Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin is the first stone Orthodox church in Kazan and the oldest surviving building of the Kremlin, a monument of 16th-century Russian architecture. It stands inside the Kazan Kremlin in the historic centre of the capital of Tatarstan. From 1552 to 1918 it was the cathedral church of the Kazan diocese, and from the late 19th century bishops were consecrated here. Today it is a working church.

History

Soon after the capture of Kazan in 1552, a small wooden church was put up on this spot by order of Ivan the Terrible. In 1561–1562 it was replaced by the stone cathedral, built by the Pskov masters Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryai. For centuries its main relic was the remains of Saint Gury, the first Archbishop of Kazan.

The cathedral was rebuilt more than once. Its original helmet-shaped domes were replaced with onion domes in 1736, and in 1841 the building was enlarged to a design by the architect Foma Petondi. In the Soviet period the church was closed and its bell tower demolished; a small garden now occupies the site. The last full restoration took place in 1996–2005, after which the cathedral was consecrated again and reopened to worshippers.

Architecture

The Annunciation Cathedral is a five-domed cross-in-square church resting on six pillars, with three altar apses. Beneath it lies a ground floor whose walls and vaults are built of dressed limestone. The Pskov school shows clearly: ornament decorates the apses and the base of the central dome, the facades carry patterned bands and blind arcading, and the walls end in ogee-shaped gables following the vaults. The domes, the central one included, are decorated with stars and took on Baroque shapes in later rebuildings.

What to see

Besides the church itself, the undercroft houses the Museum of the History of the Annunciation Cathedral, telling of its construction, rebuildings and relics. A tradition about Saint Gury is also linked to the cathedral: an image of the Saviour Not Made by Hands was said to have been found on the wall of his cell, painted, as the story goes, by the saint himself. The cathedral belongs to the Kazan Kremlin ensemble together with other buildings and the ruins of older structures, so a visit fits easily into a walk around the Kremlin.

Getting there

The cathedral is inside the Kazan Kremlin, in its eastern part, close to the Spasskaya Tower, the main pedestrian entrance to the Kremlin. Address: Kazan, Sheinkmana Passage, 2. As this is a working church, visitors should follow the usual etiquette of Orthodox churches during services.