Description of the attraction
The very first of the buildings that have survived to our times was the Trinity Cathedral. It was built after a vision that happened to the successor of Sergius of Radonezh - hegumen Nikon. In 1422, on the site of the wooden church of the same name, Serbian monks, who were sheltered by the monastery after the battle in the Kosovo field, began the construction of a white-stone church. The construction lasted three years, and the next two years it was painted.
Now the Trinity Cathedral is a monument of early Moscow architecture and a continuation of the Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of the XIV-XV centuries. This is a modest small building that has formed the entire ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra around it. The quadrangle of the temple is like a cube with walls slightly inclined inward, thus creating a sense of perspective. Outside, the slope starts from the very base, and inside - from the arches of the portals, which improves visibility. The plane of the facades is divided into three parts, ending in keeled vaults - zakomaras. A tall drum of light, perched on a four-edged base above a quadrangle, culminates in a gleaming gilded helmet-shaped dome with a cross. The multi-tiered roof of the cathedral is also covered with gold. The light drum is displaced from the center towards the apses in order to visually balance the structure. In addition, a large number of high window openings fill the iconostasis with light. The three apses of the cathedral are equal in height. The central part of the altar is slightly stronger than the others.
Later, in 1548, the Nikon Church was added to the Trinity Cathedral on its southern side, as if recalling the connection between the abbot and his teacher. A year earlier, the abbot of the monastery, the Monk Nikon, was canonized, and a church was erected over his grave. It was made in the Pskov style, which became widespread among Moscow architects of the 16th century. In 1559, another extension appeared on the same side of the temple - a tent over the coffin of Bishop Serapion. Thanks to all the annexes, the cathedral began to look like a multi-tiered one.
The interior decoration of the Trinity Cathedral was performed by the great Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev, invited by the Monk Nikon, and also by Daniel Cherny. Unfortunately, the frescoes from that time have not survived. But the iconostasis came in its original form with some changes. The main church icon "Holy Trinity" is now in the Tretyakov Gallery, and its copy is in the five-tiered iconostasis of the Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, along with other masterpieces of Russian painting by the letters of St. Andrei Rublev. The artist founded a workshop of icon painters at the monastery, in which many Russian masters of icon painting received lessons.
The Trinity Cathedral receives pilgrims and tourists from all over the world every day, who come to venerate the holy relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, resting here in a silver shrine.
The Trinity Cathedral, being the first stone church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, keeping its main shrine, became the central building of the entire monastery. The two main roads of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra converge here, diverging in different directions and defining the layout. The annexes, which eventually surrounded the Trinity Cathedral, created an integral architectural ensemble of the temple, and the churches under construction on the territory of the monastery complemented its picture. While restoring the Lavra in 1938, the architect IV Trofimov noticed that the proportions of the so-called "golden section" were observed here. This is observed both in the height of buildings and in the ratio of volumes. And the distance of buildings from each other is determined by the height of the Trinity Cathedral. For example, the Church of the Holy Spirit is located at a distance of two temple heights, and the Assumption Cathedral - three.
