scientists and painters, who determined the main directions of research and restoration of the Intercession Cathedral. However, the lack of funds, the October Revolution and the subsequent period of devastation in the history of Russia did not allow the implementation of the planned program.
In 1918, the Intercession Cathedral was one of the first to be taken under state protection as a monument of national and world significance. Since May 21, 1923, it has been open to visitors as a historical and architectural museum. Moreover, until 1929, services were held in the Church of St. Basil the Blessed.
In 1928, the Intercession Cathedral became a branch of the State Historical Museum and remains so to this day.
In the 1920s Extensive scientific restoration work was carried out on the monument, thanks to which it became possible to restore the original appearance of the cathedral and recreate the interiors of the 16th - 17th centuries in individual churches.
From this moment to the present, four global restorations have been carried out, including architectural and pictorial works. The original 16th-century “brick-like” painting was restored outside, in the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God and in the Church of Alexander Svirsky.
In the 1950s-1960s. Unique restoration work was carried out: a “temple chronicle” was opened in the interior of the central church, in which the ancient architects indicated the exact date of completion of the cathedral - July 12, 1561 (the day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Peter and Paul); For the first time, the iron coverings of the domes were replaced with copper ones. The successful choice of material contributed to the fact that the dome coverings remain undamaged to this day.
In the interiors of four churches, iconostases were reconstructed, almost entirely consisting of icons of the 16th - 17th centuries, among which there are genuine masterpieces of the Old Russian school of icon painting ("Trinity" of the 16th century). The pride of the collection are the icons of the 16th-17th centuries. “Vision of the Sexton Tarasius”, “Nikola Velikoretsky in the Life”, “Alexander Nevsky in the Life”, as well as icons from the original iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Basily the Great” and “John Chrysostom”. In the remaining churches, iconostases from the 18th - 19th centuries have been preserved. Among them, two iconostases were moved in the 1770s. from the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin (altar barriers in the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and in the central church).
In the 1970s On the outer bypass gallery, under the later entries, a 17th-century fresco was discovered. The found painting served as the basis for recreating the original ornamental painting on the facades of the cathedral.
The year 1990 was an important milestone in the history of the museum: the Intercession Cathedral was included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Russia. After a long break, services were resumed in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The following year, the cathedral was approved for joint use by the State Historical Museum and the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 1997, the restoration of the interior, monumental and easel paintings was completed in St. Basil's Church, closed since the late 1920s. The church was included in the exhibition of the Intercession Cathedral, and divine services were resumed there.
In the Russian Intercession Cathedral Orthodox Church Divine services are held: on the days of the main thrones (the Intercession and St. Basil the Blessed), patriarchal or lordly services are held. Every Sunday an akathist is read at the shrine of St. Basil the Blessed.
In 2001-2011 The seven churches of the cathedral were completely restored, the façade paintings were renewed, and the tempera painting of the internal gallery was partially renewed. In 2007, the Intercession Cathedral became a nominee for the “Seven Wonders of Russia” competition.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources