_Moscow of the Ecclesiastics_
"Come, brothers! your heads you may bow,
Before grand and most holy Moscow;
Where the old altars of our land,
Where shrines of saints, and ikons stand,
Our inmost sanctuary."--BOROZDNA.
Holy Moscow, so reverently and affectionately regarded by the orthodox
as the Mother of the Church, is to them more than a mere agglomeration
of sacred shrines and ecclesiastical edifices. Neither the
churches--though they are numerous and important enough to warrant the
familiar appellation--nor yet the wonder-working, incorruptible remains
and the miraculous ikons most endear Moscow to the true-believer--for
there are such elsewhere which receive like humble homage. Holy Moscow
comprises all that has served to nurse and sustain the faith amidst
infidel aggression; the white-walled and golden-crowned city is symbolic
of the lasting reward of heroic endeavour in the upward struggle of the
race towards supremacy. Not indestructible itself, but its spirit
undying; razed time after time only to appear again greater and more
glorious than before, Moscow seems to the Russian not so much a part of
the national entity personified in empire, as the very soul of his race;
possessed, even as each individual, with strength to endure adversity
and unfailing vigour to accomplish a predestined purpose. Traditions of
divine intervention; the finding and promulgation of Law; much that is
miraculous and legendary as well as all that is credible in early
national history the Russian associates with Moscow, and feels what the
stranger cannot be made to perceive, may even fail to comprehend, for
the outward and visible sign of the living spirit that actuates the
Church is but faint and imperfect, even as performance is so often but
an inadequate rendering of intention. Although the sanctity of Moscow
may not be apparent to the unorthodox, the observer will expect some
characteristics of motive to stand revealed in externals. But to the
uninitiated the ritual of the Russian Church is bewildering, and the
true significance of such symbols as are exhibited in ecclesiastical
architecture and ornament is likely to be missed by over accentuating
the importance of whatever may be unusual. For many, who are quite
ignorant of its tenets and practice, the Eastern Church has an
irresistible fascination; the danger is that these, on a first
acquaintance will over-praise such details as they may appreciate and
too hastily condemn others they may not rightly comprehend, and fail to
arrive at a just conclusion by means of further study when no longer
attracted by the novelty of the subject. To confine oneself to the
consideration of externals is insufficient, being tantamount to the act
of one who, absolutely ignorant of card games, endeavours to obtain an
idea of the amusement derived from their play by careful examination of
the accurate printing and careful finish of certain cards in the pack.
On the other hand an attempt to convey by words alone an accurate idea
of the full teaching of the Eastern Church is foredoomed to failure, and
the most that can be done is to indicate the broad lines of the policy
that has actuated it, and risk such errors as must accrue from possible
mistranslations of meaning.
All Christian races treasure some legend as to the conversion of their
forefathers by one of the Apostles. The Russians are no exception, and,
in any event, the introduction of Christianity into their country took
place in the heroic age.
"Novgorod, a city of great antiquity, having been founded by Rha, a
grandson of Noah and son of Japhet, was visited by the Apostle St
Andrew who wished to preach the gospel. The people would not listen
to him, and having disrobed the saint threw him bound into a
scalding bath. The saint distressed, and almost suffocated by the
vapour, called out '[Greek: idrôsa]' (I sweat), whence the name
Russia. Other histories state that the conversion of the race took
place some thousand years later, when, strange as it may appear,
the Polyans were first called Russ, as some think from 'ros,' the
old German name for 'horse.' There is a tradition that Vladimir the
Great, having conquered fresh territory, became tired of his pagan
gods and expressed a desire to embrace a newer faith. With the
Christianity of Rome he would have nothing to do, for, he said, his
relations in the west had embraced that, and yet were always at war
and without good fortune. The Karaïm Jews of South Russia wished to
convert him, but when he learned that they were exiled from the
land of their fathers and had no country of their own, he refused,
saying they were receiving the harvest of their sins and that he
had no wish to cause his people to share their punishment. Then
hearing that at Constantinople another religion was professed he
sent delegates thither to observe and judge whether or not it would
suit him. These Russians were astonished at the many lights in the
temple; were moved by the singing and the stately procession of
deacons, sub-deacons and others to and from the sacristy, and,
particularly, at the humble manner in which the people prostrated
themselves when the priests appeared. The ritual they did not
understand and asked their guides what it all meant. 'All that we
have seen,' they said, 'is awful and majestic, but what seems to us
supernatural is the young men who have white wings and dazzling
robes, and cry "Holy! Holy! Holy!" in mid-air--this truly surprises
us.' 'What?' answered the guides, 'do you not know that angels come
down from heaven to our services?' 'You are right,' said the
Russians; 'it is enough--more we do not wish to see; let us return
to our country and tell of that which we have already seen."
If the early chronicles may be trusted, the Bible was first translated
into Slavic by Cyril and Methodius, two Greek monks of Byzantium, about
the year 863, and so prior to the advent of the Norseman Rurik. In all
probability, the faith was spread by proselytising clergy, in part
helped by the devotion of the noble women of Byzantium who wedded with
the savage Ros, and from the first was wholly independent of the civil
power.
Of persecution there was little; Kiev furnished one Voeroeger
martyr, and, as elsewhere among heathen, the Christian religion appears
to have been readily embraced. Before the Kremlin was raised, before
Moscow was, the church was represented on the banks of the Moskva by the
little wooden chapel "spass na Boru." Ivan Kalita was one of the first
to recognise the usefulness of the church as an adjunct to civil and
military power; he made priests not only welcome in Moscow but all
important there. How the reigning princes caused the church in Moscow to
rival in authority that of Kiev and, later, to attain supremacy
throughout Russia, has already been stated. Of equal importance to the
work initiated by any Tsar were the services of St Sergius, founder of
the great monastery at Troitsa, which at one time possessed immense
tracts of land and owned more than 100,000 serfs. Sergius was born at
Great Rostov, and in his youth passed some time near Moscow, and later,
having a dozen disciples and the aid of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
helped greatly the colonisation of Russia by sending out monks trained
at Troitsa. He lived the life of a hermit, and even when abbot did his
full share of the menial labour. A commonly seen picture represents him
as an old man seated on a rough bench sharing his piece of bread with a
bear. Then came St Peter, an apostle sent from Macedonia, who, as a sign
"passed through the fire" uninjured; after converting many he settled at
Kiev and was of great assistance to George Danielovich in raising the
clerical status of Moscow, and to his "incorruptible remains" many
miracles are attributed. A large number of relics assigned to him are
still preserved in the Uspenski Sobor and the sacristy of the
Patriarchs. Next in importance to Moscow was Alexis, the Metropolitan,
afterwards canonised. From the earliest times, the clergy, living the
life of the people and not that of the military caste, had great
influence with citizens and peasants: many times the church has raised
the spirit of the nation when oppressed by foreign invaders. It spurred
on Ivan III. to overthrow the Mongol rule, and stirred up the people to
repulse the Poles and secure national independence. One source of its
power has been the use of the vernacular in all services; the church
most certainly during the centuries of Tartar dominion also preserved
the Slavic tongue from foreign dialects. The clergy have always held it
their chief duty to pass on to their successors their faith as they
received it. Schism is not tolerated; the slightest modification of
ritual is forbidden. The Metropolitans of Moscow were long able to
preserve the independence of the church against the encroachments of the
reigning princes; Ivan the Terrible's chief plaint against the clergy
was that they exercised their privilege of forbidding the execution of
those whom he had condemned to death. Boris Godunov gave Moscow a
Patriarch, and added to the power of the church by appointing seven of
the clergy to seats in the States Council. When, in 1615, the Tsar
Michael met his father, the Patriarch Philaret, on the banks of the
Pressenaia (near the Drogomilov Bridge) both bowed low and remained long
recumbent, unwilling that either should consider the head of the church
superior or inferior to the head of the state. From that time until
Philaret's death in 1639 father and son practically ruled conjointly.
Nikon was scarce content to be the equal of his sovereign, and ranked
the church above the state: he fell. Peter the Great scornfully
suppressed the Patriarchate, but did not arrogate to himself the powers
of the head of the church, substituting a synod to be elected from the
hierarchy he himself appointed. So it remains to the present day, the
reigning monarch having no right, from his position, to interfere in
spiritual affairs, yet still controlling the administration of church
law.
In matters of belief the Eastern church nearly approaches the
Anglican, the main divergence is that whereas the Anglican and
Roman churches agree that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father
and the Son, the Eastern Church holds that it proceeds from the
Father only. The bible may be read; the church may interpret its
teaching, "for the traditions of the church have been maintained
uncorrupted through the influence of the Holy Spirit." God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, "perfectly equal in nature and
dignity," may alone be worshipped; but homage may be paid to the
Virgin Mary, and reverence shown to the saints, to ikons and to
relics. That this may not be abused, bishops at their consecration
are requested to promise that "honour shall be shown to God only,
not to the sacred ikons, and that no false miracle shall be
ascribed to them.... The _moshi_ or incorruptible remains which are
so greatly venerated, are the corpses of those long dead, whose
burial-place has been forgotten and is made known by a supernatural
manifestation. These remains must not be subject to the ordinary
process of decay, and may possess such virtue as to miraculously
cure the sick--which is the quality usually attributed to them."
The ecclesiastical architecture of Moscow, or of Russia, is not so
complex as it appears to be at first sight; originally the place for
Christian worship was but a square log-hut; add an apse at the east end,
cover the building with a dome roof supporting a cross to indicate its
sacred character, and the external structure of the primitive church is
complete. Instead of a dome roof it was found easier, as larger
buildings became necessary, to cover with the dome only the centre of
the church, which was still further elevated to make more prominent the
dome and cross denoting the purpose of the building. Three apses,
symbolic of the Trinity, took the place of one; five and seven are
sometimes found. When the idea of the original whole dome roof was
expressed by four small domes arranged around the higher central one,
the model became the permanent type from which all other forms have been
elaborated. The primitive type is best exemplified in the church of St
Michael within the Chudov monastery, but the cathedrals of the
Assumption and of the Archangels, on the Sobornia Ploshchad of the
Kremlin, will serve equally well to illustrate the permanent form. The
origin and development of the bulbous dome, as well as the size,
position and number of secondary domes, may be traced by comparing the
various old churches in South Russia, and those of wood, formerly or at
present existing in "wooden" Russia. For this purpose a convenient
series of framed drawings is to be found on stands in Room [Greek: B] of
the Historical Museum. They confirm what has already been stated in the
preceding chapter, concerning the origin of Russian architecture, and
show that the number of domes--some churches have seventeen, if not
more--is immaterial, since all should be so arranged as to increase the
importance of the central one. Those in which all are equal in size and
height--as the roof over the chapels of the Terem--are quite
exceptional. The chief modification arose from the necessity of
preserving the structure and its valued contents from the great cold of
the winter and the excessive moisture of the summer. To overcome the
first difficulty the church was surrounded with a gallery; to obviate
the second the floor of the church raised to a higher storey; when the
two were combined as in many churches of the sixteenth and seventeenth
century, some elaboration of proaulion and _Kriltso_ was natural. The
best specimens of this class are the churches of St Nicholas of the
Great Cross on the Ilyinka, and of the Assumption on the Pokrovka; the
ordinary design is that of the porches and approach to Vasili Blajenni,
and of the Blagovieshchenski Sobor before the ground was raised to its
present level.
The belfry, a somewhat late comer to the Russian church, was usually a
separate building adjacent to, but not a component part of, the church
itself. When masonry superseded wood, the old designs were for the most
part retained: so possibly the only other important point of general
application is the subsequent employment of the tapering spire--and its
modifications of superposed arches, etc.--to support the dome and cross,
instead of the cylindrical shaft peculiar to Russian architecture, which
last was evidently derived from round towers of very remote origin. The
windows are small and unimportant--often mere oblong slits in the
wall--and, though the accepted form admits of little modification
towards the elaboration of elegance and grace in the design, and the
decoration is limited by the ecclesiastical objection to carved
figures--and climatic conditions which preclude the employment of
projecting mouldings and all fine work in high relief--the brilliant
colouring and mural decorations of plane surfaces convey an impression
of richness, which, combined with the absence of the usual and
conspicuousness of strange decorations, magnify the whole, in many
instances, into the resemblance of whatever the imagination may picture
as most ornate and brilliant.
In essentials the interior arrangements of all the churches are similar:
east of the pillars that support the central dome, the church is divided
by the ikonostas--a development of the rood-screen--which separates the
officiating priests from the worshippers. In old churches seats were
placed round the walls and stalls provided for persons of high rank, but
for long it has been customary for the congregation to stand during the
services. Behind the ikonostas is the sanctuary; there females may not
enter, nor any male if physically imperfect; it is disclosed to the
worshippers during the celebration of Mass by opening the "Royal Doors"
in the centre of the ikonostas. There are in all churches sacred ikons,
having the place of honour on the ikonostas; decorative and illustrative
pictures are placed there also, and the same--as frescoes, or
otherwise--around the central columns and along the walls of the church.
Usually the north wall is appointed for those pertaining to the saint to
whom the church is dedicated; the south wall to the seven councils, the
west to other sacred subjects. Although the ikonostas is the equivalent
of the rood-screen in the old English churches, it is not only always a
fixture, but sometimes a solid partition of masonry, being really that
barrier which shuts off the Holy of Holies, that may be entered by the
consecrated priests alone, from the rest of the temple. It is always
decorated, but the high ikonostas, having five, or even seven, tiers of
pictures is a development later than the fifteenth century. The "Royal
Doors" must have representations of the Annunciation and the four
Evangelists, since through this entrance came the glad tidings of the
Eucharist; right and left of the doors the Saviour and the Madonna;
also, usually, Adam, as the first fallen, and the Penitent Thief as the
first redeemed; above, the Trinity; Abraham entertaining the three
angels and John the Baptist most frequently figure on the screen, and,
on the pillars facing the entrance, the Publican and Pharisee as
symbolic of an all inclusive congregation of worshippers.
In the Sanctuary is a tabernacle or Sinai, upon the altar, and over it a
baldachino on which the cross is laid horizontally--or nearly so. In the
apse behind
[Illustration: CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AND FLIGHT]
the altar is the _thronos_ or seat of the head of the church, with other
seats for priests on both sides; the choir is a raised dais before the
ikonostas.
The Russian cross has eight points. To the Latin cross are added the
titulus, and a lower diagonal crosspiece which is assumed to be a rest
for the feet. _Post hoc, propter hoc_, and that this rest slants is said
to be due to the fact that Christ was lame; others think that its
purpose is merely to give the idea of perspective of the hill Golgotha
on which the cross was placed, and others as indicating the earthquake,
whilst those versed in mystic symbolism will recognise a totally
distinct signification.[B] To these last too, the accepted explanations
of the crescent from which the cross rises will be insufficient. It was
common in Russia prior to the Mongol occupation, so is not the result of
placing crosses upon mosques, or intended to denote the subjugation of
Mahommedanism to Christianity. More probable is the explanation, that in
ancient pictures the Virgin is shown standing upon the crescent, and the
cross was later placed by the Russian ecclesiastics to denote that the
cross issues from the Mother of God. Maxim, the Greek, in the sixteenth
century, declared that the crescent represented Upsilon, the initial of
[Greek: hupsos], and so is emblematical of the uplifting of the cross;
but if its application as a sign of Christian dogma is open to various
constructions, all will at once recognise the sign as one of the most
ancient and general of mystic symbols.
[B] The Russian cross is derived from the old eastern form of the
Greek letter _xi_.
The ecclesiastical art of Russia is of a different nature to that of any
school of the west. The ikons, or sacred pictures, must be exact copies
of the originals, thus the practice supports Gibbon's contention that
the religious value of a sacred image depends for its efficacy upon its
resemblance to the original.[C] In Moscow there are several pictures of
the Saviour "not made with hands," being in that respect, and that only,
similar to the Veronica and the miraculous image of Edessa. They are not
alike, and their origin is not known, but it is conjectured that the
initials [Greek: O T H], on the nimbus, have been wrongly interpreted as
the initials of _ot, otsa, Nebesnavo_, which means "From Our Father on
High" instead of _On, Otets, Nash_--"He is Our Father." The Greek
characters were little known in Russia, and one of the pictures has this
legend in Greek [Greek: O.Ô.N.] In the same connection it is worth
noting that our I.H.S. is a misreading into Latin of [Greek: IÊS], the
Greek contraction of [Greek: IÊSous], where the long e was mistaken for
a capital H, and the dash above it developed into a cross. The ordinary
ikons are restricted to fixed types; the artist therefore has never
needed to create, only to reproduce. There are no Russian Madonnas, all
are replicas of pictures brought from Greece or Byzantium; "the ikon
painter knows but one costume, for all places and all times it changeth
not; tradition fixes the form of the head, the pose, the proportion, the
attitudes and the attributes." Most are produced by monks and
probationers who follow the instructions given in a tenth century MS. by
Dionysius of Mount Athos. Rigorously it is only the features of the
saint that must be exactly reproduced; in practice it is customary to
cover all but the face and hands with thin metal--gold, silver, or gilt,
and to ornament the setting lavishly. In the seventeenth century, the
golden age of Muscovite ecclesiasticism, there were several branches of
ikon painting, not differing sufficiently to warrant the appellation of
"schools." These were known as the Imperial or Court style; the Village,
the Strogonov, and the Monastic. Novgorod would have the faces yellow;
the Strogonov insisted upon dark green--an introduction from Byzantium,
and sometimes known as Khorsunski. Black virgins are not unknown--the
result of time upon impure pigments; those with three small scratches on
the face are copies of the Iberian Mother of God, a twelfth century
ikon of the Virgin. Graven images are not allowed in the Russian
Church, being held to be a violation of the second commandment. The only
exception is that of St Nicholas. Holy Statues were abolished by order
of the Patriarch Philaret, and when these were removed from the churches
all went well until hands were laid upon one of the representatives of
the patron Saint; no force could stir that; where, by extraordinary
means, the statue was broken from the pedestal, the image of the saint
reappeared. This is the only figure seen in high relief, and is usually
made with the model of a church in his hand. The popularity of the saint
may be estimated from the fact, that at one time there were as many as
118 churches in Moscow dedicated to St Nicholas.
[C] "By a slow though inevitable progression the honours of the
original were transferred to the image; the merit and effect of a copy
depends upon its resemblance with the original."--_Gibbon,--Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire_, chapter xlix.
The rites of the Russian Church are complex, and to the unorthodox,
perplexing. The celebrant by the minute observance of minor details
gives to every act a symbolic meaning, and to even the least significant
of them some dogma of the church is attached. The service is in
Slavonic, of which the ordinary people do not understand the letter, but
can follow the general meaning; it is impressive apart from its
significance, and is intended so to be. It commences with a call to
worship--the _vozglass_--singing of psalms; a series of
prayers--_ektenia_--for the welfare of the church, intoned; the evangels
or epistles also intoned; "choral and part-singing of unequalled harmony
and richness; prayers; consecration of the elements; administration of
the sacrament, which the priest takes every service, and the
congregation at will, but at least once yearly; thanksgiving, and the
parting benediction; chanting and incense-burning are frequent
throughout, and asperging is practised at the commencement and
termination. For the greater part of the time the "Royal doors" are
closed: the deacons remain before the ikonostas, but now and again some
enter the Sanctuary for a short time. From time to time priests and
acolytes pass to and fro among the congregation, incensing all the
sacred ikons in turn. The voice of the officiating priest is raised
within, and is answered in deep tones by the deacons without. Now from
some unnoticed corner comes a clear ringing chant from many voices, from
another a deep single voice is heard intoning the epistle, or evangel,
of the day; then suddenly the Royal doors fly open and a glimpse is
obtained of the celebrant through thick rolling clouds of incense; the
people prostrate themselves and the doors close." Later the priest
emerges and the service has concluded--to the unorthodox stranger of any
creed it has been almost meaningless.
The history of Moscow is so intermingled with that of the Russian
Church, and the cathedrals of the Kremlin and private chapels of the
palace the scene of so many notable events, that the reader will not
need a recountal of the stories concerning the historical characters who
have made them famous. Here it will suffice if the minor details to be
examined are enumerated, and the tale of the struggle between orthodoxy
and dissent succinctly related.
USPENSKI SOBOR
The Cathedral of the Assumption, formerly known as that of the
Patriarchs, originated with the Metropolitan Peter, who said to Ivan
"Kalita," "If thou wishest that my old age be graced with peace,
content, and fulness, thou wilt raise on this site a grand temple to our
Holy Mother of God, then shalt thou likewise be happy, become the most
illustrious of the princes of our age, and thy race powerful throughout
the earth." So in 1326 Ivan erected a fine wooden church, which, in
1472, when the wood buildings were being replaced
[Illustration: USPENSKI SOBOR, THE IKONOSTAS]
by those of stone, was taken down and an attempt made by Russian
artisans to build its equal in brick. Before this work was complete the
walls fell, and Aristotle of Bologna, who had been entrusted with the
removal of the Campanile there, and the repair of the leaning tower of
Cento, was ordered to construct the cathedral anew. Aristotle taught the
Muscovites how to make larger and harder bricks than the pantiles to
which they were accustomed; how to turn an arch and make vaulted roofs.
He took as his model for this cathedral the church of the Virgin in
Vladimir and used the white stone of Kolomna hewn into rectangular
blocks which he fastened together with iron cramps.
_Structure._--The foundations are 15 feet below the surface, but
the floor of the cathedral was originally seven or more feet lower
than at present: height to cupola 128 feet. The walls were
strengthened in 1626 after the injury done by the Poles; in 1684
the domes were covered with gilded copper, and the mural
decorations restored after the fire of All Saint's day, 1737, and
the French occupation, but otherwise the edifice, is practically as
completed in 1497.
_The South Porch_ is closed by the Golden Gates of Korsoun, which
were carried from that town to Suzdal, and thence to Moscow--they
are actually of coppered iron gilt, divided into twenty
compartments exhibiting scenes from biblical history, and below
Apollo, Plato, and mythological figures. Before them the Grand
Princes of Muscovy were invested with the authority of the Khan by
his bashkak during the centuries of the Mongol supremacy. The Royal
entrance is by the western doors; the public entrance by those on
the north side.
_The interior_ is remarkable for its ikonostas and ikons. The
screen is of masonry and descends 10 feet below the surface; it is
adorned with frescoes, which may be inspected only when the sacred
ikons are removed for that special purpose. The upper range has
been recently restored to its condition prior to the French
invasion, when the old one was stripped of all its precious metal;
the great silver chandelier of 2940 lbs., made in England in 1630,
was put in the casting-pot and scales suspended from its place;
horses were stabled in the chapel, and tethered to the coffins of
the metropolitans. Not content with robbing the sanctuary of its
precious metals the French deliberately placed the mannikins from
the old suits of armour in the Orujenni Palata as idols in
conspicuous positions about the church. The chandeliers are of
silver--some 900 lbs. of which in the one from the central cupola
is that recovered by the Cossacks from the retreating French: some
five tons of precious metal are in the present ikonostas.
_The ikons_ include the most prized Mary of Vladimir attributed to
St Luke, which was brought from Tsar Grad--Constantinople--to
Kief, taken by Andrew Bogoloobski to Vladimir and brought to Moscow
on the Tartar invasion. It is regarded as miraculous, having saved
the city from Tamerlane, and on subsequent occasions. Tsars and
people alike in past generations have regarded this picture as
their Palladium. Of its artistic merits it would be idle to write;
black with age and discoloured by the accidents incidental to
preservation in an oft burned city, it is as represented in the
frontispiece. Completely enveloped, but hands and face, in precious
metal and handsome garniture, it exhibits a richness of decoration
few articles of _vertu_ can equal; the gems alone being valued at
upwards of £100,000, and the great emerald itself at £10,000. The
next ikon of importance is that of the Holy Virgin of Jerusalem,
which, according to tradition, was the work of the apostles. Taken
to Constantinople in the fifth century and to Kherson in the tenth,
it came thence to Moscow--but others say, it is but a copy, the
original having disappeared during the French occupation. On the
right of the royal doors is the image of our Saviour in the golden
chasuble, painted by the Greek emperor Manuel, and brought from
Novgorod the Great in 1478. By its side is an ikon with most
brilliant colouring representing the Assumption, which is said to
be the work of the metropolitan Peter, the founder of the church;
but if it be not his handicraft is still a remarkable specimen of
the ikon painter's art in Russia of the fourteenth century. These,
with others, are all on the lower tier. On the tiers above are
usually placed: highest, the Madonna and the Infant Jesus, the
fathers of the church in pre-mosaic days, portraits of persons
mentioned in Genesis; on the second stage, the prophets from Moses
to Jesus Christ; on the third, incidents in the life of the Saviour
illustrative of church feasts; on the fourth, portraits of the
saints of the orthodox church; on the fifth, the sacred ikons.
_Other pictures_ in the cathedral include portraits of the
patriarchs and saints; many frescoes on a gold ground are ranged
around the four pillars that support the central cupola; and, on
the walls, the martyrdoms of orthodox saints are depicted. A
bas-relief, supposed to represent St George slaying the dragon, has
been identified by Sneguirev as once part of a triumphal arch the
Christians erected in Rome to Constantine the Great.
_The Sanctuary_ has a tabernacle of precious metal (17 lbs. gold
and 17 lbs. silver) on the grand altar, which contains the Host and
formerly also held a number of important state papers which were
transferred to St Petersburg in 1880. Also a large Bible of Natalia
Naryshkin set with gems worth several thousand pounds.
_The Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul_ is before the most northern
apse, with the tomb of St Peter immediately on the right when
entering; just beyond it is that of the metropolitan St Theognitus;
on the left are sacred relics: (_a_) the "Holy Coat" or a portion
of the "tunic" worn by the Saviour; (_b_) a nail of the true cross;
(_c_) the right hand of St Andrew the Apostle; (_d_) the head of St
Gregory the theologian; and (_e_) the head of St John Chrysostom.
The shrines were profaned by Tokhtamysh, and ransacked by the
French. Here in olden times the rulers of the principalities in
vassalage to Moscow embraced the cross and swore fealty, and here
the metropolitans were appointed to their office.
_The Chapel of St Dmitri_ of Thessalonica, called "The Peaceable."
is on the south side of the sanctuary. It contains the oldest tomb
in Moscow, that of Yuri, brother of Ivan "Kalita," and it was in
this Chapel that Yuri Glinski, brother of Ivan the Terrible's
mother, was slain.
_The Chapel of the Virgin Mary_ is reached by a flight of steps
near the south apse, for it is situated under the southern cupola.
There the patriarchs were elected. In its sanctuary are: (_a_) Copy
of the gospels, printed in Moscow and presented to the boy-Tsars,
Ivan and Peter, with beautiful initials and rich binding, the work
of foreign artisans in the palace; (_b_) an illuminated psalter of
the fifteenth century; (_c_) an illuminated MS. of the gospels by
Russian scribes, 1664; (_d_) a cross of cypress wood, enclosing a
piece of the true cross; (_e_) cross of the Emperor Constantine;
(_f_) Jasper vases which were ornamented with the Latin cross--they
were brought from Novgorod, having belonged to the old monastery
there, by Ivan. IV.; (_g_) a sacramental chalice, which was
presented to Monomachus by Alexis Cominus, and is used to the
present day for the Holy Oil with which the Tsars are anointed at
their coronation.
_The Tombs_ of the Patriarchs are ranged along the western wall;
that of Jonas is on the north-west, and near the ikonostas is the
shrine of St Philip, murdered in Tver by Maluta Skutarov to please
Ivan IV.
_The Thrones_ or stalls of the Tsar and Tsaritsa are situated, the
first between the south column and the south wall, the second just
before the north column; the large stall in front of the south
column is for the Patriarch, and dates from the days of Philaret
only. The canopy in the south-western corner is for the "Holy
Coat" sent by the Shah Abbas, but this is usually kept in the altar
of the north chapel.
It is pretty generally known that the Uspenski Sobor is the State
Cathedral; that in it the Tsars of Russia must be crowned; there,
too, several have been married, foreign princes have renounced
their faith and accepted the orthodox religion prior to marriage
with the Royal princesses, and there Peter the Great caused his son
Alexis to repudiate his right to succeed to the throne: actually it
is the mausoleum of the Patriarchs and heads of the Orthodox
Church.
There is nothing in its architecture that demands comment, the external
mural pictures are common place, and from the artistic standpoint the
work that merits closest attention and highest praise is the open
scroll, bent and hammered metal on the lattices of the different
shrines, and almost equally good is much of the chiselled, moulded and
other decorative metal work on the ikonostas. It is a typical church,
richer in precious metal, sacred ikons and holy relics than other
churches in Moscow; it is the pious wish of the guardians of the other
churches to make theirs even as is this.
ARCHANGELSKI SOBOR
The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael is of even plainer appearance
than the Uspenski; its south wall has been propped by a common buttress
which, pierced for the lancet windows, gives that side much the
appearance of a fortress. Its history is similar to that of the other
cathedrals; the first wooden church on the site was erected in the
twelfth century. Ivan "Kalita" built it anew as the place of sepulture
for himself and his descendants. Ivan III. demolished that church and
employed the Italian Aleviso to construct the present edifice,
consecrated in 1500. It has suffered severely at different times,
especially during the French occupation, when an attempt was made to
destroy it by exploding a large quantity of spirit the French brought
within for the purpose, but this served only to scatter the tombs, wreck
the interior and spring the south wall. The church contains the remains
of the princes and all the Tsars of Moscow. The petitions of the people
laid upon the tombs of the Tsars were taken and read by Peter I.
himself. Most of the religious ceremonies peculiar to this church relate
to masses for the dead, and homage paid to the memory of ancestors. It
has the usual rectangular form, the four central columns, the five
cupolas, which the people think always dedicated to the Saviour and the
four evangelists. The chapel on the west side is a later addition--the
sole remaining one of four, which existed in the seventeenth century. On
the south side is a small chamber which was the _izba_, or Palace of
Justice, and below it are vaulted arches which extend almost the whole
length of the Kremlin; the original paving is now some 12 feet below the
level of the squares adjoining. Here the Tsar's gift of money was
scattered at his coronation. The most noteworthy objects in the church
are: the ikonostas, high, brilliant and sparkling with gems; the
excellent metal-work of the shrines; the mural paintings--portraits of
the Tsars whose tombs are below, and the richly worked palls over the
tombs.
_The ikonostas_ is of five stages; the sacred ikons are: (_a_) The
Virgin "Beneficent," brought to Moscow by the Tsaritsa Sophia
Vitovtovna; (_b_) the Virgin of Tikhvin, the ikon of the Tsaritsa
Maria Nagoi, mother of the murdered Tsarevich, Dmitri; (_c_) St
Basil the Great, near the south wall; (_d_) St Simeon Stylite.
_The tombs_ of forty-seven princes of the line of Rurik lie upon
the floor: though not arranged in chronological order, no
difficulty will be found in recognising any one of them. Only one
Emperor, Peter II., grandson of Peter the Great, is buried here;
those of the Tsars Michael and Alexis Romanof are on the right hand
near the first pillar, surrounded by those of their sons and
grandsons. Near is the tomb of the murdered Dmitri, whose portrait
in gold is hung on the pillar over the coffin. The silver
candelabra before it was presented by the inhabitants of Uglitch
where he was murdered when but six years old. Vasili, the blind, is
buried near the ikonostas; and by his side lies Ivan III., the
maker of middle Moscow and uniter of the Russian-lands. Near the
first pillar on the left is the tomb of Alexander, Tsar of Kazan:
near the second pillar, the Tsarevich Peter, son of Ibrahim, and
grandson of Mamotiakov, once Tsar of Kazan. The remains of Ivan the
Terrible are near the high altar, a testimony of the forgiving
temperament of prelates of the orthodox church. The tomb is covered
with a black pall, indicating that he had been received into the
church as a monk before his death. Horsey states that persons
passing his tomb uttered a prayer that he might never rise again:
to this day, twice yearly, a special mass is celebrated invoking
forgiveness for that "burden of sins voluntary or involuntary known
to themselves or to themselves unknown" committed on earth by those
whose bodies are buried within the church. In a side chapel,
dedicated to the martyred Tsar, are the remains of Michael Skopin
Shooiski, the popular military hero of the "Times of Trouble," and
a bronze shrine covers the remains of Chernigof and his boyard
Theodore, martyred by the Tartars.
_The decorations_ are mural pictures, dry frescoes of portraits of
the Tsars, the best that of Vasili II. habited as a monk: also
illustrations of the Last Judgment, the "Symbol of Faith," and
miracles of the Archangel Michael, which represent Russian
pictorial art of the seventeenth century.
_The sacristy_ contains some very beautiful sacerdotal robes
presented to officiating priests on state occasions; the gems on
the richer _sakkos_ being exceptionally beautiful. There is also an
ornate copy of the gospels brought from Novgorod in 1125; it has
picturesque portraits of the evangelists, and characteristic
illuminated initials; the golden filigree work on the cover is
excellent. A psalter of 1594 has elegant marginal decorations.
There were also rich crosses of gold and silver--the one that
belonged to Ivan IV. with large pearls, best worth
examination--reliquaries, and a curious gold chalice some 7 lbs.
weight. Many will be more interested in the fine needle and jewelry
work on the elaborated palls of which the church has a great many
exquisite specimens.
_The relics_ are not numerous: those which formally belonged to the
Tsar Alexis are within a reliquary of the cross above mentioned:
and a drop of the blood of John the Baptist is shown under a
crystal in one of the ikons.
BLAGOVIESHCHENSKI SOBOR
[Illustration: BLAGOVIESHCHENSKI SOBOR]
The Cathedral of the Annunciation is of a more elaborate and picturesque
style than either the Uspenski or the Archangelski, which, in part, may
be attributed to the fact that it is more intimately connected with the
Royal Palaces than they are. Reached directly by the palace terrace, it
is the complement of the Krasnoe Kriltso, and was used for the baptism
of the royal children, the confessions of the Tsars, and religious
ceremonies of a semi-state character. Its earlier designations were,
among others, the "Church of the Grand-Ducal Court," "Church of the
Tsarian Vestibule," and "Church of the Tsarian Treasury," which clearly
indicate the court uses for which it has been employed. It has nine
cupolas; the roof of pointed vaults rising tier above tier is most
characteristic of Muscovite architecture, and the entrance is by a
flight of steps communicating with a covered gallery which surrounds the
church, see page 178. Its early history is that of the others; first, a
wooden church erected by Andrew in 1291, rebuilt in 1397; in 1409 the
walls decorated with pictures by Rublev; in part demolished by Ivan
III., who built again from the first floor up, and, completed in 1482,
painted during the reign of Vasili Ivanovich; damaged by the fire of
1547 Ivan IV. restored it, and furnished cupolas covered with the gold
he seized at Novgorod. The Poles in 1610 and the French in 1812 both
spoiled it, but the last only partially, the fact that most of its
treasures had been taken away to Vologda probably misleading them so
that they did not make a thorough search for the valuables left within.
During its recent restoration the architect found that earlier
decorations existed beneath the outer coverings of plaster and paint;
they were carefully uncovered and remain exposed.
The entrance is by the northern porch within the railed-off Sobornia
Ploshchad; among the first mural paintings on the right are portraits of
the ancient philosophers, Aristotle, Plato, Ptolemy, Socrates,
Thucydides, Zeno, and others, with lengthy quotations from their
writings on tablets they support; beyond, representations of the Saviour
and the apostles, these pictures dating from 1771, the year of the great
plague. The side posts of the doorways, richly carved, are of early
sixteenth century native work--and some of the best specimens now
extant. The interior of the church is small, and looks even smaller
than it really is owing to an elevated tribune, or gallery, against the
west wall, which served for members of the Tsar's family to participate
in the services without being exposed to public view, the Tsar himself
being on the ground floor, opposite the ikonostas. The parquet is of
Jasper mosaic, a present from the Shah to Alexis. Concerning it, an
enthusiastic, travelled native author remarks: "It is a facsimile of a
mosaic in St Mark's, Venice; the only difference being that whereas the
floor of St Mark's is uneven, to represent the ripples of the sea and
symbolise that Venice rules on the foaming waves, this is quite regular
and uniform, emblematic of the vast steppes of which Moscow is the
sovereign."[D]
[D] This church has the further distinction of being the first
supplied with a public clock, which was placed there by Lazarus
Serbin, in the seventeenth century. About the south porch the last
public discussions were held with dissenters led by the able Pafnuty.
Even more interesting are the old mural paintings, pre-Raphælite in
point of time and in the _argot_ of the studio "more than pre-Raphælite"
in style. The subjects are biblical: the adventures of Jonah; the
mysterious visions recorded in the Apocalypse; the punishment of the
damned; the glories of Paradise, with much else that is curious. They
are already the joy of a "school" and the admiration of Russian
antiquaries. Though crude, unreal, and not a little absurd now, in the
long ago, among the uncultured people to whom they were first presented,
they cannot have failed to impress beholders powerfully, notwithstanding
that their influence upon the art of the time was infinitesimal.
The columns are square, from them hang the chains and jewelled
crosses worn by former princes. The ikonostas is of five stages,
separated by rails of brass and bronze columns--the precious
metals with which it was formerly covered were looted by the
French. The more remarkable ikons are (_a_) one of the Saviour's
agony--a typical specimen of Byzantine work in the fourteenth
century; (_b_) the richly decorated Holy Mother of God, known as
the Donski Virgin, because carried by Dmitri at Kulikovo; the ikon
only was saved, in 1812, the frame was mistaken by the French for
copper and has been repaired; the ornaments are modern, except the
eighteen portraits of saints on the margin, which are foreign.
Near the altar are the two crosses of Korsun. There are four
chapels on the higher storey; they are quite independent of the
church with separate entrances from the gallery. That dedicated to
St George is quite modern, but that of the Virgin has one of the
most primitive rood-screens to be found in Moscow; on it the ikons
are set round with great flat bands of silver; like that of the
Saviour, and that of the archangel Gabriel, it quite escaped
pillage in 1812. The sacristy--in a small building on the south
side--is peculiarly rich in relics, a complete collection of sacred
remains brought from Constantinople in 1328. It includes bones of
different saints--contained in thirty-two silver and gilt caskets;
a reliquary with the sponge used at the Crucifixion of Christ; a
portion of the rod with which He was beaten; some drops of His
blood; spikes from the crown of thorns; an eight pointed cross, of
the wood of the "true cross," and a fragment of the stone that was
rolled away from before the Saviour's tomb. To them must be added a
great number of Russian Tsarian and ecclesiastical antiquities
collected in Russia.
SPASS NA BORU
The church of the Transfiguration, known colloquially as Spass na Boru,
St Saviour's in the Forest, is supposed to be on the site of the first
building ever raised on the Kremlin hill--that of the skeet of the
hermit who inhabited it prior to the tenth century. The first stone
church there dates from 1330; restored in 1380, and rebuilt in 1527, and
again restored in 1529, 1554, 1737, and 1856. Still much of its
architectural primitiveness has been preserved, but it is typical of a
church with monastery attached, as once the case (see page 29). There
are now no external mural paintings, but those inside are curious; the
small, low belfry is very quaint and the bells now hung there are old
foreign bells--among the first brought to Moscow. The central chapel,
that of the Transfiguration, is the oldest, the "Royal Doors" are of
primitive type. Its sacristy is poor: the relics are those of St Stephen
the apostle to the Permians, and some fragments of bones and vestments
found during the alterations in the present century. It is best seen in
the early morning, a service is held daily, and the church is much
visited by those about to marry, for, according to tradition, Sts Yuri,
Samon and Aviva, to whom its side chapels are dedicated, are patrons of
those whose love affairs do not run smooth. On the higher storey is the
chapel of St Stephen the Permian.
PATRIARSHIA RIZNITSA
The Church of the Twelve Apostles and Sacristy of the Patriarchs is on
the site of a fifteenth century church on the north side of the Uspenski
Sobor. It was built by Nikon and is still used in connection with the
synod. It is on the second storey, and above it is the Chapel of St
Philip--the private chapel of the Patriarchs after Nikon. In the rooms
adjoining are kept the Holy vessels, most valuable church plate, and
relics of the patriarchs and the Church. Many are contained in the cases
arranged round the walls, the others may be inspected on application to
one of the attendants--who will expect _adin rubl na chaiu_--or to those
much interested will be shown by the Sacristan, who will explain their
use and relate their history. A complete catalogue may be had, but the
best account is that of the learned antiquarian, Sabas, Bishop of
Mojaisk, whose book is known to all interested in the lore of the
Eastern Church; a French translation of it has been published in which
the author's name is spelled "Savva." Among the more interesting
articles of art workmanship are the panagies or jewelled crosses worn by
the Patriarchs and others after consecration to their high office.
"Among the objects of greatest antiquity are the sacerdotal robes
of the high clergy. They are in the case near the altar; the
'Omophorium of the sixth OEcumenical Council' of the catalogue,
is said to have belonged to St Nicholas the wonder-worker,
Archbishop of Mirliki, and worn by that saint at the Council at
Nice: Sabas thinks that it was presented to Alexis by Gregory of
Nicea who visited Moscow in 1655, with letters from the Patriarchs
of Jerusalem and Constantinople testifying to its genuineness. It
belonged to the Patriarch of Alexandria, who was present at the
Assembly of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Fathers of the Church,
and, latterly, opinion inclines to its having originated with him.
Equally ancient is a mitre, easily recognised from other 'crowns'
in the case by its pointed shape, similar to those of ancient
Byzantium. It was presented to the Tsar Theodore; the donor,
Miletius Piga, of Alexandria, wrote that, apart from the gems with
which it is adorned and the rich material, its age and reputation,
it is to be esteemed above its intrinsic value because taken to the
Council at Ephesus by Cyril, in 431. The mitre of the Patriarch
Job, 1595, differs from those of later date by reason of its very
flat top--the shape of a _klobook_, hat, or ancient crown--rather
than a mitre. The mitres ranged with it were constructed by the
directions of Nikon, and equal in richness and other details the
royal crowns.
"Of croziers and their equivalents there are many specimens, the
most venerated, however, is that of St Peter, by the altar on the
Uspenski Sobor,--_the staff_ that passed from pontiff to pontiff
through the centuries. There are three of the five in the sacristy
of tau shape and beautiful, they belonged to Philaret; the others
to Nikon. The processional cross of Nikon has but four points. Of
copes there are forty-one; the oldest is that of Peter, the
Metropolitan (1322), used afterwards at the consecration of the
Patriarchs. The _panagia_ or pyx worn by a bishop, or higher
prelate, is often an exquisite piece of jewelry. That catalogued as
No. 4 is of onyx, with a superposed layer having the crucifixion
_in relievo_; on the reverse, a Greek cross, the Emperor
Constantine and Helena, his mother. It belonged to the Patriarch
Job and has a most beautiful setting of Russian enamel and niello
work of the sixteenth century. No. 11 is also of onyx, with ruby
and pearl decoration, it appertained to Peter. No. 3. is a sardonyx
of elaborate workmanship and unusual size; it has a reliquary
containing a fragment of the robe of royal purple with which the
Saviour was mockingly invested, and is believed to have been
produced to the order of Ivan IV. to commemorate the birth of
Dmitri. No. 25 contains an emerald of purest water, three-fifths of
an inch in diameter. In another is also a fine emerald which weighs
38 carats. There are in addition jewels, rings, seals, cups,
goblets, crosses, and other trinkets of the fathers of the Russian
Church, and amongst them an object known as the 'Antik,' which has
puzzled the learned. It is a shell of mother-of-pearl, shaped like
a woman's breast, and on this in fine gold, beautifully enamelled,
the Gorgon's head, the fanged heads of the serpent-locks
intertwined and biting each other. It is on a base of rock-crystal,
gold encrusted, and the medallions enamelled with representations
of different buildings--it has figured in the inventory since 1648,
when it had a double case of dark green velvet. The fine collection
of church plate is principally of the seventeenth century and
later.
"In the adjoining Mirovarennaya Palata, the Holy Chrism is prepared
every other year, in strict conformance with the original
instruction. It is, when prepared, taken in sixteen silver phials
to the Uspenski Sobor and then at a special service during Lent
(usually Holy Thursday) consecrated by the Metropolitan, and
further hallowed by the addition of a few drops of the oil from the
vessel of 'Alabaster' in which the Holy Chrism was first brought
into Russia from Constantinople, the vessel having never been
emptied, since the quantity taken for this purpose is immediately
replaced by the addition of that newly made. The 'Alabaster' is a
long-necked flask of copper, wholly covered with scales of
mother-of-pearl, and is supposed to be of the same size and form as
that box of ointment Mary Magdalene offered Jesus.
"The library of the Synod contains about one thousand Slavic MSS.
on Church rites and copies of the scriptures, many between the
seventh and twelfth centuries, and five hundred Greek MSS. of even
earlier date. They were got together by the patriarch Nikon for the
purpose of comparison, and restoring the ritual of the Russian
Church to its original, or at least earlier, rule. The printed
books have mostly been removed to other collections, and the MSS.
are of interest only to those well acquainted with the rites of the
early Christian Church, and such students are readily granted
access to them."
Such a brief account does scant justice to one of the finest and most
complete collections of ecclesiastical furniture the world has produced;
but, interesting as some of the objects are to all beholders, it is to
the student of ecclesiasticism that they will appeal with greatest
force. To him also, the technique of ritual; the customs appertaining to
the dispersion of relics among newly-built churches and restoration of
those injured by time and accident; together with many other matters of
Church rule and procedure which find illustration in this collection,
should prove both attractive and instructive. Of greater general
interest is the story of the struggle between orthodoxy and heterodoxy,
the rise of heresy and states of different forms of dissent; that
dramatic movement of ecclesiasticism which is world wide, continuous,
and of perennial concern to all.
Whatever heresies may have existed in early Russia, with the ascendancy
of Moscow these perished, and the prelates had only to guard against the
wiles of Rome and to stay its power on the confines of the kingdom.
During the reign of Vasili the Blind the unsuccessful attempt of the
Metropolitan Isidor to introduce Romish practices intensified the
conservatism of the prelates. In 1582, Anthony Possevin, a Jesuit
emissary of the Pope, Gregory XIII., had long discussions with Ivan the
Terrible in the Granovitaia Palata respecting the union of the Churches.
Ivan was outspoken: the emissary returned unsatisfied.
The false Dmitri's view has already been given: he was overthrown and
the supremacy of the orthodox prelates increased by Boris Godunov's
initiation of the Patriarchate. The Tsar Michael and his father Philaret
appear to have been always in accord, and then the temporal power of the
prelates was equal to that of the sovereign. Alexis, a boy of seventeen,
was unfortunate in having as collaborator the sturdy Nikon. After his
absence in the war against the Poles he found Nikon, as Veliki Gossudar,
a title reserved for the Tsars, absolutely autocratic. The Tsar objected
to the use of the title by the Patriarch; Nikon resigned his office, and
retired to the Vosskresenki Monastery on the Varvarka, expecting Alexis
would seek him, but the Tsar did not visit him nor did he appoint
another patriarch. Nikon had already given great offence to the clergy
for, attracted by some text on one of the ecclesiastical vestments that
had been received from Greece, he recognised a considerable difference
between the Greek rendering and that current in Slavonic; prosecuting
his investigations further he found many discrepancies and tried in all
things to revert to the older practice. His action was construed as the
introduction of new procedure--and consequently vigorously opposed--and
orthodoxy split into two camps; those who agreed with the head of the
Church that the ancient practice was correct and should be introduced
and the more conservative who would not depart from that to which they
had been accustomed, and it is they who are known as the "Old
Believers," for the alterations proposed by Nikon ultimately became
general. Although the Patriarch had resigned he continued to receive the
clergy and concern himself with the direction of ecclesiastical affairs.
In 1654 he angered the people by going into private chapels and houses
and removing all copies of the ikon Nerukotvorenni, "not made with
hands," because unlike the ikons of Mount Athos. The priest visited
Moscow, and the people paraded the empty ikon cases and the defaced
ikons, attributing to this outrage the plague from which so many
suffered, and the clergy then left Moscow in large numbers fearing
assault. In 1659 the Tsar's emissaries informed him that he ought no
longer to interfere. He thereupon withdrew from Moscow. In Advent 1664
he suddenly reappeared with many monks at early matins in the Uspenski
Cathedral, peremptorily ordered the officiating clergy to perform
certain offices. The clergy at once apprised the Tsar, who in turn
ordered his boyards to command Nikon to leave the Cathedral. Nikon
pleaded that he had been instructed by Jonas in a vision to act as he
had done, but the Tsar only repeated the command; he stated then that he
had power to heal the sick, but the Tsar was inflexible and Nikon
retired. At a council in 1666 he was formally deposed, and withdrew to a
distant monastery where he continued his researches; he was pardoned by
the Tsar Theodore in 1681 but died whilst on his journey to meet his
sovereign.
Joachim, the succeeding Patriarch, opposed Nikon's innovations, and held
tenaciously to the customary practice and attempted to stifle schism by
persecuting relentlessly. He forbade Catholics to worship, banished
Jesuits, barely tolerated Calvinists and Lutherans, and burned to death
Kullman the German mystic for proclaiming false doctrines. When he died
in 1690 he besought Peter to drive all heretics and unbelievers from
Russia--it is to him that Peter erected the chapel on the Srietenka. As
in 1682 and earlier, the "old believers" had been cruelly tortured for
not conforming to the innovations of Nikon, more especially the
unfortunate and obstinate Boyarina Morozov and her sister Princess
Urusov, so with the change of the head of the Church the people were
condemned for such acts as they had previously been commended for
performing, and now knew not whom to believe. With the accession of
Peter to sole power, and the enforcement by him of practices foreign to
former habit, the people associated all his innovations with those
purely clerical ones which had recently met with opposition and caused
persecution and suffering. It was impossible to stamp out opposition,
exile but spread the discontent. When Peter quarrelled with the Church,
the clergy were unable to cope with the popular reaction against the
innovations of Nikon and his disciples. Peter was at last induced to
persecute the noncontents, but these, disgusted with his secular
innovations, fled into distant parts of the country and even abroad,
where for long they were politically an element of grave danger to the
state, but, the rule of Nikon was established and the old believers
regarded as Raskolniki, or dissenters.
These, under persecution, and lacking adequate direction again split
into two sections; one, the popovtsi, or those who acknowledge the
priesthood and depend for their clergy upon schismatics from among the
orthodox, who after ordination, find their practice preferable.
They are quite insignificant in comparison with the Bezpopovtsi, or
those who do not have ordained priests, but are more powerful because
united, whereas the bezpopovtsi number as many different brotherhoods as
there are distinct dissenting sects in England. The best known among
these are the _Dukhobortsi_, who deny the divinity of the Holy Ghost,
strongly oppose civil authority, refuse to pray for their sovereign or
the head of the orthodox church, and consider death by starvation or
fire, so long as it is self-wrought, to be the highest duty. Nearly akin
to them are the terrible _Skoptsi_ or mutilators, and the fanatic
_Khlysti_, or Flagellants, and many others. To the orthodox church all
who are not _slavopravni_ are alike. The civil government has always
discriminated between the harmless and those whose tenets are opposed to
the welfare of the individual and to the commonwealth.
The orthodox regard the discussion as terminated: the Tsaritsa Sophia
herself was present in the Granovitaia Palace, at the discussions of the
Patriarch with the chief of the Ras Kolniks, a fanatic Nikita. There
were stormy scenes; at the close each sect claimed to have the right,
and for long afterwards there were frequent discussions between the
supporters of both parties, around the porch of the Blagovieshchenski
Sobor.
[Illustration: CHURCH AND GATE OF MARY OF VLADIMIR]
Of the churches of the orthodox, the number in Moscow is indeed great;
add to these the cathedrals, the new Xram, chapels, monasteries and
convents, and the claim of Moscow to its title of City of Churches will
not be questioned. It is quite impossible even to enumerate those worth
seeing. Instead take a typical street, say the Nikolskaya in the busiest
part of the commercial Kitai-Gorod. It contains the Monastery of the
Images, Za-ikono-spassky Monastyr--once, 1679, an academy; Church of the
Virgin of Kazan, interesting as founded in 1630 by Prince Pojarski; the
Nikolævski Monastyr, Greek, founded in 1556, and in 1669, with two
churches; opposite it the old Monastery of the Epiphany, Bogoyavlenni,
founded in 1396, with a church to Boris and Gleb and several others of
lesser note--a large establishment with an extensive cemetery but the
buildings of course modern. The Synodalia Typografiia; the printing
house of the Synod, founded in 1645, the façade always painted a light
blue, with the lion and unicorn, and other Byzantine decorations, in
white. Then near the Vladimirski Vorot, the church to the Virgin, dating
from the time of the boy-Tsars, Ivan and Peter, and opposite the second
largest monastery, and most often used church in the Kitai gorod, that
of the Trinity. In all eleven churches or chapels within less than 200
yards--and that is characteristic of Moscow. Among other tserkvi well
worth seeing are:--
_Kitai-Gorod._ In the Varvarka: St Barb, St George the Martyr, St
Maxim the Confessor, and the Monastery of the Resurrection. In the
Ilyinka: St Nicholas of the Great Cross, St Elias. Also the Holy
Trinity in the Cherkassky, St Anne in the Zariadi, and of the
Virgin of Georgia, but St Ipatius is in the Ipatievski, and St
Nicholas near the Moskvretski Bridge.
_Bielo-Gorod._ The Srietenka, built by John Taylor; All Saints, the
Transfiguration, and the Manifestation.