The Annunciation Cathedral In The Moscow Kremlin

The sky was grey and the cold was biting but we were excited. We had just got our tickets and had made our way into the Kremlin. One of the stops that we made on our way was the Annunciation Cathedral.  If you’ve been to the Kremlin you will know that the Annunciation Cathedral is located at the South West corner of the Cathedral square.

The Annunciation Cathedral is one of the three cathedrals/churches that are located inside the walls of the Kremlin. While the outside of the building looks almost inconspicuous, the inside of the Annunciation cathedral is flanked with beautiful artwork. If I have got my facts right, the artwork goes back to 1547. Now that’s really old!

The Annunciation cathedral was the first building that we entered. Ironically the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the cathedral is warmth. The temperature was -23^oC outside and the warmth of the building was an instant relief. While it was a major factor of me not wanting to leave it wasn’t the only one!

The Exterior Of The Annunciation Cathedral

To us the exterior of the Annunciation cathedral was simple except for its large golden domes. The walls are white and the contrasted well with yellow gold atop. One of the best moments that we had was watching the sun reflect off the polished tops when the clouds parted for an instant. I think it is a view that would best be observed in summer.

The exterior of the cathedral is said to be a combination of the early Muscovite and Pskovian architectures. I’m no student of fine arts or architecture so the way I would describe the exterior is soothing. Yes! There is something entrancing about the simplicity and yet regality of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin.

The Grand Inside

The inside of the Annunciation cathedral was smaller than we expected it to be. In retrospect, I can also tell you that it was smaller than the other two cathedrals. I am inclined to believe that some parts were sealed off for visitors but the vast majority of the cathedral was open for viewing.

My advice would be to head over to the rack of guides as soon as you enter. They have them in different languages. While the cathedral is small it certainly has a lot of artifacts all crammed together. Without the guide you are bound to miss them. The guide is free so you lose nothing by taking one.

The cathedral even has 4 small chapels inside it. That surprised me immensely because of small space that is visible as soon as you enter. While the space around you may be small don’t forget to look up. The high roof drives a lot of light into the cathedral.

I found it rather hard to focus on all the murals at a single point of time. Everything is pretty, everything is old but nothing really stands out because each mural follows a similar theme. They almost always have the same color schemes to the extent that the walls become very mesmerizing.

The grandiosity of the Annunciation Cathedral is probably because it was the personal chapel of the Tsars of Moscow. That being said the abbot of the Cathedral is said to have been the personal confessor of the royal family till as late as the early 20^th century.

One point that became particularly prominent is the fact that the Russians consider the space within a church extremely sacred. Men have to remove their caps and hats. Women on the other hand are urged to keep their head covered. In most churches photography isn’t allowed. In a way it is a relief. We spent more time looking at the artwork through our own eyes rather than through the eye of a lens.

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