Description of the attraction
The Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1497 of stone on the site of a burnt wooden church. In 1645, Mikhail Romanov decided to build a new church on the site of the church, which had been badly dilapidated during the years of the Polish intervention. The old cathedral was partially dismantled, new walls were erected. In 1649 the temple was consecrated.
The current temple - four pillars with five domes and three apses - resembles the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in appearance. The windows on the south and north sides are arranged in two tiers. On the eastern (altar) side, windows are placed in the lower tier, and on the western side - in the upper tier. All windows are decorated with columns of kokoshniks. In the 18th century, the lower windows were hewn. On the western and southern sides, the temple is surrounded by a covered gallery with vaults and windows.
In the interior of the temple, on the right pillar of its northern part, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and his son, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, are depicted with a drawing of the Transfiguration Cathedral in his left hand. This pillar once had a royal place. On the porch of the cathedral, images of ancient Greek philosophers and poets have been preserved. These frescoes were made by the painter Zubov. At the entrances to the galleries - scenes from the Apocalypse. There is also an image of the family tree of the Russian tsars. On it you can see how Princess Olga and her grandson - Prince Vladimir - are watered from a vessel the root of this royal tree, ending with Tsar Ivan IV and his sons.
Most of the murals have been lost, and only some of the frescoes that are now kept in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Historical Museum can tell about the artistic merits of the murals of the main church of the Novospassky Monastery.
The basement of the cathedral served as the burial vault of the Romanov family. Here is buried Patriarch Filaret - the father of Tsar Mikhail Romanov, his mother - Ksenia Romanova, brothers and sisters who died in childhood.
In 1919 the temple was closed. Currently, the temple has been restored and is operational.
