by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Grand Church of the Winter Palace by Edward Petrovich Hau, 1866; Credit

• Unofficial Royalty: Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index

The most important church in the lives of the Romanovs was the Grand Church located in the Winter Palace. The Winter Palace, on the banks of the Neva River in Saint Petersburg, served as the official residence of the Russian Emperors and Empresses from 1732 to 1917. This writer has visited the Winter Palace and it is truly awe-inspiring. Today, part of the Winter Palace houses the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s premier art museums. The Winter Palace’s monumental scale was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia and it is still a mighty and powerful building. It is said to contain 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms, and 117 staircases.

The Winter Palace from the Neva River. The golden cupola of the Grand Church can be seen on the left side; Credit – By Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49250446

Aerial view of the Winter Palace; The golden cupola of the Grand Church can be seen on the left side; Credit – By Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51992181

The Grand Church, a Russian Orthodox church that had cathedral status, was the site of most christenings, weddings, conversions of foreign princesses marrying into the family, and memorial services. Funerals were usually held at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, the burial site of the Romanovs from Peter I (the Great) to Nicholas II, (with the exception of Peter II and Ivan VI) located in the Peter and Paul Fortress across the Neva River from the Winter Palace.

Before the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703, the seat of power and the important churches were in the Moscow Kremlin. Male rulers of the Rurik dynasty and the early Romanov dynasty along with close male relatives and some Russian noblemen were interred at the Archangel Cathedral. Women of the Rurik dynasty and women of the early Romanov dynasty along with some Russian noblewomen were interred at the Ascension Cathedral of the Ascension Convent. Assumption Cathedral was the site of the coronations of the sovereign Tsars, Emperors, and Empresses of Russia, and some consorts from 1547 to 1896. It remained the coronation cathedral after the founding of St. Petersburg.

View of the Small Church in the Winter Palace by Eduard Hau, 1862; Credit – Wikipedia

A second smaller church, the Sretenskaya Church or Small Church of the Winter Palace, was conveniently located near the residential wing of the Winter Palace and was used by the Imperial Family for private worship. Today the former church displays Russian Orthodox church vestments of the 17th – early 20th centuries from the State Hermitage Museum collection.

The display of Orthodox church vestments in the former Sretenskaya Church; Credit – Автор: Netelo – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106021534

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History of the Grand Church of the Winter Palace

View of the Grand Church of the Winter Palace by Alexey Vasilievich Tyranov, 1829 before the fire of 1837; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1753, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia ordered the construction of a new (and the present) Winter Palace with a large church. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia, was responsible for the design of the palace and the church. He designed the Grand Church in the Baroque style with an interior similar to a palace hall. Construction on the church began in 1753 and was completed in 1762. On July 12, 1763, Archbishop Gavriil Kremenetsky of St Petersburg consecrated the Grand Church. In 1807, Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia issued a decree giving the Grand Church the status of a Court Cathedral.

Fire in the Winter Palace by Pierre Marie Joseph Vernet, 1838; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 29, 1837, a fire broke out after smoke from an unswept chimney spread through a vent in a partition between the wooden and main walls in the Field Marshal’s Hall. The wall began to smolder and a fire broke out in the ceiling of the Small Throne Room. The fire lasted about 30 hours, and the Winter Palace smoldered for almost three days. Most of the second and third floors of the Winter Palace were severely damaged. The two-year restoration was led by Russian architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov. Some of the decorations of the Grand Church were able to be saved and Stasov was able to recreate the style of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli’s original plans. The Grand Church was reconsecrated on March 25, 1839, in a ceremony conducted by Metropolitan Filaret Drozdov of Moscow in the presence of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and his family,

After the Russian Revolution, in May 1918, the Grand Church was officially closed for worship. In 1938, the iconostasis, the pulpit, the lantern, and the altar canopy were removed and the former church became one of the State Hermitage Museum’s exhibition spaces.

Restoration work done from 2012 until 2014 was described by the State Hermitage Museum as a “recreation of the original design of the Court Cathedral” with “the icons, the candelabra, the standard lamps and pieces of the iconostasis, the pulpit, the lantern, and the altar canopy returned to their original place.”

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The Interior of the Grand Church of the Winter Palace

Orthodox churches are set up differently than other Christian churches. They are divided into three main parts: the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary. The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world. It used to be the practice that non-Orthodox people had to remain in the narthex but this practice has mostly fallen into disuse. The congregation stands in the nave during services. Traditionally there is no sitting during Orthodox services and so Orthodox churches usually do not have pews or chairs.

The iconostasis after the fire of 1837; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460200

In Orthodox Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons, religious paintings, that divides the sanctuary from the nave. The sanctuary is where the Eucharist or Divine Liturgy is performed behind the iconostasis. The iconostasis usually has three doors, one in the middle and one on either side. The middle doors are traditionally called the Royal Doors and are only used by the clergy.

The gilded stucco walls; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460204

The Grand Church is divided by Corinthian columns into three sections and is brightly lit by large windows on opposite sides. Above the central area is a dome. The walls are richly embellished with gilded stucco in a Rococo design.

The pulpit; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460653

After the fire of 1837, architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov made every effort to restore the church as it was before the fire although there were few drawings to guide him. The gilded iconostasis, canopy, and pulpit were carved according to the original drawings. Some of the icons saved during the fire were returned to their places. The Royal Doors had survived the fire and were placed in the new iconstasis. After being repaired, the original silver chandelier was returned to its place in the dome.

The ceiling painting Ascension of Christ by Pyotr Vasilievich Basin; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460199

The new ceiling, painted by Russian painter Pyotr Vasilievich Basin depicts the Ascension of Christ and the lunettes, half-moon-shaped architectural spaces below the dome, depict the Four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, by Russian painter Fyodor Antonovich Bruni.

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Wedding of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine by Laurits Tuxen, 1895; Credit – Wikipedia (Among those depicted in this painting against the wall and to the right of the window, from left to right: King Christian IX of Denmark, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna,  Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, Queen Olga Konstantinovna of Greece, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich and Prince Heinrich of Prussia)

The Grand Church of the Winter Palace was the family church of the Romanovs and was where most important religious rites of passage were held including christenings, weddings, and the conversions to Russian Orthodoxy of the foreign princesses marrying into the Romanov family.

The many weddings held at the Grand Church include:

• July 13, 1817 – Wedding of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia)
• April 28, 1841 – Wedding of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Maria Alexandrovna)
• November 9, 1866 – Wedding of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark (Empress Maria Feodorovna)
• January 23, 1874 – Wedding of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (daughter of Alexander II) and Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom) – Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
• August 28, 1874 – Wedding of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (son of Alexander II) and Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna)
• June 15, 1884 – Wedding of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (son of Alexander II) and Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna)
• June 17, 1889 – Wedding of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia (son of Alexander II) and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna)
• November 26, 1894 – Wedding of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna) – Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Grand Church of the Winter Palace – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Church_of_the_Winter_Palace> [Accessed 26 April 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Winter Palace – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Palace> [Accessed 26 April 2022].
• Encspb.ru. 2022. Энциклопедия Санкт-Петербурга. [online] Available at: <http://encspb.ru/object/2805467476> [Accessed 26 April 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Большая церковь Зимнего дворца — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%86%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C_%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B0> [Accessed 26 April 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Сретенская церковь (Зимний дворец) — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%86%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C_(%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%86)> [Accessed 26 April 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Пожар в Зимнем дворце — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%B2_%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BC_%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B5> [Accessed 26 April 2022].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia; Photo Credit – By Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51961358

On an island in the Neva River that flows through St. Petersburg, Russia is the Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel of the city established by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703. Inside the fortress is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, which this writer has visited. The cathedral was built during the reign of Peter I (the Great) and designed by Domenico Trezzini, a Swiss architect who designed many of the first buildings in St. Petersburg. The Peter and Paul Cathedral is the burial place of all but two of the Russian sovereign emperors and empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, who was finally laid to rest in July 1998. Only Peter II and Ivan VI are not buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

• Unofficial Royalty: Romanov Burial Sites
• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics
• Unofficial Royalty: Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index

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History of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia

View of the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Neva River in the 1870s; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1703 to 1704, Peter I (the Great) had a wooden church, used for military purposes, built in the Peter and Paul Fortress. To strengthen the position of his new capital city of St. Petersburg among the cities of Russia, Peter the Great wanted to build a church that would be taller than the Ivan the Great Bell Tower (the tallest structure in the Moscow Kremlin) and the Menshikov Tower of the Church of Archangel Gabriel in Moscow. He wanted the new church to become the most significant building in St. Petersburg and be located in the heart of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Swiss architect Domenico Trezzini was commissioned to design a church that was intended to be the main cathedral of the Russian Empire and the burial place of the House of Romanov. Construction work began in 1712. When Peter the Great died in 1725, only the foundations and the tower were standing. The cathedral was completed in 1733 after twenty-one years of construction. A cathedral in Russia could mean the seat of a bishop or a large or important church. Peter and Paul Cathedral, an important church, was the cathedral church of St. Petersburg until 1858 when St. Isaac Cathedral became St. Petersburg’s cathedral. At that time, Peter and Paul Cathedral came under the jurisdiction of the Russian imperial court.

The original wooden spire was rebuilt after a lightning strike in 1756. In 1773, the Chapel of Saint Catherine, dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, now the burial site of Nicholas II, his family, their doctor, and their three servants, was completed. In 1777, the spire was damaged by a storm. Restoration work was carried out by the architect Peter Paton and a new angel and cross was made by Antonio Rinaldi. In 1830, roofer Pyotr Teluschkin became famous when he used a rope ladder to climb the spire to replace the angel and cross which had been that had been damaged by lightning. The spire was rebuilt in metal in 1858 and covered with gilded copper plates.

In 1919, the Soviet regime closed the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and then in 1924, it was turned into a museum. Most of the valuable items of the late 17th – early 18th centuries such as silver items, books, vestments, and icons were given to museums. During World War II, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was badly damaged. In 1952, the facades were restored, and then from 1956 to 1957, the interior was restored. Peter and Paul Cathedral is still officially a museum, and in 1954, the cathedral came under the jurisdiction of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.

Since the 1990s, memorial services for Russian emperors and empresses have been held on the date of their deaths. Other religious services resumed in 2000. The first Easter service since 1917 was held in 2008. For the 300th anniversary in 2012, the cathedral was extensively restored.

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The Exterior of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul; Credit – Автор: Никонико962 – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81987560

The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Pau is rectangular in shape, with a dome on the eastern end and a bell tower with a spire on the western entrance. The exterior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral does not have the five typical domes representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists as do most other Orthodox churches. Instead, the dominant part of the cathedral’s exterior is the bell tower. The first three tiers of the bell tower provide a smooth transition from the main part of the cathedral to the spire. The base of the spire is an octagonal structure with narrow vertical openings topped by an octagonal golden crown.

The angel on the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral; Credit – Автор: Ad Meskens – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77086740

Atop the 131-foot/40-meter spire is a weather vane in the shape of an angel (height: 10.4 feet/3.2 meters, wingspan: 12.4 feet/3.8 meters) revolving around a 21-foot/6.4-meter-tall cross on its gilded spire. The 402-foot/122.5 meter Peter and Paul Cathedral remained St. Petersburg’s tallest building, as ordered by Peter the Great, until the Construction of the municipal television tower in 1962. However, the Peter and Paul Cathedral still has the world’s tallest Orthodox bell tower.

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The Interior of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

The nave of the Peter and Paul Cathedral looking toward the iconostasis; Credit – By Deror avi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8367790

Orthodox churches are set up differently than other Christian churches. They are divided into three main parts: the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary. The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world. It used to be the practice that non-Orthodox people had to remain in the narthex but this practice has mostly fallen into disuse. The congregation stands in the nave during services. Traditionally there is no sitting during Orthodox services and so Orthodox churches usually do not have pews or chairs.

Ceiling fresco paintings; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Peter and Paul Cathedral is a hall church, with a nave and side aisles. The interior of the cathedral is divided into three parts by pillars, painted to imitate marble. The ceiling vaults are decorated with multicolored fresco paintings and gilded moldings. The cathedral is lit by twelve large windows. Although a cathedral because of its importance, the Peter and Paul Cathedral is nowhere near the size of other cathedrals this writer has visited. There are no pews in the nave but the pillars and tombs combined with lots of people made moving around (and not losing your tour guide) difficult.

There’s our tour guide with the pulpit and lots of people in the background; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In Orthodox Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons, religious paintings, that divides the sanctuary from the nave. The sanctuary is where the Eucharist or Divine Liturgy is performed behind the iconostasis. The iconostasis usually has three doors, one in the middle and one on either side. The middle doors are traditionally called the Royal Doors and are only used by the clergy.

The iconostasis; Credit – By Poudou99 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57887255

The carved, gilded 65-foot/20-meter high iconostasis was made from 1722 to 1726 in the Kremlin Armory in Moscow, then brought in parts to St. Petersburg, and mounted in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. All decorative details and sculptural elements of the iconostasis were carved from linden wood and the frame of the iconostasis was made from larch wood.

Some of the icons on the iconostasis

Forty-three icons for the iconostasis were painted from 1726 to 1729 by Moscow icon painters and include images of the patron saints of St. Petersburg: St. Alexander Nevsky, the Apostles Peter and Paul, holy princes and princesses from the Rurik dynasty: Prince Vladimir I (the Great), Princess Olga, and the brothers and martyrs Prince Boris of Rostov and Prince Gleb of Murom.

The iconostasis rising into the cathedral’s dome; Credit – CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136587

The central part of the iconostasis is designed in the form of the triumphal arch that spans the Royal Doors and rises into the space beneath the dome to a height of 66 feet/20 meters. Near the iconostasis is a pulpit to the left, and the Tsar’s Place to the right, a special spot where the Emperor stood when there was a service.

The Tsar’s Place; Credit – By Perfektangelll – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21354345

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Burials in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

The burial service for Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia in 1894

Before the building of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, male rulers of the Rurik dynasty and the early Romanov dynasty along with close male relatives and some Russian noblemen were interred at the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Likewise, women of the Rurik dynasty and women of the early Romanov dynasty along with some Russian noblewomen were interred at the Ascension Cathedral of the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin.

Several members of the Romanov family who died before the Peter and Paul Cathedral was completed were interred in the unfinished cathedral under the bell tower or in the entrance to the cathedral. After the death of Peter I (the Great) in 1725, his coffin was placed in a temporary chapel in the unfinished cathedral. He was interred in his final resting place on May 29, 1731. In 1831, Nicholas I ordered that his brother Grand Duke Konstantine Pavlovich be buried in the cathedral. Since that time, close relatives of the emperors began to be buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Graves of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, his wife Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Tsarevna of Russia, and his aunt Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna – They died before the cathedral was finished and were interred at the entrance to the cathedral. The original white marble tombstones still mark their graves; Credit – Wikipedia

Originally, graves were marked by white marble tombstones as seen in the above photo. In 1865, all the tombstones were replaced with the white marble sarcophagi with a large bronze cross coated in gold as seen in the photo below.

Sarcophagi in the Peter and Paul Cathedral; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The sarcophagi of emperors and empresses have four bronze emblems of the Russian Empire at four corners as seen in the photo below of the sarcophagus of Peter I (the Great).

Sarcophagus of Peter I (the Great); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

By order of Alexander III, new sarcophagi were made for his parents: the sarcophagus of Alexander II from green Altai jasper and the sarcophagus of Empress Maria Alexandrovna from pink Urals rhodonite as seen in the photo below.

Sarcophagi of Alexander II (left) and his first wife Maria Feodorovna (right); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul

Peter and Paul Cathedral – Row 1 left to right: Tombs of Elizabeth I, Catherine I, Peter I; Row 2 left to right: Tombs of Catherine II, Peter III, Anna I; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

• Grand Duchess Catherine Petrovna (1706 – 1708), daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
• Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina, Tsaritsa of Russia (1664 -1716), second wife of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia
• Grand Duchess Maria Petrovna (1713 – 1715), daughter of Peter I (the Great)
• Grand Duchess Margarita Petrovna (1714 – 1715), daughter of Peter I (the Great)
• Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Tsarevna of Russia (1694 – 1715), wife of Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (son of Peter I (the Great)
• Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (born and died 1717), son of Peter I (the Great)
• Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1690 – 1718), son of Peter I (the Great)
• Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna (1660–1723), daughter of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (1672 – 1725)
• Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (1718 – 1725), daughter of Peter I (the Great)
• Catherine I, Empress of All Russia (1684 – 1727), second wife of Peter I and Empress in her own right
• Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (1708 – 1728), daughter of Peter I (the Great) and wife of Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
• Anna, Empress of All Russia (1693 – 1740)
• Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia (1709 – 1762)
• Peter III, Emperor of All Russia (1728 – 1762)
• Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (1729 – 1796),  wife of Peter III
• Paul I, Emperor of All Russia (1754- 1801)
• Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia (1777 – 1825)
• Elizabeth Alexeievna, Empress of All Russia, born Louise of Baden (1779 – 1826) wife of Alexander I
• Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, born Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg, second wife of Paul I
• Grand Duke Konstantine Pavlovich (1779 – 1831), son of Paul I
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Mikhailovna (1831 – 1832), daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich
• Grand Duchess Anna Mikhailovna (1834 – 1836), daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich
• Grand Duchess Maria Mikhailovna (1825 – 1846), daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna (1842 – 1849), daughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia
• Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich (1798 – 1849), son of Paul I
  Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia (1796 – 1855)
• Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, born Charlotte of Prussia (1798 – 1860), wife of Nicholas I
• Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1843 – 1865), son of Alexander II
• Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (1869 – 1870), son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia
• Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, born Charlotte of Württemberg (1807 – 1873), wife of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich
• Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of All Russia, born Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (1824 – 1880), first wife of Alexander II
• Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia (1818 – 1881)
• Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, born Cecilie of Baden (1839 – 1891), wife of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich
• Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (1831 – 1891), son of Nicholas I
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna, born Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (1870 – 1891), first wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, transferred to the Royal Cemetery on the grounds of Tatoi Palace in Greece in 1939
• Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna (1827 – 1894), daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, wife of Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia (1845 – 1894)
• Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich (1875 – 1895), son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich
• Grand Duke George Alexandrovich (1871 – 1899), Alexander III
• Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847 – 1909), son of Alexander II
• Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich (1832 – 1909), son of Nicholas I
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, born Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (1830 – 1911), wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich
• Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia (1868 – 1918), interred on July 17, 1998
• Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, born Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (1872 – 1918), wife of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, interred July 17, 1998
• Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1895 – 1918), daughter of Nicholas II, interred on July 17, 1998
• Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna (1897 – 1918), daughter of Nicholas II, interred on July 17, 1998
• Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (1901 – 1918), daughter of Nicholas II, interred on July 17, 1998
• Dr. Yevgeny Sergeyevich Botkin (1865 – 1918), court doctor to the family of Nicholas II
• Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov (1872 – 1918), cook to the family of Nicholas II
• Alexei Yegorovich Trupp (1856 – 1918), footman to the family of Nicholas II
• Anna Stepanovna Demidova (1878 – 1918), maid to the family of Nicholas II
• Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, born Dagmar of Denmark (1847 – 1928), wife of Alexander III, transferred from Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark in 2006

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Reburials at the Peter and Paul Cathedral

St. Catherine Chapel, the burial site of Nicholas II, his family and his servants; Credit – By Dr Graham Beards – Own work, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13260852

Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, born Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and their five children, along with three of their most loyal servants and the court doctor, were shot to death by a firing squad on July 17, 1918, at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Siberia, Russia. The bodies were taken to a remote site north of Yekaterinburg. The initial plan was to burn the bodies but when this took longer than expected, the bodies were buried in an unmarked pit. After acid was poured on the bodies, they were covered with railroad ties, and the pit was smoothed over with dirt and ash.

In 1934, Yakov Yurovsky, the commandant of the Ipatiev House, produced an account of the execution and disposal of the bodies. His account later matched the remains of nine bodies found north of Yekaterinburg in 1991. In 1994, when the bodies of the Romanovs were exhumed, two were missing – one daughter, either Maria or Anastasia, and Alexei, the hemophiliac son. The remains of the nine bodies recovered were confirmed as those of the three servants, Dr. Botkin, Nicholas, Alexandra, and three of their daughters. The remains of Olga and Tatiana were definitely identified based on the expected skeletal structure of young women of their age. The remains of the third daughter were either Maria or Anastasia.

The family and their servants were canonized as new martyrs in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1981, and as passion bearers in the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. The formal burial of Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, Dr. Botkin, and the three servants took place on July 17, 1998, the 80th anniversary of their deaths, in St. Catherine Chapel at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia, many Romanov family members, and family members of Dr. Botkin and the servants attended the ceremony. Prince Michael of Kent represented his first cousin Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Three of his grandparents were first cousins of Nicholas II.

• YouTube: Romanov Funeral (the video will go automatically to the next part)
• Unofficial Royalty: July 17, 1918 – Execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia and His Family

Until 2009, it was not entirely clear whether the remains of Maria or Anastasia were missing. On August 24, 2007, a Russian team of archaeologists announced that they had found the remains of Alexei and his missing sister in July 2007. In 2009, DNA and skeletal analysis identified the remains found in 2007 as Alexei and his sister Maria. In addition, it determined that the royal hemophilia was the rare, severe form of hemophilia, known as Hemophilia B or Christmas disease. The results showed that Alexei had Hemophilia B and that his mother Empress Alexandra and his sister Anastasia were carriers of the disease. The remains of Alexei and Maria have not yet been buried. The Russian Orthodox Church has questioned whether the remains are authentic and blocked the burial.

Sarcophagus of Empress Maria Feodorovna; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II, died on October 13, 1928, at Hvidøre, the holiday villa she had purchased with her sister Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom in 1906, near Copenhagen, Denmark. Following services in Copenhagen’s Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Church, Maria Feodorovna was interred in the crypt of the Christian IX Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish royal family in Roskilde, Denmark. She had wished that at some point in time she could be buried with her husband.

The coffin of Maria Feodorovna being lowered into the crypt

In 2005, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed, along with their governments, that Maria Feodorovna’s wish should be fulfilled. Her remains were transported to St. Petersburg. Following a service at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, she was interred next to her husband Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia in the Peter and Paul Cathedral on September 28, 2006.

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Originally Buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral

Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna was the first wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich. While pregnant with her second child, Alexandra collapsed in the middle of a ball with violent labor pains, gave birth prematurely to a son, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and then lapsed into a coma. Alexandra did not recover consciousness and died six days later on September 24, 1891, at the age of 21. Originally, it was thought that a fall caused her premature labor. However, an autopsy showed that Alexandra’s premature labor was caused by eclampsia, a condition that causes a pregnant woman, usually previously diagnosed with preeclampsia (high blood pressure and protein in the urine), to develop seizures or coma. Nephritis, a kidney disorder, and heart damage were also detected.

In 1939, at the request of Alexandra’s nephew King George II of Greece and the Greek government, the Soviet government allowed Alexandra’s remains to be transferred to Greece. Her coffin was removed from the Peter and Paul Cathedral, put aboard a Greek ship, and brought back to Greece where it was reinterred at the traditional burial site of the Greek royal family, the Royal Cemetery on the grounds of Tatoi Palace. Alexandra’s original marble tomb in the Peter and Paul Cathedral remains at its original site and is the only tomb in the cathedral over an empty grave.

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The Grand Ducal Mausoleum

The Grand Ducal Mausoleum; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Grand Ducal Mausoleum is located on the left side of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. There is a corridor between the mausoleum and the cathedral. Because of decreasing room for burials at the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Grand Ducal Mausoleum was constructed. It was designed by architect David Ivanovich Grimm in 1896. After Grimm’s death in 1898, architects Antony Tomishko and Leon Benois took over the project. The mausoleum, completed in 1908, was expected to hold up to sixty burials but by the time of the Russian Revolution, there had been only thirteen burials. For each burial, a marble slab was placed in the floor, on which was inscribed the title, name, date of birth and death, and date of burial.

Graves of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna (left) and Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich (right) in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum; Credit – www.pointurier.org

After the Russian Revolution, much of the interior of the mausoleum was damaged due to plans to turn it into a museum and also during World War II due to the German Siege of Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was called during the Soviet regime. Major restoration work occurred in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s. In 2006, the stained glass window depicting the resurrection of Jesus was recreated. In 2008, the restoration of the facade and roof was carried out. The Grand Ducal Mausoleum opened to the public in September 2016.

Interior of the Grand Ducal Mausoleum with several burial slabs; Credit – By Poudou99 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57886041

The remains of those who died before the completion of the Grand Ducal Mausoleum in 1908 were transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The remains of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and his wife Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria) were transferred from Coburg, Germany in 1995. Their only son Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich was interred in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum after his death in 1992 as was his wife Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Mukhranskaya, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna after her death in 2010.

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Interred in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum

The funeral of Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna in 2010 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral before the burial in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum

• Duchess Alexandra Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg (1840 – 1843), daughter of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825 – 1844), daughter of Nicholas I, wife of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819 – 1876), daughter of Nicholas I, wife of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, Count Grigori Stroganov, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duke Alexander Vladimirovich (1875 – 1877), son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Prince Sergei Maximilianovich Romanovsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1849 – 1877), son of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duke Vyacheslav Konstantinovich (1862 – 1879), son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (1827 – 1892), son of Nicholas I, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Princess Natalia Konstantinovna (born and died 1905), daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1908
• Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (1850 – 1908), son of Alexander II
• Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847 – 1909), son of Alexander II
• Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna (1830 – 1911), wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich
• Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1852 – 1912), son of of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg
• Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (1858 – 1915), son of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich
• Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1876 – 1936) wife of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, transferred from the Ducal Mausoleum at Glockenburg Cemetery in Coburg, Germany in 1995
• Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (1876 – 1938), son of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, transferred from the Ducal Mausoleum at Glockenburg Cemetery in Coburg, Germany in 1995
• Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich (1917 – 1992), son of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich
• Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Mukhranskaya, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna (1914 – 2010), wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Peter-und-Paul-Kathedrale (Sankt Petersburg) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter-und-Paul-Kathedrale_(Sankt_Petersburg)> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Peter_and_Paul_Cathedral,_Saint_Petersburg> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2017. Romanov Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/romanov-burial-sites/> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Mausolée grand-ducal de Saint-Pétersbourg — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausol%C3%A9e_grand-ducal_de_Saint-P%C3%A9tersbourg> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jazigo dos Grão-Duques – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazigo_dos_Gr%C3%A3o-Duques> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Петропавловский собор — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
• Spbmuseum.ru. 2022. Петропавловский собор и Великокняжеская усыпальница. [online] Available at: <https://www.spbmuseum.ru/exhibits_and_exhibitions/92/1316/> [Accessed 20 April 2022].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin; Credit – By Petar Milošević – Transferred from sr.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:PetarM using CommonsHelper., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12820131

The coronation cathedral of Russian rulers, the Assumption Cathedral, also known as the Dormition Cathedral and Uspensky Cathedral in Russian, is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Orthodox feast celebrated on August 15, of the “falling asleep” (death) of Mary the Theotokos (Mother of God, literally translated as God-Bearer), and her being taken bodily up into heaven (Assumption of Mary in the Roman Catholic religion). The cathedral is located in the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex founded by the Rurik dynasty in the late 15th century. It includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall. Before the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703, the Moscow Kremlin was the seat of power for the Rurik and early Romanov rulers of Russia. The Moscow Kremlin now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Since 1382, Assumption Cathedral has been the burial site of most Metropolitans of Moscow (similar to an archbishop) and Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, the head of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church. Assumption Cathedral was the site of the coronations of the sovereign Tsars, Emperors, and Empresses of Russia, and some consorts from 1547 to 1896.

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History of the Assumption Cathedral

Worshippers at the Assumption Cathedral in the mid-19th century

A wooden church was built on the site in the 12th century and was replaced by a limestone church around 1326. In the 14th century, (Saint) Peter, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus persuaded Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow to build a cathedral to the Theotokos (Blessed Virgin Mary) in the Moscow Kremlin. Construction of the cathedral began on August 4, 1326, and the cathedral was finished and consecrated on August 4, 1327.

However, by the end of the 15th century, the Assumption Cathedral had deteriorated and it was suggested that a new cathedral should be built. The design and the construction of the new cathedral were entrusted to Moscow architects Ivan Myschkin and <unknown first name > Kriwzow. Construction began in April 1472 but two years later, in May 1474, when the new Assumption Cathedral was nearly completed, it collapsed due to an earthquake.

Following the disaster, Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow decided to give Aristotele Fioravanti, a renowned architect and engineer from Bologna, then part of the Papal States, now in Italy, the task of designing the cathedral in the traditions of Russian architecture and supervising the construction. Aristotele Fioravanti made a careful study of Russian architecture and then designed a light and spacious masterpiece that combined the spirit of the Renaissance with Russian traditions. Construction began in 1475, and in 1479, the new Assumption Cathedral was consecrated.

In 1918, after the Russian Revolution, the Assumption Cathedral and the other churches in the Kremlin were closed as houses of worship. The new Bolshevik government moved its headquarters from St. Petersburg to the Moscow Kremlin. The Assumption Cathedral was converted into a museum. The museum staff made every effort to retain the interior. During restoration work, almost all the original paintings of the icons and murals were uncovered from under the later paintings. With the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Assumption Cathedral once again became a Russian Orthodox church.

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The Exterior and Interior of the Assumption Cathedral

Assumption Cathedral; Credit – By Don-vip – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83068810

Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti followed the style of the 1160 Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir and designed the Assumption Cathedral in the style of a traditional Russian cross-domed church, with five domes representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Exterior frescoes; By Skif-Kerch – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62603284

The Renaissance-style exterior has white-stone walls, columned friezes, and semicircles of blind arches. Fresco paintings in the upper part of the walls in semicircular vaults depict the Virgin Mary, Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and saints.

Fioravanti’s architectural originality was more visible in the interior. All the areas of the cathedral were larger than in the past. Pillars were placed further apart which created an impression of an immense palatial room. People of the time were astonished by the cathedral’s “unusual majesty and height, luminosity and spaciousness”.

Orthodox churches are set up differently than other Christian churches. They are divided into three main parts: the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary. The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world. It used to be the practice that non-Orthodox people had to remain in the narthex but this practice has mostly fallen into disuse. The congregation stands in the nave during services. Traditionally there is no sitting during Orthodox services and so Orthodox churches usually do not have pews or chairs. In Orthodox Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings that divides the sanctuary from the nave. The sanctuary behind the Royal Doors is where the Eucharist or Divine Liturgy is performed, behind the iconostasis. Only priests and servers may enter through the Royal Doors.

Frescoes in the interior of the Assumption Cathedral; Credit – By Shakko – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86775440

The interior of the Assumption Cathedral is richly decorated with fresco paintings from 1642 -1643 and the huge, magnificent 53 feet/16-meter iconostasis of 1653.

Looking toward the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral

Originally, a three-tiered iconostasis, the Assumption Cathedral’s iconostasis gained two additional tiers in 1626 and 1653 – 1654.

Part of the iconostasis; Credit – Von Schoschi, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14625675

In addition to its religious function, the Assumption Cathedral iconostasis also served as a sort of trophy wall. The Russian rulers would add the most important icons from cities they had conquered to the iconostasis. The Mother of God, the Archangel Gabriel, and the Four Evangelists are depicted on the Royal Doors of the Assumption Cathedral.

The Royal Doors; Credit – By shakko – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7078552

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Coronations at Assumption Cathedral

Anointing of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia in front of the iconostasis and the Royal Doors by Vasili Fedorovich  Timm, 1856; Credit – Wikipedia

The seat of the Grand Princes of Moscow from the Rurik dynasty was in the Moscow Kremlin. It was therefore obvious that the Tsars of the Tsardom of Russia which followed the Grand Principality of Moscow and then the Emperors of the Russian Empire would have themselves crowned there. In addition to the Tsars, all the crowned Emperors and Empresses from Catherine I to Nicholas II were anointed and crowned in the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Many of the wives of the Tsars and Emperors were crowned at the same time as their husbands.

Coronation of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia Laurits Tuxen; Credit – Wikipedia

The Russian coronation emphasized that the secular ruler of Russia was closely connected with the Russian Orthodox Church. No layperson was ever permitted to pass through the Royal Doors, however, during the Russian rulers’ coronation, they were permitted to do so. They received both parts of Communion (bread and wine) in the sanctuary behind the Royal Doors of the iconostasis. The Russian rulers used their hands to take the bread and the chalice of wine, symbolizing their spiritual equality among Russia’s clergy just this once in their lives.

When Peter I (the Great) moved the seat of power from Moscow to his new city St. Petersburg, the coronations continued to take place at the Assumption Cathedral. Moscow remained the spiritual center of Russia, and tradition required that coronations continue to be held there.

Coronations held at the Assumption Cathedral:

• January 16, 1547 – Ivan IV (the Terrible), Grand Prince of Moscow (1533 – 1547), Tsar of All Russia (1547 – 1575), wives uncrowned
• May 31, 1584 – Feodor I, Tsar of All Russia, wife uncrowned
• February 21, 1598 – Boris Godunov, Tsar of All Russia, wives uncrowned
• July 21, 1605 – Dmitriy I the False, Tsar of All Russia, unmarried at the time of his coronation
• May 8, 1606 – Marina Mniszech, Tsaritsa of All Russia, wife of Dmitriy I the False, Tsar of All Russia,
• July 22, 1613 – Michael I, Tsar of All Russia, the first ruler of the House of Romanov, wives uncrowned
• September 28, 1645 – Alexei I, Tsar of All of Russia, wives uncrowned
• June 18, 1676 – Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia, wives uncrowned
• June 25, 1682 – Peter I (the Great), Tsar of All Russia (1682 – 1721), Emperor of All Russia (1721 – 1725), jointly reigned with his half-brother Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia from 1682 until Ivan’s death in 1696, first wife uncrowned, second wife Catherine I crowned in 1724 as Peter’s co-ruler
• June 25, 1682 – Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia, jointly reigned with his half-brother Peter I, Tsar of All Russia from 1682 until Ivan’s death in 1696, wives uncrowned
• May 7, 1724 – Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, second wife of Peter I, crowned as his co-ruler, reigned alone after his death without remarrying
• February 25, 1728 – Peter II, Emperor of All Russia, unmarried
• April 28, 1730 – Anna I, Empress of All Russia, unmarried
• March 6, 1742 – Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia, unmarried
• September 22, 1762 – Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, no consort
• April 5, 1797 – Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, his second wife Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (born Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) was crowned with him
• September 15, 1801 – Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Elizabeth Alexeievna, Empress of All Russia (born Louise of Baden) was crowned with him
• September 3, 1826 – Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (born Charlotte of Prussia) was crowned with him
• September 7, 1856 – Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of All Russia (born Marie of Hesse and by Rhine) was crowned with him
• May 15, 1883 – Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (born Dagmar of Denmark) was crowned with him
• May 26, 1896 –Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (born Alix of Hesse and by Rhine) was crowned with him

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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Works Cited

• Assumption-cathedral.kreml.ru. 2022. Museums of the Moscow Kremlin: ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL. [online] Available at: <https://assumption-cathedral.kreml.ru/en-Us/museum-assumption-cathedral/> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Krönung der russischen Zaren und Kaiser – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6nung_der_russischen_Zaren_und_Kaiser> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Mariä-Entschlafens-Kathedrale (Moskau) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari%C3%A4-Entschlafens-Kathedrale_(Moskau)> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Coronation of the Russian monarch – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_the_Russian_monarch> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Dormition Cathedral, Moscow – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_Cathedral,_Moscow> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• Jenkins, Simon, 2021. Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals. Dublin: Penguin Random House.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Успенский собор (Московский Кремль) — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80_(%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BB%D1%8C)> [Accessed 2 April 2022].
• Православие.RU. 2022. Crowned, anointed, and communed as clergy: On the coronations of Russian empresses regnant. [online] Available at: <https://www.pravoslavie.ru/80559.html> [Accessed 2 April 2022].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Archangel Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

The Archangel Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael in the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex founded by the Rurik dynasty in the late 15th century. It includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall. Before the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703, the Moscow Kremlin was the seat of power for the Rurik and early Romanov rulers of Russia. The Moscow Kremlin now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Male rulers of the Rurik dynasty and the early Romanov dynasty along with close male relatives and some Russian noblemen were interred at the Archangel Cathedral. When Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia, moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg, the new Peter and Paul Cathedral became the Romanov burial site for both men and women. In 1730, Peter II, Emperor of All Russia, the grandson of Peter I (the Great), died in Moscow from smallpox, aged fourteen, and was the last ruler to be interred in the Archangel Cathedral.

Previously women had been interred at the Ascension Cathedral of the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1929, the Ascension Convent and its cathedral were destroyed by the Soviets to make room for the Red Army School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

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History of the Archangel Cathedral

Panorama of the Kremlin in Moscow by Eduard Gaertner, 1839, showing the  Archangel Cathedral on the right; Credit – Wikipedia

Prior to the current cathedral built from 1505 – 1508, there was a wooden church built in 1250 that was replaced with a stone church in 1333. The stone church was crowded with burials of earlier Rurik rulers and needed renovation, so Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow decided to build a new cathedral on the site. Just as he had done twenty years earlier when the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin was built, Ivan III invited an Italian architect, Lamberti Aloisio da Mantagnana, known in Russia as Aloisio the New, to design and oversee the construction of the new cathedral. The groundbreaking occurred on May 21, 1505. However, Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow did not live to see the new cathedral completed. He died on October 27, 1505, and was interred in the unfinished cathedral. Work on the cathedral was completed by the end of 1508, but it was not formally consecrated until November 8, 1509.

In 1918, during the Russian Revolution, the Archangel Cathedral and the other churches in the Kremlin were closed as houses of worship. The new Bolshevik government moved its headquarters from St. Petersburg to the Moscow Kremlin. With the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Archangel Cathedral once again became a Russian Orthodox church.

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The Exterior and Interior

Four of the five domes of the Archangel Cathedral; Credit – By Elenak1211 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28337196

The Archangel Cathedral has the five typical domes representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists but it was more Italian in style than the other churches in the Moscow Kremlin. With the renovations over the centuries, some of these Italian aspects have disappeared.

Looking up at the dome; Credit – By Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65150

The interior of the Archangel Cathedral is typical of Russian churches with the vault of the central chancel extending below the central dome supported by a total of six columns. As is typical for the other Kremlin churches, the walls are painted with frescoes.

Orthodox churches are set up differently than other Christian churches. They are divided into three main parts: the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary. The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world. It used to be the practice that non-Orthodox people had to remain in the narthex but this practice has mostly fallen into disuse. The congregation stands in the nave during services. Traditionally there is no sitting during Orthodox services and so Orthodox churches usually do not have pews or chairs. In Orthodox Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings that divides the sanctuary from the nave. The sanctuary is where the Eucharist or Divine Liturgy is performed behind the iconostasis.

Some of the icons of the Iconostasis; Credit – By Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65147

The iconostasis of the Archangel Cathedral is a four-tiered, 42 feet / 13-meter tall wooden iconostasis with gilded carvings made 1678 – 1681. The mostly 17th-century icons depict the Archangel Michael, the Blessed Mother, John the Baptist, and other venerated saints. Atop the iconostasis is a crucifix.

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The Burials

Graves of three Grand Princes of Moscow, Vasily III, Ivan III and Vasily II in the Archangel Cathedral; Credit – By shakko – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15196587

There are a total of 46 tombs inside the cathedral, located in the chancel and the former sacristy behind the altar, in which 53 people – grand princes, tsars, one emperor, and some of their male relatives – are interred. All the burial sites have a similar structure. The remains are in sarcophagi interred 5 feet / 1.5 meters underground. Above each burial site is a large block of white stone with engraved names and biographical data in Old Church Slavonic writing. During the 20th century, the blocks of stone were encased in special bronze cases to protect them. Above the burial sites are frescoes on the wall with a representation of who is buried there.

Frescoes depicting Grand Princes of Moscow over their graves in the Archangel Cathedral; Credit – By shakko – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7078668

Listed below are Grand Princes of Moscow, Tsars of Russia, and Emperors of Russia and their male relatives who were interred at the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

• Grand Prince (Великий князь Velikiy Knyaz: literally great prince, sometimes translated as grand duke) was the title of the male ruler of the Russian principalities before they were united into the Tsardom of Russia. A Grand Prince’s wife was titled Grand Princess.
• Tsar was used 1547 – 1721 to denote the male ruler of Russia. Tsar comes from Caesar, the Latin title of a Roman emperor. Tsar remained the popular designation of the Russian ruler despite the official change of style to Emperor in 1721.
• Tsaritsa or Tsarina was the title of the female ruler of Russia or the title of a Tsar’s wife. It was officially used from 1547 – 1721 when the title changed to Empress although Tsaritsa or Tsarina was sometimes still used.
• Tsarevich was the title given to Tsars’ sons before the 18th century.
• Tsarevna was used before the 18th century as the title for the daughter of a Tsar or the wife of a Tsarevich.

Patronymic: In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”

• Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow (1288 – 1340)
• Andrei Ivanovich, Prince of Serpukhov (1327 – 1353), son of Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Simeon Ivanovich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1316 – 1353), son of Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Ivan II Ivanovich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1326 – 1359), son of Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow (1350 – 1389), son of Ivan II Ivanovich, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Serpukhov (1353 – 1410), grandson of Ivan I Kalita, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Ivan Vasilyevich, Prince of Moscow (1396 – 1417 ), son of Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Ivan Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov (1410 – 1422), son of Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Serpukhov
• Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow (1371 – 1425)
• Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Borovsko-Yaroslavetsky (1388 – 1426 ), son of Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Serpukhov
• Andrei Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov (circa 1380s – 1426), son of Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Serpukhov
• Pyotr Dmitrievich, Prince of Dmitrovsky (1385 – 1428 ), son of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Andrei Dmitrievich, Prince of Mozhaisky (1382 – 1432 ), son of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Yury Dmitrievich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1374 – 1434), son of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Dmitry Yuryevich, Prince of Mozhaisky (1382 – 1432), son of Yury Dmitrievich, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vasily Yuryevich, Prince of Zvenigorodsky (circa 1401–1448), son of Yury Dmitrievich, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow (1415 – 1462), son of Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Yuri Vasilyevich, Prince of Dmitrovsky (1441 – 1473), son of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Andrei Vasilievich Menshoi, Prince of Vologda (1452 – 1481 ), son of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Ivan Ivanovich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1458 – 1490), son of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Boris Vasilievich, Prince of Volotsky (1449 – 1494), son of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Andrei Vasilievich Bolshoy, Prince of Uglich (1446 – 1493), son of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Ivan III (the Great), Grand Prince of Moscow (1440 – 1505)
• Dmitry Ivanovich, Grand Prince of Moscow (1483 – 1509), grandson of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Simeon Ivanovich, Prince of Kaluga (1487 – 1518), son of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Dmitry Ivanovich Zhilka, Prince of Uglitsky (1481 – 1521), son of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow (1479 – 1533)
• Andrei Ivanovich, Prince Staritsky (1490 – 1537), son of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Yuri Ivanovich, Prince of Dmitrovsky (1480 – 1536), son of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia (1552 – 1553) – Tsarevich, son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
• Yuri Vasilyevich, Prince of Uglich (1532 – 1563), son of Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Staritsa (1533 – 1569), grandson of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Vasily Vladimirovich Prince of Staritsa (1552 – 1573), son of Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Staritsa
• Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia (1554 – 1581), son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
• Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia (1530 – 1584), son of Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Feodor I, Tsar of Russia (1557 – 1598), son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
• Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich (1582 – 1591), son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia
• Vasily IV Shuisky, Tsar of Russia (1552 – 1612)
• Tsarevich Vasily Mikhailovich of Russia (born and died 1639), son of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevich Ivan Mikhailovich of Russia (1633 – 1639), son of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Michael I, Tsar of All Russia (1596 – 1645), the first Romanov ruler
• Tsarevich Dmitry Alekseevich of Russia (1648 – 1649), son of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevich Simeon Alekseevich of Russia (1665 -1669), son of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich of Russia (1654 – 1670), son of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia (1629 – 1676)
• Tsarevich Ilya Fedorovich of Russia (born and died 1681), Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia
• Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia (1661 – 1682)
• Tsarevich Alexander Petrovich of Russia (1691 – 1692), son of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
• Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia(1666 – 1696)
• Peter II, Emperor of All Russia (1715 – 1730), son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and grandson of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia

Burials Moved from the Ascension Cathedral to the Archangel Cathedral

Removing the sarcophagi before the destruction of the Ascension Monastery; Credit – Wikipedia

Women of the Rurik dynasty and women of the early Romanov dynasty along with some Russian noblewomen were interred at the Ascension Cathedral of the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1929, the Ascension Convent and its cathedral were destroyed by the Soviets to make room for the Red Army School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

The list of those originally interred at Ascension Cathedral and moved to the crypt in the Archangel Cathedral in 1929 can be seen at Unofficial Royalty: Ascension Convent and Cathedral.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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Works Cited

• Archangel-cathedral.kreml.ru. 2022. Archangel Cathedral. [online] Available at: <https://archangel-cathedral.kreml.ru/en-Us/museum-archangel-cathedral/?utm_source=kreml.ru&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=kreml.ru&utm_referrer=kreml.ru> [Accessed 24 March 2022].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Erzengel-Michael-Kathedrale (Moskau) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzengel-Michael-Kathedrale_(Moskau)> [Accessed 24 March 2022].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Cathedral of the Archangel – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Archangel> [Accessed 24 March 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Архангельский собор (Московский Кремль) — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%80%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80_(%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BB%D1%8C)> [Accessed 24 March 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Некрополь Архангельского собора — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%90%D1%80%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0> [Accessed 24 March 2022].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Ascension Monastery in 1900; Ascension Cathedral, with four of the five towers showing, is in the middle of the photo; Credit – Wikipedia

The Ascension Convent was a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex founded by the Rurik dynasty in the late 15th century. It includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall. Before the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703, the Moscow Kremlin was the seat of power for the Rurik and early Romanov rulers of Russia. The Moscow Kremlin now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Women of the Rurik dynasty and women of the early Romanov dynasty along with some Russian noblewomen were interred at the Ascension Cathedral of the Ascension Convent. When Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia, moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg, the new Peter and Paul Cathedral became the Romanov burial site.

In 1929, the Ascension Convent and its cathedral were destroyed by the Soviets to make room for the Red Army School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

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History of the Church

The Ascension Cathedral in the 1800s; Credit – Wikipedia

Around 1386, the first wooden church of the nunnery was founded by Evdokia Dmitrievna of Suzdal, Grand Princess of Moscow, wife of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow. The church was dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus, the Christian teaching that Jesus physically departed from Earth by rising into Heaven. After the death of her husband, Evdokia Dmitrievna became a nun under the name Euphrosyne at the nunnery and was buried in the church upon her death. She was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and is known as St. Euphrosyne of Moscow.

Shrine of St. Euphrosyne of Moscow in the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin; Credit – By Иерей Максим Массалитин – originally posted to Flickr as Святая Евфросиния Московская, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12193132

In 1415, the church was mostly destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 1467 by Maria Yaroslavna of Borovsk, Grand Princess of Moscow, wife of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow. Another fire in 1483 resulted in another restoration. From 1587 – 1588, the church was completely rebuilt as a cathedral with five domes, mirroring the Archangel Cathedral which had been built nearby in the Moscow Kremlin in 1508.

Ascension Cathedral in 1907; Credit – Wikipedia

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Destruction of the Convent and Cathedral

Nuns at the Ascension Convent in 1904; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1907, the nunnery had a mother superior, 62 nuns, and 45 lay sisters. Ten years later, during the Russian Revolution, the nunnery and its buildings suffered much damage and the nuns were ordered to leave. In 1918, the Kremlin Commission was established to restore and preserve the Kremlin buildings. However, due to insufficient funding, the plans were not fully implemented and work stopped in 1920. In 1924, the ground on which the Ascension Convent sat began to sink and some walls of the buildings started to collapse.

The iconostasis, the wall of icons and religious paintings separating the nave from the sanctuary in an Orthodox church, of the Ascension Cathedral which was saved and is now in the Church of the Twelve Apostles; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1929, it was announced that plans were being prepared for the construction of the Red Army School on the land occupied by the Ascension Cathedral and other historical buildings. A plea was made to change the location to preserve the historical buildings but it was ignored. In December 1929, on the orders of Joseph Stalin, the dismantling and demolition work began. The work was done in a hurry and archaeologists were not allowed to remove valuable frescoes in the churches and only a few church decorations were saved.

Removing the sarcophagi before the destruction of the Ascension Monastery; Credit – Wikipedia

Thanks to Nikolai Nikolaevich Pomerantsev, an art restorer and art curator, the sarcophagi in the Ascension Cathedral were saved. Pomerantsev organized architectural measurements and photographing of the monastery, a survey of the burials, and the removal of the sarcophagi to the crypt in the Archangel Cathedral. In January 1934, Pomerantsev was arrested and accused of trying to discredit the Soviet government by opposing the demolition of unnecessary monuments of antiquity. In May 1934, he was sentenced to three years of exile.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Pomerantsev, who is responsible for saving the sarcophagi at the Ascension Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

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Burials

Tsarevna Praskovia Ivanovna of Russia, daughter of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia, was the last person interred at Ascension Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

Listed below are relatives of Grand Princes of Moscow, Tsars of Russia, and Emperors of Russia who were interred at the Ascension Convent and were moved in 1929 to the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Relatives of Russian nobles were also buried there but are not included in the list below.

• Grand Prince (Великий князь Velikiy Knyaz: literally great prince, sometimes translated as grand duke) was the title of the male ruler of the Russian principalities before they were united into the Tsardom of Russia. A Grand Prince’s wife was titled a Grand Princess.
• Tsar was used 1547 – 1721 to denote the male ruler of Russia. Tsar comes from Caesar, the Latin title of a Roman emperor. Tsar remained the popular designation of the Russian ruler despite the official change of style to Emperor in 1721.
• Tsaritsa or Tsarina was the title of the female ruler of Russia or the title of a Tsar’s wife. It was officially used from 1547 – 1721 when the title changed to Empress although Tsaritsa or Tsarina was sometimes still used.
• Tsarevich was the title given to Tsars’ sons before the 18th century.
• Tsarevna was used before the 18th century as the title for the daughter of a Tsar or the wife of a Tsarevich.

Patronymic: In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

• Evdokia Dmitrievna of Suzdal, Grand Princess of Moscow (1353 – 1407), wife of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Sophia of Lithuania, Grand Princess of Moscow (1371 – 1453), wife of Vasily I Dmitriyevich, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Maria Borisovna of Tver, Grand Princess of Moscow (1442 – 1467), first wife of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Maria Yaroslavna of Borovsk, Grand Princess of Moscow (1418 – 1484) wife of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Sophia Palaiologos, Grand Princess of Moscow (circa 1449 – 1503), wife of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Elena Stefanovna of Moldavia, Crown Princess of Moscow (1465 – 1505) wife of the son of Ivan the Young, Crown Prince of Moscow
• Princess Eudoxia Ivanovna of Moscow (1492 – 1513), daughter of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, wife of Peter (born Kudaikul) of Kazan
• Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, Grand Princess of Moscow (circa 1510 – 1538) , second wife of Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow
• Princess Anastasia Petrovna of Moscow (died 1541), niece of Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow,
• Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna (1551 – 1552), daughter of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia
• Tsarevna Evdokia Ivanovna (1556 – 1558), daughter of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia, among the nameless sarcophagi
• Anastasia Romanovna, Tsaritsa of Russia (1530 – 1560), first wife of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia, great-aunt of Michael I of Russia, the first Tsar of the Romanov dynasty
• Maria Temryukovna, Tsaritsa of Russia (circa 1544 – 1569), second wife of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia
• Marfa Vasilievna Sobakina, Tsaritsa of Russia (1552 – 1571) third wife of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia
• Tsarevna Feodosia Feodorovna of Russia (1592 – 1594), daughter of Feodor I, Tsar of Russia
• Irina Fyodorovna Godunova, Tsaritsa of Russia (1557–1603) wife of Feodor I, Tsar of Russia, sister of Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia
• Maria Fedorovna Nagaya, Tsaritsa of Russia (died 1608), eighth wife of Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia
• Tsarevna Anna Vasilievna of Russia (born and died 1609), daughter of Tsar Vasily IV, Tsar of Russia
• Praskovia Mikhailovna Solovaya, Tsarevna of Russia (died 1621), second wife of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia
• Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of Russia (1601 – 1625), first wife of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia, the first reigning member of the Romanov dynasty
• Ekaterina Petrovna, Tsaritsa of Russia ( born Maria Buynosova-Rostovskaya) (died 1626), second wife of Vasily IV, Tsar of Russia
• Tsarevna Pelageya Mikhailovna of Russia (1628 – 1629), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Marfa Mikhailovna of Russia (1631 – 1631), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Sofya Mikhailovna of Russia (1634 – 1636), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Evdokia Mikhailovna (born and died 1637), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva, Tsaritsa of Russia (1608 – 1645), second wife of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Anna Alekseevna of Russia (1655 – 1659), daughter of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Evdokia Alekeevna (born and died 1669), daughter of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, Tsaritsa of All Russia (1624 – 1669), second wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Feodora Alekseevna of Russia (1674 – 1677), daughter of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia
• Agaphia Semenovna Grushevskaya, Tsaritsa of All Russia (1663 – 1681), first wife of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia,
• Tsarevna Feodosia Ivanovna of Russia (1690 – 1691), daughter of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Anna Mikhailovna of Russia (1630 – 1692), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna of Russia (1689 – 1692), daughter of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia
• Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of All Russia (1651 – 1694), second wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia and the mother of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
• Tsarevna Tatyana Mikhailovna of Russia (1636 – 1706), daughter of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
• Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (1714 – 1728), daughter of Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia and granddaughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
• Tsarevna Praskovia Ivanovna of Russia (1694 – 1731), daughter of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia, wife of Ivan Ilich Dmitriev-Mamonov

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ascension Convent – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_Convent> [Accessed 21 March 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Вознесенский монастырь (Москва) — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%80%D1%8C_(%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B2%D0%B0)> [Accessed 21 March 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Некрополь Вознесенского монастыря — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%80%D1%8F> [Accessed 21 March 2022].