RU-3625114 Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in the Moscow Kremlin

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Архангельский собор) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia. The current church is built on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333. Work started in 1505 and the cathedral was completed by the end of 1508. However it was not formally consecrated until 8 November 1509.

The new building incorporated many elements of the Italian Renaissance, and numerous of these details (considered “exotic” by Moscow standards) disappeared during later repairs and restorations. The interior walls were not painted with frescoes until the 1560s.

The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was the main necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. All Russian tsars and grand princes were buried within the cathedral until the time of Peter the Great, along with many empresses and princes of the blood. After the royal necropolis was moved to Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, only Tsar Peter II, who happened to die in Moscow, was interred here.

During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the cathedral was damaged during the fighting. Afterwards, it was closed by the Bolshevik regime. During the 1950s, along with the other surviving churches in the Moscow Kremlin, it was preserved as a museum. A large portion of the church’s treasures were either transferred to the Kremlin Armory Museum, or sold overseas.

After 1992, the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and occasional religious services resumed.

Source: Wikipedia

This postcard came from Mary (12 June 2015) Postcrossing. This is the SECOND postcard from her (with the same Postcrossing ID - RU-3625114).