The new building incorporated many elements of the
Italian Renaissance, and numerous of these details (considered “exotic” by
Moscow standards) disappeared during later repairs and restorations. The
interior walls were not painted with frescoes until the 1560s.
The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was the main
necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St.
Petersburg. All Russian tsars and grand princes were buried within the
cathedral until the time of Peter the Great, along with many empresses and
princes of the blood. After the royal necropolis was moved to Peter and Paul
Cathedral in St. Petersburg, only Tsar Peter II, who happened to die in Moscow,
was interred here.
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the cathedral was
damaged during the fighting. Afterwards, it was closed by the Bolshevik regime.
During the 1950s, along with the other surviving churches in the Moscow
Kremlin, it was preserved as a museum. A large portion of the church’s
treasures were either transferred to the Kremlin Armory Museum, or sold
overseas.
After 1992, the building was returned to the Russian
Orthodox Church and occasional religious services resumed.
Source: Wikipedia
This postcard came from Mary (12 June 2015) Postcrossing. This is the SECOND postcard from her (with the same Postcrossing ID - RU-3625114).
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