Alexandrovsky Kremlin is not just a point on the geographic map of Russia. The architectural ensemble of the 16th–17th centuries that has reached us served as the residence of Russia’s first tsar, Ivan the Terrible, and as the capital of the oprichnina. The bloody events of the oprichnina and the struggle to unite the Russian lands, the rise of book printing and the mystery of the death of Tsarevich Ivan, the fate of the vanished royal Liberia and the family dramas of Ivan the Terrible — all this is 'Alexandrovskaya Sloboda' with its white-stone palace chambers, the Tsar's private church of Ivan IV, and numerous historical and art exhibitions.
Debate continues among historians over the date of the founding of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. V.V. Kavelmakher, who devoted 20 years to studying the sloboda’s architecture, believed that its churches and palaces were built during a single construction period from 1509 to 1513 by Ivan IV’s father, Vasily III. Supporting this is a preserved entry in a service book from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra: “That same year [1513], on December 1, there was the church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in the new village Aleksandrovsky. Then the great prince entered the court.”
Architects’ studies of the sloboda’s architectural features, white-stone rosettes, stone carving techniques, building materials, and Kavelmakher’s uncovering of the portal of the Tsar’s private church of Ivan the Terrible — all pointed to the fact that the country residence was built by Italian architects and was equal in splendor to the finest European palaces.
Western portal of the Pokrov (Intercession) Church.
To the first Russian tsar, who settled in the Sloboda in December 1564, there remained, in the words of the Danish envoy Jacob Ulfeldt, "a capacious and magnificent fortress." Enclosed by a wooden wall faced with brick, with several watch towers and gate passages, it was surrounded by ramparts and moats, which ensured the safety of the tsar’s person.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Engraving by I.T. de Bry from J. Ulfeldt’s book "A Voyage to Russia".
But a tsar’s life must be not only safe, but also comfortable. Therefore, according to specialists, in the 16th century the Sloboda was second in size and magnificence among the sovereign’s courts after the Moscow Kremlin. "The monuments of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda... rank among the foremost capital monuments of architecture both artistically and ideologically," — so assessed the preserved architecture the authoritative scholar, Doctor of Art History A.I. Nekrasov.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Trinity Cathedral.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Trinity Cathedral.
The sloboda’s cathedral — the Trinity (formerly the Intercession) — is of the traditional 'Byzantine' type: single-domed, cross-in-square, with four pillars. In terms of its significance and size it is comparable to the church buildings of the Moscow Kremlin. It has survived to our time almost unchanged, preserving its original stone superstructure. Side-chapels, chambers, an ambulatory gallery, and round columns give this architectural masterpiece richness and majesty. In the church’s interior two unique historical relics stand out — the Tver and Novgorod gates. The appearance of these unique monuments of 14th-century Old Russian art in the Alexandrov Kremlin most eloquently testifies to the special importance of the new cultural and political center.
Southern portal of the Trinity Cathedral and the Vasilyev Gates.
In the Trinity Cathedral Ivan the Terrible was married to his third and fifth wives — Marfa Sobakina in 1571 and Anna Vasilchikova in 1573.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Raspyatskaya Church-Bell Tower.
The Raspyatskaya church-bell tower, the towering dominant of the Alexandrov Kremlin, is perceived as a symbol of the triumph of state power. It testifies to the scale of the palace reconstructions undertaken by Ivan IV after the Novgorod campaign (1570). The small Church of Alexius the Metropolitan no longer matched the Sloboda’s capital role at that time. Built up and extended, it was transformed into one of the rare monuments of tent-roofed stone architecture erected in honor of significant events.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Raspyatskaya Church-Bell Tower. Fragment of an engraving by I.T. de Bry from J. Ulfeldt’s book "A Voyage to Russia".
The monument long had no equal and astonished contemporaries. In the engraving of the Sloboda in the book by the Danish envoy J. Ulfeldt the bell tower appears as the most fantastical building. The artist depicted it as consisting of two towers connected by an arch with bells. The true purpose and construction of this complex ancient structure "for bells" were deciphered by V.V. Kavelmakher. It turned out that the church-bell tower also served as a clock tower. It housed an old "chasnik" — a tower clock. Its mechanism and the restored dial can be seen in the main museum exhibition — "The Tsar’s Court."
Details of the clock mechanism found during excavations at Alexandrovskaya Sloboda.
A charming legend is associated with the Raspyatskaya bell tower about the flight of a Russian Icarus — the kholop (serf) Nikita, son of Trofim. Sources assert that "smerd Nikita, the kholop of boyar’s son Lupatov," having fashioned wooden wings, smeared them with wax, coated them with down and, in the presence of the tsar, "like a bird" flew from the Raspyatskaya bell tower. The flight proved successful. Having flown over the fortress wall, Nikita landed on the bank of the Sera River. This prompted an immediate reaction from the tsar: "Man is not a bird — he has no wings, and if anyone brings to his hands a devilish contrivance and acts against nature, for this companionship with unclean power cut off the inventor’s head. Throw the body to the pigs, and after the sacred liturgy burn the invention with fire."
Museum-Reserve "Alexandrovskaya Sloboda." N.M. Vilkov. "The Serf’s Wings".
However, Alexandrovskaya Sloboda is associated with other legends as well. For example, about the famous royal library that people have been trying to find for centuries, or about a 16th-century 'metro' — the "tsar’s pipe," an underground passage through which one could travel by troika.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Pokrov Church — the Tsar’s private (house) church of Ivan the Terrible.
Only a limited number of Russian kremlins have two tent-roof churches. Like the Raspyatskaya bell tower, the sovereign’s private church — the Pokrov Church — is crowned with a tent roof. The church is erected on a high white-stone substructure and vast cellars. By a miracle the small palace chambers of the lower floor have survived to our time. These are vaulted hall-type rooms with striking vaults and white-stone decorations: figured corbels and carved rosettes.
Unique fresco decoration of the Pokrov Church’s tent roof.
The narrative paintings of the Pokrov Church’s tent, executed by the tsar’s personal commission, are not repeated in any other church building in Russia. As the well-known art historian V.D. Sarabyanov wrote: "Tent churches of the 16th century, as a rule, did not have narrative frescoes; and the painted decoration of the interior volume of the tent, if it existed at all, was limited to rather sparse ornamental motifs of an architectonic character, usually representing a 'brickwork' decoration... Therefore the wall-painting of the Pokrov Church, preserved only in the tent and the altar apse, is the FIRST AND UNIQUE EXPERIENCE of such decoration, which HAS NO ANALOGUES in Old Russian art of the 16th and 17th centuries."
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Assumption (Uspensky) Church.
The Assumption Church served as the private church of the women’s half of the palace. One of the most miniature, it astonishes with the perfection of its proportions and the elegance of its decorative ornamentation. Its lost parts — the open gallery-gulbishche, the white-stone passages to other sloboda buildings — according to archaeologists were equally beautiful and graceful. The same applies to the southern portal of the church with its refined carving framed by rare six-petaled flowers. It is possible that the church was completed in the 1520s, when Vasily III visited his beloved Sloboda to "osenovat" (rest in the autumn) with his second wife Elena Glinskaya, who finally gave him an heir, the future tsar Ivan IV. The imprint of beauty and good taste characteristic of the young beauty who captivated the grand prince rests on this monument.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Southern portal of the Assumption Church.
Undoubtedly, the activity of the museum-reserve is not limited to tours and the display of the unique architecture of the Ivan the Terrible era. The modern "Alexandrovskaya Sloboda" is, above all, a realm of impressions. Every visitor can take part in the various highly popular animation programs and creative tour-workshops.
Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Medieval cellars of the Pokrov Church. Exhibition "Zastenok".
Need new emotions? Then let’s go to #MuseumOfIvanTheTerrible! Excursion department phone: +7 492 442 0397.
