HOLY Moscow, so reverently and affectionately regarded by the orthodox as the Mother of the Church, is to them more than a mere agglomeration of sacred shrines and ecclesiastical edifices. Neither the churches—though they are numerous and important enough to warrant the familiar appellation—nor yet the wonder-working, incorruptible remains and the miraculous ikons most endear Moscow to the true-believer—for there are such elsewhere which receive like humble homage. Holy Moscow comprises all that has served to nurse and sustain the faith amidst infidel aggression; the white-walled and golden-crowned city is symbolic of the lasting reward of heroic endeavour in the upward struggle of the race towards supremacy. Not indestructible itself, but its spirit undying; razed time after time only to appear again greater and more glorious than before, Moscow seems to the Russian not so much a part of the national entity personified in empire, as the very soul of his race; possessed, even as each individual, with strength to endure adversity and unfailing vigour to accomplish a predestined purpose. Traditions of divine intervention; the finding and promulgation of Law; much that is miraculous and legendary as well as all that is credible in early national history the Russian associates with Moscow, and feels what the stranger cannot be made to perceive, may even fail to comprehend, for the outward and visible sign of the living spirit that actuates the Church is but faint and imperfect, even as performance is so often but an inadequate rendering of intention. Although the sanctity of Moscow may not be apparent to the unorthodox, the observer will expect some characteristics of motive to stand revealed in externals. But to the uninitiated the ritual of the Russian Church is bewildering, and the true significance of such symbols as are exhibited in ecclesiastical architecture and ornament is likely to be missed by over accentuating the importance of whatever may be unusual. For many, who are quite ignorant of its tenets and practice, the Eastern Church has an irresistible fascination; the danger is that these, on a first acquaintance will over-praise such details as they may appreciate and too hastily condemn others they may not rightly comprehend, and fail to arrive at a just conclusion by means of further study when no longer attracted by the novelty of the subject. To confine oneself to the consideration of externals is insufficient, being tantamount to the act of one who, absolutely ignorant of card games, endeavours to obtain an idea of the amusement derived from their play by careful examination of the accurate printing and careful finish of certain cards in the pack. On the other hand an attempt to convey by words alone an accurate idea of the full teaching of the Eastern Church is foredoomed to failure, and the most that can be done is to indicate the broad lines of the policy that has actuated it, and risk such errors as must accrue from possible mistranslations of meaning.

All Christian races treasure some legend as to the conversion of their forefathers by one of the Apostles. The Russians are no exception, and, in any event, the introduction of Christianity into their country took place in the heroic age.

If the early chronicles may be trusted, the Bible was first translated into Slavic by Cyril and Methodius, two Greek monks of Byzantium, about the year 863, and so prior to the advent of the Norseman Rurik. In all probability, the faith was spread by proselytising clergy, in part helped by the devotion of the noble women of Byzantium who wedded with the savage Ros, and from the first was wholly independent of the civil power.

Of persecution there was little; Kiev furnished one Voeroeger martyr, and, as elsewhere among heathen, the Christian religion appears to have been readily embraced. Before the Kremlin was raised, before Moscow was, the church was represented on the banks of the Moskva by the little wooden chapel “spass na Boru.” Ivan Kalita was one of the first to recognise the usefulness of the church as an adjunct to civil and military power; he made priests not only welcome in Moscow but all important there. How the reigning princes caused the church in Moscow to rival in authority that of Kiev and, later, to attain supremacy throughout Russia, has already been stated. Of equal importance to the work initiated by any Tsar were the services of St Sergius, founder of the great monastery at Troitsa, which at one time possessed immense tracts of land and owned more than 100,000 serfs. Sergius was born at Great Rostov, and in his youth passed some time near Moscow, and later, having a dozen disciples and the aid of the Patriarch of Constantinople, helped greatly the colonisation of Russia by sending out monks trained at Troitsa. He lived the life of a hermit, and even when abbot did his full share of the menial labour. A commonly seen picture represents him as an old man seated on a rough bench sharing his piece of bread with a bear. Then came St Peter, an apostle sent from Macedonia, who, as a sign “passed through the fire” uninjured; after converting many he settled at Kiev and was of great assistance to George Danielovich in raising the clerical status of Moscow, and to his “incorruptible remains” many miracles are attributed. A large number of relics assigned to him are still preserved in the Uspenski Sobor and the sacristy of the Patriarchs. Next in importance to Moscow was Alexis, the Metropolitan, afterwards canonised. From the earliest times, the clergy, living the life of the people and not that of the military caste, had great influence with citizens and peasants: many times the church has raised the spirit of the nation when oppressed by foreign invaders. It spurred on Ivan III. to overthrow the Mongol rule, and stirred up the people to repulse the Poles and secure national independence. One source of its power has been the use of the vernacular in all services; the church most certainly during the centuries of Tartar dominion also preserved the Slavic tongue from foreign dialects. The clergy have always held it their chief duty to pass on to their successors their faith as they received it. Schism is not tolerated; the slightest modification of ritual is forbidden. The Metropolitans of Moscow were long able to preserve the independence of the church against the encroachments of the reigning princes; Ivan the Terrible’s chief plaint against the clergy was that they exercised their privilege of forbidding the execution of those whom he had condemned to death. Boris Godunov gave Moscow a Patriarch, and added to the power of the church by appointing seven of the clergy to seats in the States Council. When, in 1615, the Tsar Michael met his father, the Patriarch Philaret, on the banks of the Pressenaia (near the Drogomilov Bridge) both bowed low and remained long recumbent, unwilling that either should consider the head of the church superior or inferior to the head of the state. From that time until Philaret’s death in 1639 father and son practically ruled conjointly. Nikon was scarce content to be the equal of his sovereign, and ranked the church above the state: he fell. Peter the Great scornfully suppressed the Patriarchate, but did not arrogate to himself the powers of the head of the church, substituting a synod to be elected from the hierarchy he himself appointed. So it remains to the present day, the reigning monarch having no right, from his position, to interfere in spiritual affairs, yet still controlling the administration of church law.

The ecclesiastical architecture of Moscow, or of Russia, is not so complex as it appears to be at first sight; originally the place for Christian worship was but a square log-hut; add an apse at the east end, cover the building with a dome roof supporting a cross to indicate its sacred character, and the external structure of the primitive church is complete. Instead of a dome roof it was found easier, as larger buildings became necessary, to cover with the dome only the centre of the church, which was still further elevated to make more prominent the dome and cross denoting the purpose of the building. Three apses, symbolic of the Trinity, took the place of one; five and seven are sometimes found. When the idea of the original whole dome roof was expressed by four small domes arranged around the higher central one, the model became the permanent type from which all other forms have been elaborated. The primitive type is best exemplified in the church of St Michael within the Chudov monastery, but the cathedrals of the Assumption and of the Archangels, on the Sobornia Ploshchad of the Kremlin, will serve equally well to illustrate the permanent form. The origin and development of the bulbous dome, as well as the size, position and number of secondary domes, may be traced by comparing the various old churches in South Russia, and those of wood, formerly or at present existing in “wooden” Russia. For this purpose a convenient series of framed drawings is to be found on stands in Room of the Historical Museum. They confirm what has already been stated in the preceding chapter, concerning the origin of Russian architecture, and show that the number of domes—some churches have seventeen, if not more—is immaterial, since all should be so arranged as to increase the importance of the central one. Those in which all are equal in size and height—as the roof over the chapels of the Terem—are quite exceptional. The chief modification arose from the necessity of preserving the structure and its valued contents from the great cold of the winter and the excessive moisture of the summer. To overcome the first difficulty the church was surrounded with a gallery; to obviate the second the floor of the church raised to a higher storey; when the two were combined as in many churches of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, some elaboration of proaulion and Kriltso was natural. The best specimens of this class are the churches of St Nicholas of the Great Cross on the Ilyinka, and of the Assumption on the Pokrovka; the ordinary design is that of the porches and approach to Vasili Blajenni, and of the Blagovieshchenski Sobor before the ground was raised to its present level.

The belfry, a somewhat late comer to the Russian church, was usually a separate building adjacent to, but not a component part of, the church itself. When masonry superseded wood, the old designs were for the most part retained: so possibly the only other important point of general application is the subsequent employment of the tapering spire—and its modifications of superposed arches, etc.—to support the dome and cross, instead of the cylindrical shaft peculiar to Russian architecture, which last was evidently derived from round towers of very remote origin. The windows are small and unimportant—often mere oblong slits in the wall—and, though the accepted form admits of little modification towards the elaboration of elegance and grace in the design, and the decoration is limited by the ecclesiastical objection to carved figures—and climatic conditions which preclude the employment of projecting mouldings and all fine work in high relief—the brilliant colouring and mural decorations of plane surfaces convey an impression of richness, which, combined with the absence of the usual and conspicuousness of strange decorations, magnify the whole, in many instances, into the resemblance of whatever the imagination may picture as most ornate and brilliant.

In essentials the interior arrangements of all the churches are similar: east of the pillars that support the central dome, the church is divided by the ikonostas—a development of the rood-screen—which separates the officiating priests from the worshippers. In old churches seats were placed round the walls and stalls provided for persons of high rank, but for long it has been customary for the congregation to stand during the services. Behind the ikonostas is the sanctuary; there females may not enter, nor any male if physically imperfect; it is disclosed to the worshippers during the celebration of Mass by opening the “Royal Doors” in the centre of the ikonostas. There are in all churches sacred ikons, having the place of honour on the ikonostas; decorative and illustrative pictures are placed there also, and the same—as frescoes, or otherwise—around the central columns and along the walls of the church. Usually the north wall is appointed for those pertaining to the saint to whom the church is dedicated; the south wall to the seven councils, the west to other sacred subjects. Although the ikonostas is the equivalent of the rood-screen in the old English churches, it is not only always a fixture, but sometimes a solid partition of masonry, being really that barrier which shuts off the Holy of Holies, that may be entered by the consecrated priests alone, from the rest of the temple. It is always decorated, but the high ikonostas, having five, or even seven, tiers of pictures is a development later than the fifteenth century. The “Royal Doors” must have representations of the Annunciation and the four Evangelists, since through this entrance came the glad tidings of the Eucharist; right and left of the doors the Saviour and the Madonna; also, usually, Adam, as the first fallen, and the Penitent Thief as the first redeemed; above, the Trinity; Abraham entertaining the three angels and John the Baptist most frequently figure on the screen, and, on the pillars facing the entrance, the Publican and Pharisee as symbolic of an all inclusive congregation of worshippers.

In the Sanctuary is a tabernacle or Sinai, upon the altar, and over it a baldachino on which the cross is laid horizontally—or nearly so. In the apse behind

CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AND FLIGHT
CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AND FLIGHT

the altar is the thronos or seat of the head of the church, with other seats for priests on both sides; the choir is a raised dais before the ikonostas.

The Russian cross has eight points. To the Latin cross are added the titulus, and a lower diagonal crosspiece which is assumed to be a rest for the feet. Post hoc, propter hoc, and that this rest slants is said to be due to the fact that Christ was lame; others think that its purpose is merely to give the idea of perspective of the hill Golgotha on which the cross was placed, and others as indicating the earthquake, whilst those versed in mystic symbolism will recognise a totally distinct signification.[B] To these last too, the accepted explanations of the crescent from which the cross rises will be insufficient. It was common in Russia prior to the Mongol occupation, so is not the result of placing crosses upon mosques, or intended to denote the subjugation of Mahommedanism to Christianity. More probable is the explanation, that in ancient pictures the Virgin is shown standing upon the crescent, and the cross was later placed by the Russian ecclesiastics to denote that the cross issues from the Mother of God. Maxim, the Greek, in the sixteenth century, declared that the crescent represented Upsilon, the initial of ?f??, and so is emblematical of the uplifting of the cross; but if its application as a sign of Christian dogma is open to various constructions, all will at once recognise the sign as one of the most ancient and general of mystic symbols.

The ecclesiastical art of Russia is of a different nature to that of any school of the west. The ikons, or sacred pictures, must be exact copies of the originals, thus the practice supports Gibbon’s contention that the religious value of a sacred image depends for its efficacy upon its resemblance to the original.[C] In Moscow there are several pictures of the Saviour “not made with hands,” being in that respect, and that only, similar to the Veronica and the miraculous image of Edessa. They are not alike, and their origin is not known, but it is conjectured that the initials ? t ?, on the nimbus, have been wrongly interpreted as the initials of ot, otsa, Nebesnavo, which means “From Our Father on High” instead of On, Otets, Nash—“He is Our Father.” The Greek characters were little known in Russia, and one of the pictures has this legend in Greek ?.O.?. In the same connection it is worth noting that our I.H.S. is a misreading into Latin of ???, the Greek contraction of ???S???, where the long e was mistaken for a capital H, and the dash above it developed into a cross. The ordinary ikons are restricted to fixed types; the artist therefore has never needed to create, only to reproduce. There are no Russian Madonnas, all are replicas of pictures brought from Greece or Byzantium; “the ikon painter knows but one costume, for all places and all times it changeth not; tradition fixes the form of the head, the pose, the proportion, the attitudes and the attributes.” Most are produced by monks and probationers who follow the instructions given in a tenth century MS. by Dionysius of Mount Athos. Rigorously it is only the features of the saint that must be exactly reproduced; in practice it is customary to cover all but the face and hands with thin metal—gold, silver, or gilt, and to ornament the setting lavishly. In the seventeenth century, the golden age of Muscovite ecclesiasticism, there were several branches of ikon painting, not differing sufficiently to warrant the appellation of “schools.” These were known as the Imperial or Court style; the Village, the Strogonov, and the Monastic. Novgorod would have the faces yellow; the Strogonov insisted upon dark green—an introduction from Byzantium, and sometimes known as Khorsunski. Black virgins are not unknown—the result of time upon impure pigments; those with three small scratches on the face are copies of the Iberian Mother of God, a twelfth century ikon of the Virgin. Graven images are not allowed in the Russian Church, being held to be a violation of the second commandment. The only exception is that of St Nicholas. Holy Statues were abolished by order of the Patriarch Philaret, and when these were removed from the churches all went well until hands were laid upon one of the representatives of the patron Saint; no force could stir that; where, by extraordinary means, the statue was broken from the pedestal, the image of the saint reappeared. This is the only figure seen in high relief, and is usually made with the model of a church in his hand. The popularity of the saint may be estimated from the fact, that at one time there were as many as 118 churches in Moscow dedicated to St Nicholas.

The rites of the Russian Church are complex, and to the unorthodox, perplexing. The celebrant by the minute observance of minor details gives to every act a symbolic meaning, and to even the least significant of them some dogma of the church is attached. The service is in Slavonic, of which the ordinary people do not understand the letter, but can follow the general meaning; it is impressive apart from its significance, and is intended so to be. It commences with a call to worship—the vozglass—singing of psalms; a series of prayers—ektenia—for the welfare of the church, intoned; the evangels or epistles also intoned; “choral and part-singing of unequalled harmony and richness; prayers; consecration of the elements; administration of the sacrament, which the priest takes every service, and the congregation at will, but at least once yearly; thanksgiving, and the parting benediction; chanting and incense-burning are frequent throughout, and asperging is practised at the commencement and termination. For the greater part of the time the “Royal doors” are closed: the deacons remain before the ikonostas, but now and again some enter the Sanctuary for a short time. From time to time priests and acolytes pass to and fro among the congregation, incensing all the sacred ikons in turn. The voice of the officiating priest is raised within, and is answered in deep tones by the deacons without. Now from some unnoticed corner comes a clear ringing chant from many voices, from another a deep single voice is heard intoning the epistle, or evangel, of the day; then suddenly the Royal doors fly open and a glimpse is obtained of the celebrant through thick rolling clouds of incense; the people prostrate themselves and the doors close.” Later the priest emerges and the service has concluded—to the unorthodox stranger of any creed it has been almost meaningless.

The history of Moscow is so intermingled with that of the Russian Church, and the cathedrals of the Kremlin and private chapels of the palace the scene of so many notable events, that the reader will not need a recountal of the stories concerning the historical characters who have made them famous. Here it will suffice if the minor details to be examined are enumerated, and the tale of the struggle between orthodoxy and dissent succinctly related.

Uspenski Sobor

The Cathedral of the Assumption, formerly known as that of the Patriarchs, originated with the Metropolitan Peter, who said to Ivan “Kalita,” “If thou wishest that my old age be graced with peace, content, and fulness, thou wilt raise on this site a grand temple to our Holy Mother of God, then shalt thou likewise be happy, become the most illustrious of the princes of our age, and thy race powerful throughout the earth.” So in 1326 Ivan erected a fine wooden church, which, in 1472, when the wood buildings were being replaced

USPENSKI SOBOR, THE IKONOSTAS
USPENSKI SOBOR, THE IKONOSTAS

by those of stone, was taken down and an attempt made by Russian artisans to build its equal in brick. Before this work was complete the walls fell, and Aristotle of Bologna, who had been entrusted with the removal of the Campanile there, and the repair of the leaning tower of Cento, was ordered to construct the cathedral anew. Aristotle taught the Muscovites how to make larger and harder bricks than the pantiles to which they were accustomed; how to turn an arch and make vaulted roofs. He took as his model for this cathedral the church of the Virgin in Vladimir and used the white stone of Kolomna hewn into rectangular blocks which he fastened together with iron cramps.

There is nothing in its architecture that demands comment, the external mural pictures are common place, and from the artistic standpoint the work that merits closest attention and highest praise is the open scroll, bent and hammered metal on the lattices of the different shrines, and almost equally good is much of the chiselled, moulded and other decorative metal work on the ikonostas. It is a typical church, richer in precious metal, sacred ikons and holy relics than other churches in Moscow; it is the pious wish of the guardians of the other churches to make theirs even as is this.

Archangelski Sobor

The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael is of even plainer appearance than the Uspenski; its south wall has been propped by a common buttress which, pierced for the lancet windows, gives that side much the appearance of a fortress. Its history is similar to that of the other cathedrals; the first wooden church on the site was erected in the twelfth century. Ivan “Kalita” built it anew as the place of sepulture for himself and his descendants. Ivan III. demolished that church and employed the Italian Aleviso to construct the present edifice, consecrated in 1500. It has suffered severely at different times, especially during the French occupation, when an attempt was made to destroy it by exploding a large quantity of spirit the French brought within for the purpose, but this served only to scatter the tombs, wreck the interior and spring the south wall. The church contains the remains of the princes and all the Tsars of Moscow. The petitions of the people laid upon the tombs of the Tsars were taken and read by Peter I. himself. Most of the religious ceremonies peculiar to this church relate to masses for the dead, and homage paid to the memory of ancestors. It has the usual rectangular form, the four central columns, the five cupolas, which the people think always dedicated to the Saviour and the four evangelists. The chapel on the west side is a later addition—the sole remaining one of four, which existed in the seventeenth century. On the south side is a small chamber which was the izba, or Palace of Justice, and below it are vaulted arches which extend almost the whole length of the Kremlin; the original paving is now some 12 feet below the level of the squares adjoining. Here the Tsar’s gift of money was scattered at his coronation. The most noteworthy objects in the church are: the ikonostas, high, brilliant and sparkling with gems; the excellent metal-work of the shrines; the mural paintings—portraits of the Tsars whose tombs are below, and the richly worked palls over the tombs.

Blagovieshchenski Sobor

BLAGOVIESHCHENSKI SOBOR
BLAGOVIESHCHENSKI SOBOR

The Cathedral of the Annunciation is of a more elaborate and picturesque style than either the Uspenski or the Archangelski, which, in part, may be attributed to the fact that it is more intimately connected with the Royal Palaces than they are. Reached directly by the palace terrace, it is the complement of the Krasnoe Kriltso, and was used for the baptism of the royal children, the confessions of the Tsars, and religious ceremonies of a semi-state character. Its earlier designations were, among others, the “Church of the Grand-Ducal Court,” “Church of the Tsarian Vestibule,” and “Church of the Tsarian Treasury,” which clearly indicate the court uses for which it has been employed. It has nine cupolas; the roof of pointed vaults rising tier above tier is most characteristic of Muscovite architecture, and the entrance is by a flight of steps communicating with a covered gallery which surrounds the church, see page 178. Its early history is that of the others; first, a wooden church erected by Andrew in 1291, rebuilt in 1397; in 1409 the walls decorated with pictures by Rublev; in part demolished by Ivan III., who built again from the first floor up, and, completed in 1482, painted during the reign of Vasili Ivanovich; damaged by the fire of 1547 Ivan IV. restored it, and furnished cupolas covered with the gold he seized at Novgorod. The Poles in 1610 and the French in 1812 both spoiled it, but the last only partially, the fact that most of its treasures had been taken away to Vologda probably misleading them so that they did not make a thorough search for the valuables left within. During its recent restoration the architect found that earlier decorations existed beneath the outer coverings of plaster and paint; they were carefully uncovered and remain exposed.

The entrance is by the northern porch within the railed-off Sobornia Ploshchad; among the first mural paintings on the right are portraits of the ancient philosophers, Aristotle, Plato, Ptolemy, Socrates, Thucydides, Zeno, and others, with lengthy quotations from their writings on tablets they support; beyond, representations of the Saviour and the apostles, these pictures dating from 1771, the year of the great plague. The side posts of the doorways, richly carved, are of early sixteenth century native work—and some of the best specimens now extant. The interior of the church is small, and looks even smaller than it really is owing to an elevated tribune, or gallery, against the west wall, which served for members of the Tsar’s family to participate in the services without being exposed to public view, the Tsar himself being on the ground floor, opposite the ikonostas. The parquet is of Jasper mosaic, a present from the Shah to Alexis. Concerning it, an enthusiastic, travelled native author remarks: “It is a facsimile of a mosaic in St Mark’s, Venice; the only difference being that whereas the floor of St Mark’s is uneven, to represent the ripples of the sea and symbolise that Venice rules on the foaming waves, this is quite regular and uniform, emblematic of the vast steppes of which Moscow is the sovereign.”[D]

Even more interesting are the old mural paintings, pre-RaphÆlite in point of time and in the argot of the studio “more than pre-RaphÆlite” in style. The subjects are biblical: the adventures of Jonah; the mysterious visions recorded in the Apocalypse; the punishment of the damned; the glories of Paradise, with much else that is curious. They are already the joy of a “school” and the admiration of Russian antiquaries. Though crude, unreal, and not a little absurd now, in the long ago, among the uncultured people to whom they were first presented, they cannot have failed to impress beholders powerfully, notwithstanding that their influence upon the art of the time was infinitesimal.

Spass na Boru

The church of the Transfiguration, known colloquially as Spass na Boru, St Saviour’s in the Forest, is supposed to be on the site of the first building ever raised on the Kremlin hill—that of the skeet of the hermit who inhabited it prior to the tenth century. The first stone church there dates from 1330; restored in 1380, and rebuilt in 1527, and again restored in 1529, 1554, 1737, and 1856. Still much of its architectural primitiveness has been preserved, but it is typical of a church with monastery attached, as once the case (see page 29). There are now no external mural paintings, but those inside are curious; the small, low belfry is very quaint and the bells now hung there are old foreign bells—among the first brought to Moscow. The central chapel, that of the Transfiguration, is the oldest, the “Royal Doors” are of primitive type. Its sacristy is poor: the relics are those of St Stephen the apostle to the Permians, and some fragments of bones and vestments found during the alterations in the present century. It is best seen in the early morning, a service is held daily, and the church is much visited by those about to marry, for, according to tradition, Sts Yuri, Samon and Aviva, to whom its side chapels are dedicated, are patrons of those whose love affairs do not run smooth. On the higher storey is the chapel of St Stephen the Permian.

Patriarshia Riznitsa

The Church of the Twelve Apostles and Sacristy of the Patriarchs is on the site of a fifteenth century church on the north side of the Uspenski Sobor. It was built by Nikon and is still used in connection with the synod. It is on the second storey, and above it is the Chapel of St Philip—the private chapel of the Patriarchs after Nikon. In the rooms adjoining are kept the Holy vessels, most valuable church plate, and relics of the patriarchs and the Church. Many are contained in the cases arranged round the walls, the others may be inspected on application to one of the attendants—who will expect adin rubl na chaiu—or to those much interested will be shown by the Sacristan, who will explain their use and relate their history. A complete catalogue may be had, but the best account is that of the learned antiquarian, Sabas, Bishop of Mojaisk, whose book is known to all interested in the lore of the Eastern Church; a French translation of it has been published in which the author’s name is spelled “Savva.” Among the more interesting articles of art workmanship are the panagies or jewelled crosses worn by the Patriarchs and others after consecration to their high office.

“Among the objects of greatest antiquity are the sacerdotal robes of the high clergy. They are in the case near the altar; the ‘Omophorium of the sixth Œcumenical Council’ of the catalogue, is said to have belonged to St Nicholas the wonder-worker, Archbishop of Mirliki, and worn by that saint at the Council at Nice: Sabas thinks that it was presented to Alexis by Gregory of Nicea who visited Moscow in 1655, with letters from the Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople testifying to its genuineness. It belonged to the Patriarch of Alexandria, who was present at the Assembly of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Fathers of the Church, and, latterly, opinion inclines to its having originated with him. Equally ancient is a mitre, easily recognised from other ‘crowns’ in the case by its pointed shape, similar to those of ancient Byzantium. It was presented to the Tsar Theodore; the donor, Miletius Piga, of Alexandria, wrote that, apart from the gems with which it is adorned and the rich material, its age and reputation, it is to be esteemed above its intrinsic value because taken to the Council at Ephesus by Cyril, in 431. The mitre of the Patriarch Job, 1595, differs from those of later date by reason of its very flat top—the shape of a klobook, hat, or ancient crown—rather than a mitre. The mitres ranged with it were constructed by the directions of Nikon, and equal in richness and other details the royal crowns.

“Of croziers and their equivalents there are many specimens, the most venerated, however, is that of St Peter, by the altar on the Uspenski Sobor,—the staff that passed from pontiff to pontiff through the centuries. There are three of the five in the sacristy of tau shape and beautiful, they belonged to Philaret; the others to Nikon. The processional cross of Nikon has but four points. Of copes there are forty-one; the oldest is that of Peter, the Metropolitan (1322), used afterwards at the consecration of the Patriarchs. The panagia or pyx worn by a bishop, or higher prelate, is often an exquisite piece of jewelry. That catalogued as No. 4 is of onyx, with a superposed layer having the crucifixion in relievo; on the reverse, a Greek cross, the Emperor Constantine and Helena, his mother. It belonged to the Patriarch Job and has a most beautiful setting of Russian enamel and niello work of the sixteenth century. No. 11 is also of onyx, with ruby and pearl decoration, it appertained to Peter. No. 3. is a sardonyx of elaborate workmanship and unusual size; it has a reliquary containing a fragment of the robe of royal purple with which the Saviour was mockingly invested, and is believed to have been produced to the order of Ivan IV. to commemorate the birth of Dmitri. No. 25 contains an emerald of purest water, three-fifths of an inch in diameter. In another is also a fine emerald which weighs 38 carats. There are in addition jewels, rings, seals, cups, goblets, crosses, and other trinkets of the fathers of the Russian Church, and amongst them an object known as the ‘Antik,’ which has puzzled the learned. It is a shell of mother-of-pearl, shaped like a woman’s breast, and on this in fine gold, beautifully enamelled, the Gorgon’s head, the fanged heads of the serpent-locks intertwined and biting each other. It is on a base of rock-crystal, gold encrusted, and the medallions enamelled with representations of different buildings—it has figured in the inventory since 1648, when it had a double case of dark green velvet. The fine collection of church plate is principally of the seventeenth century and later.

“In the adjoining Mirovarennaya Palata, the Holy Chrism is prepared every other year, in strict conformance with the original instruction. It is, when prepared, taken in sixteen silver phials to the Uspenski Sobor and then at a special service during Lent (usually Holy Thursday) consecrated by the Metropolitan, and further hallowed by the addition of a few drops of the oil from the vessel of ‘Alabaster’ in which the Holy Chrism was first brought into Russia from Constantinople, the vessel having never been emptied, since the quantity taken for this purpose is immediately replaced by the addition of that newly made. The ‘Alabaster’ is a long-necked flask of copper, wholly covered with scales of mother-of-pearl, and is supposed to be of the same size and form as that box of ointment Mary Magdalene offered Jesus.

“The library of the Synod contains about one thousand Slavic MSS. on Church rites and copies of the scriptures, many between the seventh and twelfth centuries, and five hundred Greek MSS. of even earlier date. They were got together by the patriarch Nikon for the purpose of comparison, and restoring the ritual of the Russian Church to its original, or at least earlier, rule. The printed books have mostly been removed to other collections, and the MSS. are of interest only to those well acquainted with the rites of the early Christian Church, and such students are readily granted access to them.”