Moscow Guide
The Kremlin
The Cathedral of the Archangel
The last of the great churches to be erected on Sobornaya ploshchad, the Cathedral of the Archangel (Arkhangelskiy sobor) was built in 1505–08 as the burial place for the rulers of Muscovy, who claimed the Archangel Michael as their celestial guardian. Unlike the vernacular Cathedral of the Assumption, its debt to the Italian Renaissance is obvious, for the architect Alevisio Novi incorporated such features as Corinthian capitals and the Venetian-style shell scallops that form the gables. Another characteristic is its asymmetrical layout, with the east and west walls being divided into three sections, and the north and south walls into five. To compensate for this, the western pair of domes is larger than the eastern pair; both sets are clad in silvery iron, in contrast to the gilded central dome. The cathedral's plan was further complicated by the addition of chapels to the apses during the sixteenth century; buttresses along the south wall were added after it cracked in 1773; and an annexe or palatka was attached to the southwest corner in 1826.
You enter the cathedral through its west portal, whose archway is framed by carvings of plants and a faded fresco depicting Christ and the saints, and the mass baptism of the Russians during the reign of Prince Vladimir.