Smart Moscow - Patriarch's Palace

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Sightseeing in Moscow

Patriarch's Palace

The palace was built for Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century. During his period at the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (1628-1658), Patriarch Nikon, in an effort to restore the church to its Byzantium purity, introduced various reforms of Orthodox rituals that were rejected by thousands of Russians, who accused him of being a heretic and trying to impose foreign ways on the traditional Russian church. These people broke off into a sect known as the Old Believers and fled into Siberia to avoid persecution and forced conversions. With unhinged ambition, Patriarch Nikon went on to try and assert the authority of the church over the state and angered Tsar Alexei to such an extent that he refused to reinstate the Patriarch after he resigned in a dramatic huff! It was on the orders of Nikon that the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles, which also served as the grand entrance to the Patriarch's Palace, was built between 1652 and 1656.

The Patriarch's 3-story palace rivaled the Tsar's Terem Palace in luxury, and similarly consisted of numerous chambers and churches interlinked by staircases and passageways. Much of the palace's interior has been carefully preserved and restored and visitors are now free to visit the Museum of 17th Century Life and Applied Art, which is housed in the palace's impressive Cross Chamber. With a floor area of 280 square meters and walls 2.35 meters thick, the chamber is a magnificent architectural feature and was the first hall of such a size to be built in Russia without a central supporting column. The walls and vaulted ceiling are adorned with gilt stucco, the floor laid in multi-colored tiles and the mica windows decorated with fantastically realistic flowers.