Exhibition «Shrines and Relics of the Uglich Tragedy»

About exhibition

At the end of the 16th century, Uglich found itself at the center of the political struggle for the tsarist throne. On May 15, 1591, in the Kremlin garden, under mysterious circumstances, Tsarevich Dmitry — the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible — died. In 1606 Dmitry was canonized. The church built on the site of his death in 1692 has preserved his memory for centuries. The western wall of the church is occupied by the grand composition “The Murder of Tsarevich Dmitry.” Unique in subject and artistic features, it can be regarded as a work of historical monumental painting. The memorial and exhibition complex “Shrines and Relics of the Uglich Tragedy” displays: the Uglich exile bell, whose toll announced the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia; the stretcher and the coffin in which Dmitry’s relics were carried from Uglich to Moscow; an icon-reliquary in whose central recess, according to legend, were particles of the tsarevich’s congealed blood; the tsarevich’s pectoral cross, preserved by his mother — Tsarina Maria Nagaya; and other items.