The Story of Moscow

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al, with strength to endure adversity and unfailing vigour to accomplish a predestined purpose. Traditions of divine intervention; the finding and promulgation of Law; much that is miraculous and legendary as well as all that is credible in early national history the Russian associates with Moscow, and feels what the stranger cannot be made to perceive, may even fail to comprehend, for the outward and visible sign of the living spirit that actuates the Church is but faint and imperfect, even as performance is so often but an inadequate rendering of intention. Although the sanctity of Moscow may not be apparent to the unorthodox, the observer will expect some characteristics of motive to stand revealed in externals. But to the uninitiated the ritual of the Russian Church is bewildering, and the true significance of such symbols as are exhibited in ecclesiastical architecture and ornament is likely to be missed by over accentuating the importance of whatever may be unusual. For many, who are qu

ers by one of the Apostles. The Russians are no exception, and, in any event, t

esire to embrace a newer faith. With the Christianity of Rome he would have nothing to do, for, he said, his relations in the west had embraced that, and yet were always at war and without good fortune. The Kara?m Jews of South Russia wished to convert him, but when he learned that they were exiled from the land of their fathers and had no country of their own, he refused, saying they were receiving the harvest of their sins and that he had no wish to cause his people to share their punishment. Then hearing that at Constantinople another religion was professed he sent delegates thither to observe and judge whether or not it would suit him. These Russians were astonished at the many lights in the temple; were moved by the singing

the year 863, and so prior to the advent of the Norseman Rurik. In all probability, the faith was spread by proselytising clergy, in part helpe

his piece of bread with a bear. Then came St Peter, an apostle sent from Macedonia, who, as a sign "passed through the fire" uninjured; after converting many he settled at Kiev and was of great assistance to George Danielovich in raising the clerical status of Moscow, and to his "incorruptible remains" many miracles are attributed. A large number of relics assigned to him are still preserved in the Uspenski Sobor and the sacristy of the Patriarchs. Next in importance to Moscow was Alexis, the Metropolitan, afterwards canonised. From the earliest times, the clergy, living the life of the people and not that of the military caste, had great influence with citizens and peasants: many times the church has raised the spirit of the nation when oppressed by foreign invaders. It spurred on Ivan III. to overthrow the Mongol rule, and stirred up the people to repulse the Poles and secure national independence. One source of its power has been the use of the vernacular in all services; the church most certainly during the centuries of Tartar dominion also preserved the Slavic tongue from foreign dialects. The clergy have always held it their chief duty to pass on to their successors their faith as they received it. Schism is not tolerated; the slightest modification of ritual is forbidden. T

influence of the Holy Spirit." God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, "perfectly equal in nature and dignity," may alone be worshipped; but homage may be paid to the Virgin Mary, and reverence shown to the saints, to ikons and to relics. That this may not be abused, bishops at their consecration are requested to promise that "honour shall be shown to God only, not to the sacred ikons, and that no fal

elaborated. The primitive type is best exemplified in the church of St Michael within the Chudov monastery, but the cathedrals of the Assumption and of the Archangels, on the Sobornia Ploshchad of the Kremlin, will serve equally well to illustrate the permanent form. The origin and development of the bulbous dome, as well as the size, position and number of secondary domes, may be traced by comparing the various old churches in South Russia, and those of wood, formerly or at present existing in "wooden" Russia. For this purpose a convenient series of framed drawings is to be found on stands in Room β of the Historical Museum. They confirm what has already been stated in the preceding chapter, concerning the origin of Russian architecture, and show that the number of domes-some churches have seventeen, if not more-is immaterial, since all should be so arranged as to increase the importance

s, instead of the cylindrical shaft peculiar to Russian architecture, which last was evidently derived from round towers of very remote origin. The windows are small and unimportant-often mere oblong slits in the wall-and, though the accepted form admits of little modification towards the elaboration of elegance and grace in the design, and the decoration is limited by the ecclesiastical objection to carved figures-and

sacred ikons, having the place of honour on the ikonostas; decorative and illustrative pictures are placed there also, and the same-as frescoes, or otherwise-around the central columns and along the walls of the church. Usually the north wall is appointed for those pertaining to the saint to whom the church is dedicated; the south wall to the seven councils, the west to other sacred subjects. Although the ikonostas is the equivalent of the rood-screen in the old English churches, it is not only always a fixture, but sometimes a solid partition of masonry, being really that barrier which shuts off the Holy of Holies, that may be entered by the consecrated priests alone, from the rest of the

altar, and over it a baldachino on which the cross i

HE NATIVITY

e church, with other seats for priests on both sid

sm will recognise a totally distinct signification.[B] To these last too, the accepted explanations of the crescent from which the cross rises will be insufficient. It was common in Russia prior to the Mongol occupation, so is not the result of placing crosses upon mosques, or intended to denote the subjugation of Mahommedanism to Christianity. More probable is the explanation, that in ancient pictures the Virgin is shown standing upon the crescent, and

rived from the old eastern

veloped into a cross. The ordinary ikons are restricted to fixed types; the artist therefore has never needed to create, only to reproduce. There are no Russian Madonnas, all are replicas of pictures brought from Greece or Byzantium; "the ikon painter knows but one costume, for all places and all times it changeth not; tradition fixes the form of the head, the pose, the proportion, the attitudes and the attributes." Most are produced by monks and probationers who follow the instructions given in a tenth century MS. by Dionysius of Mount Athos. Rigorously it is only the features of the saint that must be exactly reproduced; in practice it is customary to cover all but the face and hands with thin metal-gold, silver, or gilt, and to ornament the setting lavishly. In the seventeenth century, the golden age of Muscovite ecclesiasticism, there were several branches of ikon painting, not differing sufficiently to warrant the appellation of "schools." These were known as the Imperial or Court style; the Village, the Strogonov, and the Monastic. Novgorod w

nsferred to the image; the merit and effect of a copy depends upon its resemblanc

"choral and part-singing of unequalled harmony and richness; prayers; consecration of the elements; administration of the sacrament, which the priest takes every service, and the congregation at will, but at least once yearly; thanksgiving, and the parting benediction; chanting and incense-burning are frequent throughout, and asperging is practised at the commencement and termination. For the greater part of the time the "Royal doors" are closed: the deacons remain before the ikonostas, but now and again some enter the Sanctuary for a short time. From time to time priests and acolytes pass to and fro among the congr

e of so many notable events, that the reader will not need a recountal of the stories concerning the historical characters who have made them famous.

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e graced with peace, content, and fulness, thou wilt raise on this site a grand temple to our Holy Mother of God, then shalt thou likewise be happy, become the most illustrious

SOBOR, TH

anile there, and the repair of the leaning tower of Cento, was ordered to construct the cathedral anew. Aristotle taught the Muscovites how to make larger and harder bricks than the pantiles to which they were accustomed; how

o cupola 128 feet. The walls were strengthened in 1626 after the injury done by the Poles; in 1684 the domes were covered with gilded copper, and the mura

o twenty compartments exhibiting scenes from biblical history, and below Apollo, Plato, and mythological figures. Before them the Grand Princes of Muscovy were invested with th

one was stripped of all its precious metal; the great silver chandelier of 2940 lbs., made in England in 1630, was put in the casting-pot and scales suspended from its place; horses were stabled in the chapel, and tethered to the coffins of the metropolitans. Not content with robbing the sanctuary of its precious metals the French delibera

ichness of decoration few articles of vertu can equal; the gems alone being valued at upwards of ￡100,000, and the great emerald itself at ￡10,000. The next ikon of importance is that of the Holy Virgin of Jerusalem, which, according to tradition, was the work of the apostles. Taken to Constantinople in the fifth century and to Kherson in the tenth, it came thence to Moscow-but others say, it is but a copy, the original having disappeared during the French occupation. On the right of the royal doors is the image of our Saviour in the golden chasuble, painted by the Greek emperor Manuel, and brought from Novgorod the Great in 1478. By its side is an ikon with most brilliant colouring r

s that support the central cupola; and, on the walls, the martyrdoms of orthodox saints are depicted. A bas-relief, supposed to represent St Geo

ch contains the Host and formerly also held a number of important state papers which were transferred to S

"Holy Coat" or a portion of the "tunic" worn by the Saviour; (b) a nail of the true cross; (c) the right hand of St Andrew the Apostle; (d) the head of St Gregory the theologian; and (e) the head of St John Chrysostom. The shrine

sanctuary. It contains the oldest tomb in Moscow, that of Yuri, brother of Ivan "Kalita," a

rich binding, the work of foreign artisans in the palace; (b) an illuminated psalter of the fifteenth century; (c) an illuminated MS. of the gospels by Russian scribes, 1664; (d) a cross of cypress wood, enclosing a piece of the true cross; (e) cross of the Emperor Constantine; (f) Jasper vases which wer

of Jonas is on the north-west, and near the ikonostas is the shrine

re the north column; the large stall in front of the south column is for the Patriarch, and dates from the days of Philaret only. The ca

married, foreign princes have renounced their faith and accepted the orthodox religion prior to marriage with the Royal princesses, and there Peter the G

s the open scroll, bent and hammered metal on the lattices of the different shrines, and almost equally good is much of the chiselled, moulded and other decorative metal work on the ikonostas. It i

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made to destroy it by exploding a large quantity of spirit the French brought within for the purpose, but this served only to scatter the tombs, wreck the interior and spring the south wall. The church contains the remains of the princes and all the Tsars of Moscow. The petitions of the people laid upon the tombs of the Tsars were taken and read by Peter I. himself. Most of the religious ceremonies peculiar to this church relate to masses for the dead, and homage paid to the memory of ancestors. It has the usual rectangular form, the four central columns, the five cupolas, which the people think always dedicated to the Saviour and the four evangelists. The chapel

y the Tsaritsa Sophia Vitovtovna; (b) the Virgin of Tikhvin, the ikon of the Tsaritsa Maria Nagoi, moth

hen but six years old. Vasili, the blind, is buried near the ikonostas; and by his side lies Ivan III., the maker of middle Moscow and uniter of the Russian-lands. Near the first pillar on the left is the tomb of Alexander, Tsar of Kazan: near the second pillar, the Tsarevich Peter, son of Ibrahim, and grandson of Mamotiakov, once Tsar of Kazan. The remains of Ivan the Terrible are near the high altar, a testimony of the forgiving temperament of prelates of the orthodox church. The tomb is covered with a black pall, indicating that he had been received into the church as a monk before hi

li II. habited as a monk: also illustrations of the Last Judgment, the "Symbol of Faith," and mir

cturesque portraits of the evangelists, and characteristic illuminated initials; the golden filigree work on the cover is excellent. A psalter of 1594 has elegant marginal decorations. There were also rich crosses of gold and silver-the one that belonged to

exis are within a reliquary of the cross above mentioned: and a drop of t

eshchen

ESHCHEN

f the Tsarian Treasury," which clearly indicate the court uses for which it has been employed. It has nine cupolas; the roof of pointed vaults rising tier above tier is most characteristic of Muscovite architecture, and the entrance is by a flight of steps communicating with a covered gallery which surrounds the church, see page 178. Its early history is that of the others; first, a wooden church erected by Andrew in 1291, rebuilt in 1397; in 1409 the walls decorated with pictures by Rublev; in part demolished by Ivan III., who built again from the first floor up, and, completed in 1482, p

doorways, richly carved, are of early sixteenth century native work-and some of the best specimens now extant. The interior of the church is small, and looks even smaller than it really is owing to an elevated tribune, or gallery, against the west wall, which served for members of the Tsar's family to participate in the services without being exposed to public view, the Tsar himself being on the ground floor, opposite the ikonostas. The par

lock, which was placed there by Lazarus Serbin, in the seventeenth century. About the s

ded in the Apocalypse; the punishment of the damned; the glories of Paradise, with much else that is curious. They are already the joy of a "school" and the admiration of Russian antiquaries. Though crude, unreal, and not a littl

re looted by the French. The more remarkable ikons are (a) one of the Saviour's agony-a typical specimen of Byzantine work in the fourteenth century; (b) the richly decorated Holy Mother of God, known as the Donski Virgin, because c

e that of the Saviour, and that of the archangel Gabriel, it quite escaped pillage in 1812. The sacristy-in a small building on the south side-is peculiarly rich in relics, a complete collection of sacred remains brought from Constantinople in 1328. It includes bones of different saints-contained in thirty-two silver and gilt caskets; a reliquary with the sponge used at t

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erved, but it is typical of a church with monastery attached, as once the case (see page 29). There are now no external mural paintings, but those inside are curious; the small, low belfry is very quaint and the bells now hung there are old foreign bells-among the first brought to Moscow. The central chapel, that of the Transfiguration, is the oldest, the "Royal Doors" are of primitive type. Its sacristy is poor: the relics are those of St Stephen the

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valuable church plate, and relics of the patriarchs and the Church. Many are contained in the cases arranged round the walls, the others may be inspected on application to one of the attendants-who will expect adin rubl na chaiu-or to those much interested will be shown by the Sacristan, who will explain their use and relate their history. A complete catalogue may be had, but the best accoun

testifying to its genuineness. It belonged to the Patriarch of Alexandria, who was present at the Assembly of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Fathers of the Church, and, latterly, opinion inclines to its having originated with him. Equally ancient is a mitre, easily recognised from other 'crowns' in the case by its pointed shape, similar to those of ancient Byzantium. It was presented to the Tsar Theodore; the donor, Miletius Piga, of Alexandria, wrote that, apart from the

elievo; on the reverse, a Greek cross, the Emperor Constantine and Helena, his mother. It belonged to the Patriarch Job and has a most beautiful setting of Russian enamel and niello work of the sixteenth century. No. 11 is also of onyx, with ruby and pearl decoration, it appertained to Peter. No. 3. is a sardonyx of elaborate workmanship and unusual size; it has a reliquary containing a fragment of the robe of royal purple with which the Saviour was mockingly invested, and is believed to have been produced to the order of Ivan IV. to commemorate the birth of Dmitri. No. 25 contains an emerald of purest water, three-fifths of an inch in diameter. In another is also a fine emerald which weighs 38 carats.

rsday) consecrated by the Metropolitan, and further hallowed by the addition of a few drops of the oil from the vessel of 'Alabaster' in which the Holy Chrism was first brought into Russia from Constantinople, the vessel having never been emptied, since the quantity taken

ier date. They were got together by the patriarch Nikon for the purpose of comparison, and restoring the ritual of the Russian Church to its original, or at least earlier, rule. The printed books have

him also, the technique of ritual; the customs appertaining to the dispersion of relics among newly-built churches and restoration of those injured by time and accident; together with many other matters of Church rule and procedure which find illustration in this collection, should prove

kingdom. During the reign of Vasili the Blind the unsuccessful attempt of the Metropolitan Isidor to introduce Romish practices intensified the conservatism of the prelates. In 1582, Anthony Possevin, a J

the Greek rendering and that current in Slavonic; prosecuting his investigations further he found many discrepancies and tried in all things to revert to the older practice. His action was construed as the introduction of new procedure-and consequently vigorously opposed-and orthodoxy split into two camps; those who agreed with the head of the Church that the ancient practice was correct and should be introduced and the more conservative who would not depart from that to which they had been accustomed, and it is they who are known as the "Old Believers," for the alterations proposed by Nikon ultimately became general. Although the Patriarch had resigned he continued to receive the clergy and concern himself with the direction of ecclesiastical affairs. In 1654 he angered the people by going into private chapels and houses and removing all copies of the ikon Nerukotvorenni, "not made with hands," because unlike the ikons of Mount Athos. The priest visited Moscow, and the people paraded the em

not conforming to the innovations of Nikon, more especially the unfortunate and obstinate Boyarina Morozov and her sister Princess Urusov, so with the change of the head of the Church the people were condemned for such acts as they had previously been commended for performing, and now knew not whom to believe. With the accession of Peter to sole power, and the enforcement by him of practices foreign to former habit, the people associated all his innovations with those purely clerical ones which had recently met with opposition and caused persecution and suffer

e, the popovtsi, or those who acknowledge the priesthood and depend for their clergy upon

khobortsi, who deny the divinity of the Holy Ghost, strongly oppose civil authority, refuse to pray for their sovereign or the head of the orthodox church, and consider death by starvation or fire, so long as it is self-wrought, to be the highest duty. Nearly akin to them are the terrible Skopts

Patriarch with the chief of the Ras Kolniks, a fanatic Nikita. There were stormy scenes; at the close each sect claimed to have the right, an

GATE OF MAR

ademy; Church of the Virgin of Kazan, interesting as founded in 1630 by Prince Pojarski; the Nikol?vski Monastyr, Greek, founded in 1556, and in 1669, with two churches; opposite it the old Monastery of the Epiphany, Bogoyavlenni, founded in 1396, with a church to Boris and Gleb and several others of lesser note-a large establishment with an extensive cemetery but the buildings of course modern. The Synodalia Typografiia; the printing house of the Synod, founded in 1645,

ion. In the Ilyinka: St Nicholas of the Great Cross, St Elias. Also the Holy Trinity in the Cherkassky, St Anne in the

y John Taylor; All Saints, the Tran