Dormition Cathedral

About museum

The magnificent white-stone Dormition Cathedral on Cathedral Square of the Kremlin was erected by decree of Ivan III in 1479 to a design by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. It became the center of the cult of the Mother of God, which is celebrated on August 15 according to the old calendar. Here grand princes were enthroned, emperors were crowned, bishops, metropolitans and patriarchs were installed and glorified, state acts were proclaimed, and victories celebrated. In the 14th-17th centuries the miracle-working saints of Moscow were interred here. The cathedral houses numerous monuments of Russian medieval art. After the 1917 Revolution it was turned into a museum, but the icons and frescoes were uncovered from beneath later overpainting. Since 1990 religious services have resumed there. The Dormition Cathedral is a true monument of Russia's ancient history and a splendid example of Moscow's medieval art.