Ryazan Kremlin - the ancient part modern city Ryazan and the historical and architectural museum-reserve.

More than nine centuries ago, in 1095, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, Prince of Chernigov Oleg Svyatoslavich, founded the city on a high hill convenient for defense between the Trubezh and Lybid rivers. Moving with his squad along the Oka on the way from Old Ryazan to Vladimir, he created a stronghold here, which was soon turned into a powerful fortress. The remains of defensive ramparts built in the 11th-12th centuries have been preserved.

The newcomers gave the new places familiar native names - this is how the Trubezh and Lybid rivers appeared on maps, and this is how Pereyaslavl Zalessky and Ryazansky arose, like Khmelnitsky. From former Kremlin All that remained were the earthen ramparts and the moat. All other structures are much later.

Yes, this is not surprising, given that Pereyaslavl-Ryazan, as Ryazan was formerly called, served as an arena for bloody civil strife, and until the 13th century was a provincial town of the Ryazan principality. Its role grew only after the destruction of Old Ryazan by Batu, and in the 14th century Pereyaslavl even became the capital of the Ryazan principality.

“Olegovo’s Eagle’s Nest” - that’s what Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky was called under Prince Oleg Ivanovich, who intensively fought with Moscow. In the 20s of the 16th century, the city finally became part of the Moscow Principality and found itself on the border. It received its name Ryazan only in 1778. There are several versions regarding this name.

In the old days, each type of swamp in the Meshchersky region had its own definitions: mosshars - moss swamps, bologna - a vast swampy area with a dried, cracked crust of mud in the summer. Didn’t the word “cassocks” become the proper name of the area, and then the village? Another interpretation connects the name with the ancient “rezan” coins and the Mordovian Erzya tribe. But perhaps the most convincing is the assumption that the name of the city comes from the word “cut”, which on ancient maps denoted a wide territory of the principality, land cut off from its main part.

You will learn the details of the founding of Ryazan and its history by visiting the Kremlin hill in the so-called “Oleg’s Palace”, where the local history museum is now located. Probably, once upon a time there really were wooden Oleg’s chambers in this place in the prince’s court, but the current building is a former bishop’s house, a metropolitan palace, built in the 17th century by Yu. K. Yarshov and G. L. Mazukhin.

Moscow architect Yarshov created a unique ensemble of civil structures. In addition to the bishop's house, it includes a 17th-century choir and consistory building, outbuildings, and barns, which were later converted into the bishop's hotel (it was often called the mob's hotel). All these buildings were erected in the architectural style represented by the nearby Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals.

In total, there are 11 monuments on the territory of the Kremlin, and the main one is the Assumption Cathedral. The red five-domed structure stands majestically on a high place - the top of the Kremlin hill, involuntarily attracting the eye, no matter where in its vicinity you are - whether from the Oka, Moskovskoye or Kuibyshevskoye highway.

The Assumption Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin was built over the course of seven years (from 1693 to 1699), by the serf peasant steward D. M. Tatishchev - architect Ya. G. Bukhvostov. The building was erected in imitation, as was customary for such structures, of the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. However, the Ryazan copy of the traditional composition is distinguished by its original interpretation. Bukhvostov seemed to place his brainchild on a pedestal. The grandiose building in the Naryshkin style (by the way, the grandfather and uncle of Peter I, the Naryshkins, had courtyards in the Ryazan Kremlin) is surrounded by an open gallery.

It is unusually light in the multi-window cathedral. The unique white stone carvings are amazingly beautiful, and the openwork iron doors with mica lining are very elegant. The multi-tiered iconostasis, made by carving master S. Khristoforov, is one of the outstanding works of applied art. The iconostasis was painted at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries by the Kiev isographer N. Solomonov.

The cathedral bell tower, built in front of the main western entrance in 1840, gives particular significance to the Assumption Cathedral. It creates the necessary accent in the architectural design of Ryazan, since it connects the new and old ensembles. At the time when Ryazan received a regular layout and became the center of the governorship, the bell tower closed one of the main streets - Sobornaya. And even now the Revolution Street oriented towards it is distinguished by its completeness.

The history of the creation of the bell tower is of great interest. Come closer, pay attention to the cast-iron board in the pedestal of one of the columns with the following inscription: “In this place there was a stone Glebovekaya tower with gates and loopholes, from which in 1521 the okolnichy Khabar Simsky - the son of the governor Vasily Obraztsa, through the gunner Jordan, defeated the Tatars of the Crimean Khan Mahmet Girey. And before this defeat, Khabar took the letter of the Prince of Moscow from the khan... for which they gave him the rank of boyar and included his services in the books of rank as a keepsake for centuries.” (Okolnichy is the deputy of the Moscow prince in Pereyaslavl). It turns out that in memory of what event the construction of a monumental structure was planned on the site of one of the 12 battle towers.

The stone Glebovskaya tower with a passage gate to the Moscow road stood in a row of other wooden towers on earthen ramparts. The towers were fortified with oak walls surrounding the fortress on the banks of the Trubezh.

The bell tower was founded by the self-taught architect, merchant S. A. Vorotilov. It was erected over 50 years by four successive architects, so the building was given the features of early classicism and late Empire style. And yet, the four-tiered bell tower, crowned with a 25-meter spire, the construction of which was completed by the provincial architect N.I. Voronikhin, turned out to be a solid and expressive work of art, decorating the Kremlin ensemble.

To the north of the Assumption Cathedral, near the cliff, in the 15th century, the previous cathedral of the same name was founded, which was later renamed the Nativity (or Nativity of Christ). It served as a burial vault for the Ryazan princes (Oleg’s son Fyodor, who married the daughter of the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy, was buried here). The low, dark and cramped building was rebuilt in the 18th century. At this time, the princely tombs were destroyed. Many changes were made in the 19th century.

The squat, single-domed Archangel Cathedral, which burned more than once, is almost as ancient.

The former possessions of two monasteries are located on the territory of the Kremlin. In place of one of them, on the north-eastern side, a patterned two-tent church of the Holy Spirit of the 17th century, reminiscent of a carved casket, has been preserved - the creation of the Soligalich architect V. Zubov. And to the southwest of the Assumption Cathedral rises the five-domed Epiphany Church, built in Moscow traditions in 1647. Nearby is the single-domed Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, built in 1702, a monument to the Moscow Baroque. Near it is another building of the former monastery complex - a hotel for the nobility, on the ground floor of which cells from the 17th century have been preserved. The stone fence dates back to the 18th century.

The writer and artist N. D. Khvoshchinskaya, the poet Ya. P. Polonsky and the engraver I. P. Pozhalostin are buried on the Kremlin hill between the Epiphany and Transfiguration Cathedrals.

Date of publication or update 04.11.2017

Ryazan Kremlin

Address: 390000, Ryazan, Ryazan Kremlin.

The Kremlin is the most ancient part of Ryazan. It was here that the city of Pereyaslavl Ryazan was founded in the 11th century (1095) (renamed Ryazan in 1778). The Kremlin territory is a high platform with an area of ​​26 hectares in the shape of an irregular quadrangle, surrounded on three sides by rivers. Their names - Trubezh, Lybid, Dunaychik, as well as the original name of the city itself, testify to the southern Russian origin of the founders of Pereyaslavl. According to archaeological data, the strategically advantageous location of the Kremlin attracted people long before the founding of the city: the most ancient settlement, discovered on the territory of the Kremlin, dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e.

Archaeologists suggest that Pereyaslavl was founded in the northern part of the Kremlin hill, on the shore of Lake Bystroye, the contours of which have recently been established using modern geotechnical technologies.

In the XIII - XIV centuries, Pereyaslavl developed rapidly and occupied the entire territory of the Kremlin hill. Such rapid growth was associated primarily with a change in the official status of the city at the end of the 13th century, when, after repeated destruction of Ryazan, the first capital of the Ryazan principality, by the Mongol-Tatars, the importance of the capital city of the principality passed to Pereyaslavl. During the XIV - XVII centuries, the city went beyond the Kremlin hill and grew to the south and west, while the Kremlin remained its central, most fortified part. During this period, it was a powerful fortress with a traditional system of defensive structures for Rus'. On the southwestern side - the only one not protected by rivers - a ditch was dug, a rampart was built along the perimeter of the Kremlin hill, on which wooden fortress walls with watchtowers and gate towers were erected. By the middle of the 17th century there were 12 of them.

The main gate of Pereyaslavl was the gate of the Glebov Tower, facing Moscow, the only stone fortification in the city. The defensive structures of Pereyaslavl existed until the end of the 17th century; subsequently they were demolished due to dilapidation and due to the city losing its significance as a military outpost of Southern Rus'. Currently, only a ditch and an almost 300-meter fragment of a rampart in the southwestern part of the Kremlin have been preserved.

From the early period of the existence of Pereyaslavl, two regions can be quite clearly traced in its topography: the northwestern - the official administrative and spiritual center - and the southeastern - the commercial and residential zone. In the northwestern part (that is, on the territory of the modern architectural ensemble of the Kremlin) the princely court was located, and after the liquidation of the princely throne and the entry of the Ryazan principality into Muscovite Rus' (1521) - the possession of the bishop.

Administrative institutions, cathedrals, and monasteries were also located here. In the southeastern part there were estates of city residents and shopping arcades.

For a long time, the Kremlin buildings remained wooden. The first known stone structure appeared at the beginning of the 15th century, when the citywide, and later the Assumption (from 1753 - the Nativity of Christ) Cathedral was erected from white stone near the prince's courtyard. The heyday of stone architecture in Pereyaslavl occurred in the second half of the 17th century. During this period, on the site where the princely palace complex was once located, an ensemble of civil buildings was erected, including the bishop’s residential chambers, which later became known as “Oleg’s Palace”, a number of administrative and utility buildings - the Singing and Consistory buildings, “sheds for various luggage” , blacksmith shop, cooper shop, etc.

In the 18th century, the bishop's possessions in the Kremlin were surrounded by a stone fence with several gates; a fragment of one of them was restored near the Consistory building. In general, the civil buildings of the Ryazan Kremlin represent a unique architectural ensemble XVII century - the only one of its kind in Russia.

On the territory of Pereyaslavl there were two monasteries: in the northeast - Dukhovskoy, to the south - the most ancient, Spassky. Previously, the richest cemetery in the city was located on the territory of the Spassky Monastery. In 1930 - 1940, it was liquidated, with the exception of two burials - the writer and artist S. D. Khvoshchinskaya (1828 - 1865) and the engraver, professor of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts I. P. Pozhalostin (1837 - 1909). In 1959, the grave of the greatest Russian poet of the 19th century, Ya. P. Polonsky (1819 - 1898), was moved there from near Ryazan.

The most important place in Pereyaslavl was Cathedral Square. The main administrative institutions of the city were located on it - the administrative huts, as well as the prison yard and the green (powder) chambers.

There, at the end of the 17th century, a new Assumption Cathedral was built - the brilliant creation of Ya. Bukhvostov. The formation of the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin ended with the construction of the Bell Tower of the Assumption Cathedral, erected on the site of the Glebov gate tower.

During the 18th - 19th centuries, the Kremlin lost its former significance as the city center. The once mighty economy of the bishop was significantly reduced after the secularization of church lands. According to the regular development plan for Ryazan in 1780, the city center was moved outside the Kremlin, the latter was destined to play the role of a quiet outskirts, animated only on religious holidays.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, thanks to the activities of local researchers, the cultural and scientific community of the city, the territory of the Kremlin increasingly acquired the status of the main historical place Ryazan.

In 1895, the Kremlin and the adjacent Cathedral Square became the center of large-scale celebrations dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Ryazan. In 1914, the Ancient Depository, a museum of church antiquities, opened in Oleg's Palace. Historical relics are on display in the Archangel Cathedral. In 1923, the provincial historical and art museum was opened in the Oleg Palace.

A new period in the history of the Kremlin began in 1968, when a historical and architectural museum-reserve was formed, which included the territory of ancient Pereyaslavl and all the surviving defensive and architectural structures of the 15th - 19th centuries. With the establishment of the museum-reserve, a significant part of the buildings was restored and museumized, and the territory of the Kremlin was put in order.

Today, the unique historical and architectural ensemble of the Kremlin with its majestic ancient Russian architecture and picturesque landscape is worthily represented by Ryazan, one of ancient cities Russia is its pride and main decoration.

Glebovsky Bridge

The currently existing stone Glebovsky Bridge to the Bell Tower was built in the 18th century and has an arched design. Before it, in this place there was a wooden Glebovsky bridge, which came close to the Glebovsky gate of the Kremlin wall.

It is known that the bridge was made of oak with railings and connected the main part of the city, the Kremlin, with Ostrog over a moat.

The wooden bridge was replaced with a stone one in connection with the elimination of the threat of external attacks on Pereyaslavl.

Rampart

On the southwestern side of the Kremlin hill there is an ancient earthen rampart - a defensive structure of the 13th - 17th centuries. The length of the shaft is 290 meters. Until the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, the wooden walls and towers of the Kremlin were located on the shaft.

Behind the rampart there was a ditch filled with water, 5-7 meters deep.

Time has made the rampart flatter and less high (now its height is 9 m on the side of the Kremlin and 18 m outside from the bottom of the ditch), but the Kremlin rampart still towers impressively above the adjacent territory, delighting with its grandeur.

Oleg's Palace

Oleg's Palace is an architectural monument of the 17th -19th centuries, the largest civilian building in the Kremlin, with an area of ​​2530 sq. m. It was built on the site of the Ryazan Kremlin, where the princely court was located until the 16th century.

Oleg's Palace is the former residential chambers of the Ryazan bishops; the building also housed their home church, fraternal cells and economic services.

The three-story stone building, rectangular in plan, was erected in stages: the first two floors (architect Yu. K. Ershov) - in the middle of the 17th century, the third floor (architect G. L. Mazukhin) - at the end of the 17th century.

Later (1778 - 1780), the architect J. I. Schneider made an extension to east side building, increasing its length to 94 meters. In the 19th century, this part of the Oleg Palace was rebuilt by the provincial architect S. A. Shchetkin.

A beautiful building with colored platbands, a baroque pediment and tower windows is the central and most outstanding structure of the civil architecture complex of the Ryazan Kremlin.



Since the 19th century, it has traditionally been called “Oleg’s Palace” not only in everyday life, but also in specialized literature.


Gallery leading to Oleg's Palace from the Assumption Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin.

On its pediment there was once an image of the most famous Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich (1350 - 1402).

The building is fully museum-equipped; the main historical exhibitions of the museum-reserve are located here.

Singing Corps

The singing building is a monument of civil architecture of the mid-17th century (architect Yu. K. Ershov). It got its name from the choir rehearsals held here, but the main purpose of the building is different: these are living quarters for the bishop's servants - the housekeeper and the treasurer. At the end of the building with a separate entrance there was a reception room.

The two-story brick building, rectangular in plan, is designed in the strict style of architecture of the 17th century.

The porch, made in the style of ancient Russian architecture, gives it a special elegance. In the interior of the building, the “standard” residential section of the mid-17th century has been restored; on the walls and vaults, especially in the reception room of the housekeeper, fragments of beautiful paintings have been preserved, by analogy with which some rooms on the first floor are painted.

Currently, the building houses the museum’s exhibition “According to Grandfather’s Custom,” which tells about the everyday life and holidays of the Russian people.

Outbuildings

The complex of civil architecture buildings of the Ryazan Kremlin includes household services: sheds for “various luggage”, a blacksmith shop and a cooperage, stables and a carriage house. These buildings were built at the end of the 17th century, the stables were built by the architect N. Ustinov, one of Ya. G. Bukhvostov’s assistants.

In the 19th century, the stables were rebuilt by the architect S. A. Shchetkin; a fragment of the 17th century building has been preserved in the southern part of the building.

Currently, the outbuildings are occupied by the administrative services of the museum-reserve.

Consistory Corps

The consistory building is a monument of civil architecture of the mid-17th century. It was built presumably by the same architect Yu. K. Ershov, the author of the Oleg Palace and the Singing Corps, and forms a single ensemble with the named monuments.

The consistory is the main administrative institution of the diocese, the place where the church archive is stored, and the judicial chamber was also located there.

In one of the rooms on the second floor of the building, fragments of paintings with very rare scenes - court scenes - have been preserved. Administrative services were located in the building until 1892, after which they were transferred outside the Kremlin.

The ornate porch was restored in the 1980s.

The building hosts the exhibition “Man and Nature” and a unique dynamic exhibition - the museum-theater “When Things Started Talking”.

Hotel Cherni (barns)

Hotel Cherni is a two-story stone building in the style of civil architecture of the late 17th century (architect N. Ustinov), located in the eastern part of the Kremlin.

The original purpose of the building was barns for storing grain (granary) and other supplies. In the mid-19th century, the barns were converted into a hotel.

The building consists of 14 almost identical isolated rooms, seven on the first and second floors. Each section has an external doorway.

Each door on the second floor of the main facade led to a separate wooden porch. The eastern façade, which in the 17th century faced the street, did not have any openings and played the role of a fortress wall.

Currently, the second floor of the building is used as a museum storage facility, while the premises on the first floor are used as exhibition halls.

Solodezhnya

The malting chambers were built in 1697-1699 and were intended for growing malt.

The two-story stone building consisted of eight rooms, in one of which on the ground floor there were white stone malt baths, which have survived to this day. The Solodezhny building was adjacent to the southern end of the main facade of the Cherni Hotel; both monuments were a single complex with a common architectural design of the facades.

Along with the secularization of church lands in the middle of the 18th century and the subsequent reduction of the bishops' economy, mass production of malt at the bishop's court became a thing of the past. At the end of the 18th century, the dilapidated building of Solodezhnya was dismantled.

Based on the preserved white stone foundations of Solodezhnya, identified building plans and the results of field studies, including archaeological research, a restoration project for the reconstruction of the Solodezhnya building of the 17th century has been developed.

Restoration of the building is planned for 2005-2008; after restoration, it will house the museum-reserve's storage facility.

Hotel Znati

Hotel Znati is a monument of civil architecture of the 17th - 19th centuries.

The building is decorated in the style of the second half of the 19th century, but on the ground floor significant parts of the walls of the ancient cells of the 17th century have been preserved. The building consists of two buildings of different periods from the 18th - 19th centuries, which at the beginning of the 20th century were connected by a church in the name of John the Evangelist.

Until recently, the building was residential.

Here in the 1920s the future writer K. M. Simonov lived with his parents.

In 1995, the building was transferred to the Ryazan diocese and houses a theological seminary.

In 2005, the chambers of the abbot of the monastery and fraternal cells were located here.

St. John the Joseph Church is the first temple of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Ryazan Monastery, which began to operate on the territory of the Ryazan Kremlin.

Walls and towers, gatehouses and services of the Spassky Monastery

Museum collections

The formation of stock collections began with the activities of the Ryazan Scientific Archival Commission, whose museum collection formed the basis of today's museum. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 11 thousand museum objects, currently there are more than 225 thousand - the result of many years of systematic work on acquiring funds. The stock cultural heritage, represented by monuments of bygone centuries, has great scientific, historical, artistic and memorial value.

The largest collection is archaeological, which contains finds from the Paleolithic era dating back to the 12th millennium BC. e.; a fairly complete collection of Neolithic monuments, and among the materials of the Bronze Age - unique items from burial mounds. A special place is occupied by the collections of the culture of the Ryazan-Oka burial grounds, the archeology of the cities of Ryazan (Old) and Pereyaslavl.

The museum collection includes ancient Russian painting and, above all, the icon “Our Lady Hodegetria”, 13th century; this monument has no analogues among the works of the pre-Mongol period belonging to the collections of other Russian museums. The icon “Nicholas of Zaraisk with 14 marks of life” dates back to the 14th century - one of the earliest copies from the Korsun original.

The most ancient monuments of facial embroidery, amazing works of nameless goldsmiths, include the air “Eucharist with the life of Joachim, Anna and the Mother of God” of 1485, made by the “plan” of the Grand Duchess Anna of Ryazan, sister of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, and the air of 1512 “Funeral Sobbing with holidays."

The listed and many other highly artistic works of ancient Russian art (received by the museum mainly from the diocesan Ancient Repository) were exhibited in Russian and international exhibitions, including in the Vatican, England, Italy, Japan.

From the 14th century, the staff of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo A. Peresvet and the chain mail of Grand Duke Oleg of Ryazan have been preserved and are of great historical significance.

The 15th - 16th centuries left descendants with a handwritten book monument - “The Psalter with Resurrection” (Psalter followed), on one of the pages of which there is a record of the founding of the city of Pereyaslavl (modern Ryazan) in 1095. This unique copy of a handwritten book in the museum’s collection is a rarity of great national historical and cultural significance.

The museum collection presents monuments of Russian and Western European decorative and applied art of the 12th - 19th centuries, made in Russia, Germany, Poland and the countries of the East. Of particular note among them are two rare works of metal-plastic art: altar crosses of the 17th century with the image of St. Nicholas of Zaraisky.

The numismatic collection is diverse: from hryvnias of the Novgorod and Kyiv type to coins of Western Europe, the East, and Russia from different historical eras.

The ethnographic collection of the museum is rich: complete sets and individual elements of folk costumes of Russians, Tatars, Mordovians; author's works of embroiderers and lacemakers known in many countries of the world; handicrafts.

The special pride of the museum is its memorial fund about famous people Russia, who glorified the Fatherland with their deeds: V. M. Golovnine, P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, M. D. Skobelev, P. M. Boklevsky, I. P. Pozhalostina, Ya. P. Polonsky, I. P Pavlov, K. E. Tsiolkovsky, the Pirogov brothers, V. F. Utkin and, of course, about S. A. Yesenin, as well as about many, many others.

A significant place among the museum objects is occupied by material, award, documentary and photographic materials about the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945; there is an extensive collection of front-line letters - relics of our history.

The museum-reserve, having a wide variety of monuments and preserving this wealth for the present and subsequent generations, annually carries out scientific restoration and conservation work, using the ample capabilities of the museum artist-restorer and specialists from the All-Russian Art Scientific Restoration Center named after I. E. Grabar and the Interregional Scientific and Restoration Art Directorate (Moscow), which return priceless museum objects to a new life.

To improve and increase the efficiency of state accounting of the museum fund and control over its preservation, a computer accounting system “Fund of Museum Objects” has been introduced.

The museum fund is the national wealth of Russia, which is stored, researched and widely used in scientific, exhibition activities of the museum and for educational purposes, thereby helping the visitor to feel directly that they belong to Russian history and culture.

The cathedral bell tower in Ryazan is located on the territory of the Ryazan Kremlin museum-reserve. It is located on the square in front of the Assumption and Nativity Cathedrals, which use it for chiming.

The construction of the Cathedral Bell Tower in Ryazan lasted for fifty years with long interruptions in work. The foundation was laid in 1789 according to the design of the self-taught peasant architect S.A. Vorotilova. The first tier was built according to a new design in 1797, but work had to be stopped due to the emergency condition of the Assumption Cathedral. New project The cathedral bell tower in Ryazan was designed in the classicist style by the architect I.F. Russian. In 1816, the second tier was built, but further work was stopped due to lack of funds for construction. The third tier was built according to the design of architect K.A. Tones. The construction was completed by the provincial architect N.I. Voronikhin, who managed to convince the archbishop of the need to build a four-tier bell tower with a spire so that it would meet the objectives of urban planning. The fourth tier of the bell tower was built of iron in the form of a rotunda. The spire is 25 meters high and connected to the fourth tier.

The building of the Cathedral Bell Tower in Ryazan was built by different architects in different time, but the general compositional idea was respected. The cathedral bell tower in Ryazan, 83.2 meters high, is a work of architectural art.

http://www.voronezhgid.ru/architecture/



The bell tower of the Ryazan Kremlin represents a multi-time combination of different stages in the development of style, from early classicism to the late Empire style. The first tier was built in 1789-1797. designed by Kostroma architect S.A. Vorotilova. The second tier was erected in 1816 according to the design of the architect I.F. Russko, the third and fourth with a huge spire were built in 1835-1840. according to the project of the Ryazan provincial architect N.I. Voronikhin (nephew of the famous A.N. Voronikhin), who used the project of K.A. Tones. The total height of the bell tower is 83.2 m. There is evidence that already during the construction of the first tier, changes were made to Vorotilov’s design, which led to a weakening of the picturesque features. In the second tier I.F. Russko already proceeded from early classical models. In the third tier, echoes of the late Empire style are clear. The fourth tier (together with the spire) was erected by N.I. Voronikhin on an iron frame. The stone was replaced with sheet iron (!).

In general, the Ryazan bell tower is a unique work. Despite the participation of different architects at different times, there is no sense of discord in the style of the bell tower. What is even more surprising is that such a huge work of order architecture does not discord with the orderless architecture of the Assumption Cathedral. The bell tower fits well into the silhouette of the cathedral and, with the rhythm of its numerous columns, seems to respond to the vertical aspiration of the double semi-column rods that dissect the facades of the Assumption Cathedral. The bell tower was originally painted yellow (the walls). The yellow color was later replaced by brick red. It was at this stage that the bell tower harmonized well with the cathedral. Returning the bell tower to yellow disrupted this harmony. The bell tower is decorated with columns of the Corinthian order and sculptures of trumpeting angels. Its urban planning significance for Ryazan is comparable to the significance of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower for Moscow or the buildings of A. Zakharov for St. Petersburg. In terms of purity and severity of style, the Bell Tower of the Assumption Cathedral in Ryazan is unique; there are no similar bell towers in the classicist style in other cities of Russia. The bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral is the tallest building on the Kremlin territory, 86 meters high, with a gilded almost 25-meter spire. It was built in a classical style, despite the fact that it was created over more than 50 years (1789-1840). The third tier of the bell tower is equipped Observation deck, from where a beautiful panorama of the Kremlin, Ryazan and the surrounding city opens. In July 2007, the Bell Tower was transferred to the use of the Ryazan diocese.

Based on materials: G.K. Wagner “Old Russian Cities”, publishing house “Iskusstvo”, Moscow, 1980. Mikhailovsky E.V. “Ryazan. Monuments of architecture and art." Moscow, 1985 and the site http://vidania.ru/temple/temple_ryazanskaya/ryazan_%20kreml_kolokolnya.html



Before Batu’s devastation of Ryazan in 1237, Pereyaslavl Ryazan was only one of many forts on the territory of the Ryazan principality, bordering the Wild Field. The date of foundation of the fortress - 1095 - is contained in the Followed Psalter, originating from the Ryazan Elias Church and dating back to 1570. “In the summer of 6603,” it says, “the city of Preslavl of Rezanskaya was founded near the church of St. Nicholas the Old.” At the end of the 13th century, St. Vasily Ryazansky moved the bishop's see to Pereslavl, and in the second half of the 14th century the princely residence was already located here. It was during this period that the first stone building that has survived to this day appeared on the territory of the Kremlin - the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, founded by Oleg Ryazansky and completed by his son Theodore.

The foundation of the Assumption Cathedral (Nativity of Christ Cathedral) in the Ryazan Kremlin should be confidently attributed to the era of the reconciliation of the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg and the Grand Duke of Moscow Dimitri and the “twinning” of Ryazan and Moscow through the marriage of Prince Feodor Olgovich to Princess Sofia Dimitrievna. By that time, the Assumption Cathedral, built under Prince Ivan Kalita, already stood in Moscow, and it was this that the unknown architects who received the task of building the tomb of the Ryazan princes took as a model. The cathedral was completed by the son of Prince Oleg of Ryazan, Theodore. He was the first to rest under its arches, and in total five princes and three princesses were buried in the Assumption Cathedral. But the nearby cathedral of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal Heavenly Powers was built in the 1470s as the tomb of the Ryazan bishops and the home temple of the Ryazan princes. By the end of the 18th century, the temple had fallen into disrepair, and services were not held in it. Only in 1819, with funds from Ryazan philanthropists, was it “resumed.” It also underwent extensive renovation and reconstruction in the 1860s, receiving a refectory in the pseudo-Russian style. The Archangel Cathedral was closed in 1919; during Soviet times, numerous organizations managed it; then, from the early 1980s, the building housed one of the exhibitions of the Ryazan Museum. Only in 2011 was it returned to the diocese.

In the northern part of the Ryazan Kremlin there is the only surviving building of Dukhovsky monastery, which existed in the XV-XVIII centuries. This is a church in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, built in 1642 by the architect Vasily Kharitonov Zubov, a native of Soligalich. The memorable silhouette of the temple is created by two tents placed on a hill of two tiers of kokoshniks, completing the quadrangle. At the base of the tents there is also a belt of small kokoshniks. The tented bell tower echoes the quadrangle tents. In 1930, the church was closed and converted into a granary, and then into a club for water transport workers. Now it houses the library of the Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.

Almost adjacent to the ancient rampart of the Ryazan Kremlin are the buildings of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, which is considered one of the oldest monasteries in the city. The first written evidence about it dates back to 1467, when Prince Ivan Vasilyevich granted the monastery estates, which was recorded. In 1501, the monastery is again found in documents: “Prince Fyodor Vasilyevich gave the Transfiguration of Spasov to the abbot and his brethren the village of Gavrilovskoye...” We have relatively little information about the existence of the monastery before the 17th century, but it is known that it was ruled by archimandrites, and starting from 1522 It was the monastery bell of the Church of the Epiphany that began the bell for Matins, which was then picked up by all the bells in the city. In the monastery there was a revered image of the Mother of God “Quiet My Sorrows,” which attracted many pilgrims.

In 1920 the monastery was closed. Its buildings successively housed an infirmary, a city executive committee, and a military unit. In 1935, the entire ensemble came under the jurisdiction of the museum, but at the same time, communal apartments appeared in the abbot-fraternal building, and in the 1960s, the Transfiguration and Epiphany churches turned into an archive storage facility. In 1996, the process of returning the monastery complex to the diocese began. The Ryazan Theological School, which was later transformed into a seminary, was located in the abbot's and fraternal building, which was transferred first. In 2005, monastic life resumed at the Transfiguration Monastery, and in 2007, the monastery churches were finally handed over to it.

The main building of the Ryazan Kremlin is the Holy Assumption Cathedral. The cathedral is crowned with a powerful five-domed dome. The chapters, the central one of which is gilded, and the side ones are decorated with gold stars on a blue field, are placed on light drums, which seem to be faceted thanks to the semi-columns that decorate the windows. The facades of the cathedral have a three-part division. Instead of traditional blades, the architect used double columns as “separators,” which set the vertical direction of the building. Under the roof there is an elegant jagged cornice, elegantly standing out with its whiteness against the red brick background. The windows of the cathedral are located in three tiers, and in each of the tiers the platbands have their own design. For example, for the lower tier it is a dense floral ornament that “sprouts” in the lower part of the casing of the second tier. In general, the platbands of the second tier are like a connecting link between the lower tier - lushly planted - and the upper - rocaille. The main western entrance stands out, especially richly decorated. Its decor uses all the same elements that adorn the window casings, but here they are present, as if in multiplied form. For example, the twisted columns that we see in the platbands of the third tier are also “woven” with floral carvings here. It should be noted that the white stone carving of the Assumption Cathedral, even in itself, apart from the other advantages of the temple, is a unique monument art.

An undoubted creative success of Bukhvostov should be recognized as the idea to place the cathedral on a high basement (an atypical decision for such a large temple), thanks to which it acquired the significance of an architectural dominant in urban development. The traveler saw the domes of the Assumption Cathedral from the Oka, from the Astrakhan and Moscow highways. Now, of course, Ryazan has grown both in breadth and height, but - thanks to Bukhvostov - the cathedral church is still perfectly visible from many points. The hill on which the buildings of the Ryazan Kremlin are located is surrounded by the Trubezh and Lybid rivers on three sides, and a ditch has been dug on the fourth. Throughout its history, the Kremlin remained wooden. The oak walls ended with “breakdowns” - plank-covered platforms that protruded outward, making it difficult for the attackers to attack.

The only stone element of the Kremlin was Glebovskaya travel tower, which stood on the site of the current cathedral bell tower. The road to Moscow began from there. Ryazan, and later Moscow princes and tsars monitored the condition of Ryazan fortifications, since Pereslavl Ryazan was part of the Zasechnaya Line. However, from time to time there were also oversights, as, for example, at the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich: “The Glebovskaya passage tower collapsed, and the corner... Spasskaya tower was washed away into the hollow water, and fell into Trubezh, and the forest was dissolved by water.” But already under Feodor Alekseevich “the city and the fort and the towers” ​​were corrected. By the end of the 18th century, the city fortifications had finally lost their relevance and fell into disrepair. The regular plan of Ryazan from 1778 left them no chance of existence: the walls were demolished and the ramparts were partially leveled. It was decided to build a cathedral bell tower on the site of the Glebov Tower. The construction of this “long-term construction” dragged on until 1840. The first tier was built by architect S.I. Vorotilov, the second - I.F. Russko, the third and fourth are the fruit of the joint efforts of K.A. Tona and N.I. Voronikhin.

From the magazine " Orthodox Temples. Travel to Holy Places". Issue No. 57, 2013.

The territory of the Ryazan Kremlin is still open for walks. Perhaps not every Ryazan resident thought about what was in his hometown he is able to move freely historical center, while the pleasure of freely walking around the Kremlin is paid almost everywhere - take Moscow, Velikiy Novgorod, Staraya Ladoga. Unless neighbors Vladimir and Kolomna are on the list of exceptions. Of course, one can argue cynically that one can only show the guests the Kremlin, but this question, on the one hand, is controversial, on the other hand, it begs the conclusion that the Ryazan Kremlin is not offensive at all. Therefore, knowing its history and, on occasion, surprising visitors with an entertaining excursion will not hurt anyone.

Spending time on the way to the architectural ensemble, for example, to orient the city guest to the events and main characters of the glorious Ryazan history over nine hundred years. Tell us how it happened that the once powerful capital of the principality turned to the province with a subsidized budget. The ends should be sought in the 12th century, when the feudal fragmentation that struck the Kiev state finally dismembered it into separate principalities. Among them was Murom-Ryazan, which in 1155 was also destined to split into two independent ones.

The Ryazan principality had an enviably huge territory and was rich in forests, animals and other natural gifts. It ended exactly at the border of the forest-steppes, and therefore, during the raids of nomads, it was the first to stand in their way. The Polovtsy harassed them - they fought with the tribes for a whole century, until at the beginning of the 13th century they were replaced by stronger aggressors. Thus, the Ryazan principality was the first to take the blow of the Tatar-Mongol hordes in 1237. It turned out to be destructive for Pronsk, Izheslavets and the capital of the principality - Ryazan. The city was defended for five days and nights, but the forces were too unequal.

In the ancient Russian “Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu,” the Tatars were opposed by the Russian hero Evpatiy Kolovrat, who died in a duel with countless Tatar regiments. Batu's invasion undermined the former power of the capital of the principality. Ryazan, the same one that today we know as the ancient settlement of Old Ryazan, turned from a flourishing city into ruins that could not be brought back to life. The Ryazan princes are increasingly beginning to visit another city - Pereyaslavl.

In 1208, according to the chronicle, the first city fortifications were built here. Until the end of the 13th century, Pereyaslavl was a middle appanage of the Ryazan principality, and by the end of the next century the princes moved their official residence here. The Tatar raids continued - the Ryazan lands suffered more destruction than others. In 1378, the Tatar troops were defeated on Vozha, but the next year became destructive for Pereyaslavl - the Tatars ravaged and burned it. The agreement between Prince Oleg Ivanovich and the Tatars did not save the situation - such a political move even today gives historians a reason to discuss his personality. And at the same time, look for the reason why Oleg did not take official part in the Battle of Kulikovo. One way or another, by the end of the 14th century, Moscow gradually became the political and economic center of northeastern Rus'. Involuntarily, Oleg Ryazansky also took this into account - he was forced to establish peaceful relations with Moscow and conclude a peace treaty with Prince Dmitry Donskoy.

Pereyaslavl also remembered the events of 1444 - the troops of Tsarevich Mustafa came to plunder the city. After 11 years, the Tatars returned again, but, having received rebuff, left the Ryazan lands. The threat to the independence of Ryazan loomed later - the turning point was 1521, when the last representative of the princely dynasty in Ryazan, Ivan Ivanovich, was accused by Vasily III of treason: they say he was wooing the daughter of the Crimean Khan. Meanwhile, the Crimean Khan himself approached Moscow with an army and achieved regular payment of tribute while Vasily III was recruiting an army and was absent from the city. The Ryazan prince did not give up thoughts about the throne and decided to take advantage of the opportunity, in the turmoil he slipped away from Moscow to Pereyaslavl, but did not go to the city, but moved to the left bank of the Oka in Shumash, to the Kobyakovs’ estate. On the way back, Makhmet Giray decided to make money in Pereyaslavl and received resistance. Prince Ivan Ivanovich fled to Lithuania. He tried to gather troops, hoping for help from the local rulers, to restore the rights to the Ryazan reign, but failed. He died in Lithuania in 1534. Vasily III will complete the unification of the Russian lands and see the fall of the Great Horde. As the scientist Lev Gumilev writes, Russia will become monolithic, annexing the Principality of Chernigov, Pskov and Ryazan, and will border on the south and east with the Tatar states.

On the pages of history Pereyaslavl-Ryazan will flash a century later - when the Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov called on other cities to join the militia against the Polish invaders “without hesitation or fear.” But after the defeat of the Polish-Swedish intervention, Pereyaslavl will gradually lose its former significance as a military fortress. In the first half XVII century the territory of the Ryazan lands was formed into the Ryazan governorship, and in 1778, by Decree of Catherine the Great, the Ryazan province appeared, and Pereyaslavl-Ryazan was renamed Ryazan. Only the new name did not bring prosperity to the city - it grew slowly and developed poorly. But the city, which was founded nine centuries ago, in 1095, by the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav Svyatoslavovich on the high bank of the Trubezh River at the confluence of the Lybid River, not far from the deep Oka, has retained its glorious history for posterity. And the Ryazan Kremlin is an important part of it.

And since there is no officially designated entrance to the Kremlin territory by the ticket office, this means you can start your walk from any direction. Let it be Cathedral Square, where a monument to the Ryazan prince Oleg was erected for the anniversary of the region in 2007. The same one who tried with all his might to make the Ryazan principality the center of Rus'. And while historians continue to argue about whether he is a traitor or a patriot, the image of Grand Duke Oleg of Ryazan adorns the coat of arms of Ryazan, and a copper sculpture adorns one of the squares. The author of the work is Zurab Tsereteli, who presented the prince in the same way as on the coat of arms, with a sword in his hand, but on horseback, which is striding, perhaps in the direction of the Oka, perhaps in the prince’s possessions. The path to the Kremlin ensemble will begin in this direction.

It begins in the Kremlin Square: the entrance to it is marked by a colonnade, where taxi drivers tend to park, although there are prohibitory signs and tow trucks often work here. Historically, the park was used for physical education by schools close to the Kremlin, and in the spring, employees of the regional government cleaned off snow and last year’s leaves from winter scabs. The park has a chapel built for the 900th anniversary of Ryazan and a fountain. Not everyone, however, knows that in the niches of the chapel there should be statues of Prince Oleg, Prince Roman, Princess Eupraxia and Bishop Vasily, but in the nineties of the 20th century they simply did not find the money to cast the sculpture.

For some time now, the administration of the Ryazan diocese has fenced off the park. This is the Church of Elijah the Prophet, after which Ilyinskaya Square, now Cathedral Square, was once named. The temple lost its bell tower during the Soviet years, at the same time it received a bas-relief with the profile of Stalin, who was later replaced with naked Adam and Eve in order to organize former temple MARRIAGE REGISTRY. Today here is the administration of the Ryazan diocese, including the office of the metropolitan. By the way, in 2015, the central registry office moved again closer to the Kremlin, which was dubbed the House of Celebrations. The large hall of the Noble Assembly was replaced by cozy turquoise and gold. In addition, the newlyweds have Yesenin nearby, who is chest-deep in asphalt. On the way to it, there are steles in memory of those who defended the honor of the country in the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, and a fence where, from year to year, lovers hung various kinds of locks (manifestations of love were prohibited).

The road leads to the monument to Yesenin, which was made by sculptor Alexander Kibalnikov for the 80th anniversary of the poet’s birth. It was planned to install a sculpture five sizes larger on the island under the Kremlin. The plan was not approved, which was probably for the best. And it would not be so easy to fit into Yesenin’s palm. Sergei Aleksandrovich is never deprived of attention: neither teenagers, nor paratroopers from a nearby school, nor tourists, nor newlyweds, for whom taking a photo against the backdrop of Yesenin is almost a marital duty, will ever get bored with his palm. As well as taking pictures in front of the monument, where you can see a good half of the Kremlin ensemble.

On the right hand of the poet, perhaps one of the most beautiful temples Ryazan - Church of the Transfiguration on the Yara, built at the end of the 17th century. There was a time when it housed a maritime school, but today the temple is open to parishioners and continues to impress. For a long time, the rector of the temple was Father Sergius (Chushkin), beloved by many Ryazan residents. He served in the Transfiguration Church for more than twenty years: he personally restored, painted and landscaped it, and also created one of the most popular baths in Ryazan for the baptism of children.

To see the entire architectural ensemble of the Kremlin, you need to say goodbye to Yesenin and step onto the Glebovsky Bridge. The bridge once served as a gateway to the city, today it is a portal to the Kremlin. The first one behind the bridge is an 86-meter bell tower. Its spire is one third of the total height. Construction was carried out intermittently for half a century and was completed in 1840. The architect Stepan Vorotilov participated in the creation of the first tier, the second - Ivan Russko, the third - Nikolai Voronikhin, and finally, the fourth tier and spire - the architect Konstantin Ton. Experts call the building unique, because despite the different styles (Baroque and Empire) of each tier, the bell tower is monumental and there are no others like it in Russia. It was built to highlight the Assumption Cathedral and orient one of the central streets of the city - Sobornaya - towards the Kremlin, thereby completing it. The bell tower was built on the site of the Glebovskaya Tower, which can be seen by finding a memorial plaque with the corresponding inscription on its wall.

On the most high point The Assumption Cathedral stands on the Kremlin hill. It was built over six years under the leadership of the Russian architect Yakov Bukhvostov and the serf Count Tatishchev, and was consecrated in 1699. When creating the composition, Bukhvostov took the Moscow Kremlin Cathedral as a model, but largely departed from tradition. We see three tiers of huge windows, rather than the narrow slit windows inherent in church construction of that time. The columns, openings and entrances are decorated with white stone carvings. In the last century, the cathedral was restored by Metrostroy specialists, laying a new foundation. During the Soviet years, the altar part was occupied by a planetarium; upon the return of church buildings to the Russian Orthodox Church, it was decorated with the tallest 27-meter iconostasis in Russia.

From the Assumption Cathedral along the route to the Trubezh embankment there is a small yellow temple. This is the restored Nativity Cathedral. In the 15th century, it became the first stone structure of the Kremlin - a citywide temple and tomb of the Ryazan princes and princesses. Thus, at the beginning of the 17th century, the relics of Bishop St. Basil of Ryazan were transferred here. According to the Christian tradition of church building in Rus', the cathedral was named in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When, due to its small size, it could no longer accommodate all the parishioners, they decided to build a spacious church - we know it as the Assumption Cathedral. And the first stone church, which served for three centuries, was renamed the Nativity of Christ.

On the right hand of it, next to the Assumption, is the Archangel Cathedral. In the 15th century, it was built as a princely house church and served as a tomb for Ryazan bishops, including Stefan Yavorsky, an associate of Peter I. But the Ryazan bishops lived in chambers: to the left of the Archangel Cathedral there is a three-story white stone building - Oleg's Palace. Its pediment was once decorated with an image of Grand Duke Oleg of Ryazan. Here you can linger, look inside and get acquainted with the Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum and Reserve, which is called the Ryazan Kremlin. Exhibitions, expositions, a storage facility, a library, and the museum administration are currently (until the commissioning of the new museum building) located in five Kremlin buildings, including the Oleg Palace.

To the right of it is the Singing Building, where you can explore the exhibition about everyday life and holidays of the Russian people. It was built in the middle of the 17th century for the bishop's servants - the housekeeper and the treasurer. It got its name from the singers’ rehearsals held here. The ensemble is complemented by the Consistor building, built at the same time as the Singing building. They are believed to be by the same architect. In one of the rooms on the second floor, fragments of paintings with very rare scenes - court scenes - have been preserved. The building has two exhibitions that, without a doubt, can captivate young researchers: they show and talk about living nature and the nature of things.

To the right of the consistory there are outbuildings from bygone centuries at the bishop's court - stables and a carriage house, the bishop's kitchen, sheds for "various luggage", a blacksmith shop and a cooperage. Today it is the administration of the museum. Behind the building, archaeologists are studying the foundations of the malting house - the place where malt was germinated and brewed to make kvass and beer. True, they did not brew for long - the malting plant operated for only a century, and in the 18th century it was dismantled as unnecessary. Behind it is a two-story stone building, completing the single ensemble of the bishop's courtyard. Initially it was planned as a warehouse for grain and various supplies, and then the building was adapted as a hotel. Mostly monks stayed here, perhaps artisans, mercenaries, peasants, Cossacks - people from the common people, without privileges, in other words, the mob. In the building of the Mob Hotel today there is a museum exposition with exhibits from the history of Pereyaslavl and Old Ryazan.

You can assess the degree of inequality of classes by walking from the Mob Hotel to the Nobility Hotel. If you walk past the outbuildings behind the consistory, you will discover a complex of buildings that today are under the jurisdiction of the diocese. This is the territory of the former Spassky Monastery. Part of the walls and towers that surrounded it from the mid-18th century have been preserved. Once upon a time there was one of the rich cemeteries of Ryazan, where nobles, merchants and clergy could afford to be buried. In the middle of the last century, the tombstones were removed, only two burials remained - the engraver Ivan Pozhalostin and the artist Sofia Khvoshchinskaya; in the fifties, the writer Yakov Polonsky was reburied.

The path will lead to the Transfiguration Cathedral with carved white stone platbands. It once housed the State Archive of the Ryazan Region. Today, the temple functions, like the Church of the Epiphany adjacent to the cathedral, which in the 20th century also served not for its intended purpose, but as the archive of the registry office of the Ryazan region. But the two-story building is the Hotel of the Nobility - a stopping place for merchants, nobles and clergy. The last time the building was decorated was in the century before last, but the first floors are still supported by the walls of the ancient cells of the 17th century. Until recently, the building was residential - the future writer Konstantin Simonov lived here with his parents. In 1995 it was transferred to the Ryazan diocese and housed a theological seminary.

From here, if you keep your orientation towards the bell tower, you can go out onto the Kremlin rampart. Despite the efforts of the museum administration to prohibit any activities on the shaft, except perhaps for walking, this does not stop either cyclists or those who want to spread out an easel, sunbathe in the summer on the almost trampled grass, or ride on a bun in the winter. Meanwhile, the rampart and ditch are of historical value. Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky was a fortress, fortified with oak walls five meters high, and 11 watchtowers, one of which, Glebovskaya, was stone. You can climb the rampart and just imagine that nine centuries ago the rampart was much higher, and under it there was also a ditch filled with water.

You can continue your walk to the Trubezh embankment, going around the Kremlin territory along the eastern wall. The asphalt will lead to the Church of the Holy Spirit. The two-tent temple was built in the 17th century - such things were rarely built in Rus'. A century later, a refectory was added to the temple, and in 1864, a three-tiered tented bell tower was erected in place of the dismantled one. Today this building houses the library of the museum-reserve.

Nearby is a modest building with a stone lower floor and a wooden upper floor, built at the beginning of the 20th century. This is the clergy's house. Such houses were built at churches and served educational and economic purposes. A church choir once sang here. The clergy house became the first music school for the future opera singer - one of the Pirogov brothers, Alexander. A few steps from the house there is a staircase from which you can go down to the pier. From the top there is a view of the Oka floodplain and the floating bridge. The latter leads to land, which is called the Island. Part of it was formed by the prisoners of the provincial concentration camp, set up in the former Maiden Monastery on Zatinnaya Street. They planned to locate a river port here and build housing for its workers, but the idea never came to fruition, and temporary barracks remained. They were inhabited, and the temporary huts from the fifties of the last century fit perfectly into the landscape. And if it’s quite warm, and a languid voice every hour tempts you with boat trips on a boat, it means that the navigation season is open and you can take advantage of this by arranging a river boat adventure along picturesque places Oka in the vicinity of Ryazan.




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Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky

The Ryazan Kremlin is the oldest part of the city, the historical, cultural and spiritual center of Ryazan, a historical and architectural museum-reserve under open air, one of the oldest museums in Russia. Located on a high steep hill, surrounded by the Trubezh and Lybid rivers, as well as a dry moat. An architectural monument and a nature reserve of federal significance, included in the state register of especially valuable objects of nations Russian Federation.
The museum-reserve is managed by the federal state cultural institution “Ryazan Kremlin”.

Human settlements on the Kremlin territory arose here back in the Mesolithic era. Archaeological excavations indicate large settlements on the territory of modern Fefelovo Bor in Kanishchevo, microdistricts in Borki and Rybatskaya Street.
The Slavs colonized these places already in the 6th-7th centuries. The largest building closest to the future fortress Borkovskoe settlement , located on Oksky Island, conducted active trade with Byzantium, the countries of the East and West.

The second large fortified settlement was settlement of Borisov-Glebov . Later it will become the Pereyaslavl residence of bishops, and then Borisoglebskaya Square.
Large concentrations of settlements in the area, as well as the presence of a large commercial port necessitated the construction of a fortified city to protect the population and surrounding areas. Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky became this city.

Foundation of the city

The date of foundation of the Pereyaslavl-Ryazan Kremlin is indicated in the Followed Psalter, kept today in the museum-reserve:

In the summer of 6603 (1095) the city of Pereyaslavl was founded in Ryazan near the Church of St. Nicholas the Old
- following psalter of the Elias Church, 1570, p.378

In the 11th century, the Pereyaslavl-Ryazan Kremlin was a fortified fortress located in the highest, northwestern part of the modern architectural complex, on the site of the existing Church of the Holy Spirit, with an area of ​​2 hectares. Around the fortress there were settlements and numerous unfortified settlements in which peasants, fishermen and poor artisans lived. The streets of the city were paved with wood, the courtyards were located close to each other. The princely tower apparently stood on the site of the modern Spiritual Church.
The area around the city was occupied by vast forests, two natural barriers - the Trubezh and Lybid rivers were navigable. There were two lakes on the hill - Bystroe and Karaseva, from where drinking water was taken in case of sieges. During the flood, both rivers, as well as the Oka River flowing nearby, overflowed, turning the Kremlin Hill into a full-fledged and impregnable island.

Initially, Pereyaslavl-Ryazan was one of the many fortified fortress-settlements of the Ryazan principality. After the destruction of the capital of the principality, Ryazan, by the Mongol-Tatar army of Batu, in 1285, Archbishop Vasily of Ryazan moved the episcopal see to Pereyaslavl, and then, in the middle of the 14th century, the capital of the principality was also moved here.

St. Vasily of Ryazan and Murom, the miracle worker (1295), cared for the Murom flock after the devastation of the region by Batu. However, he was slandered and expelled by the cruel people of Murom. When the bishop miraculously floated along the rapids of the Oka on his mantle with the Murom Icon of the Mother of God, the townspeople shed tears of repentance, but the Saint had already left them...

As a sign of veneration of this Murom-Ryazan Saint, in 1996 in (where St. Vasily was tonsured) the Church of Vasily of Ryazan was built and consecrated by Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal Eulogius.

Since the 12th century, the city has been growing, gradually occupying the entire territory of the Kremlin Hill. This required a significant expansion of defensive structures. New wooden walls and towers are being built. The gentle southern slope created a significant danger for the defense of the city, so in the middle of the 12th century the construction of a defensive rampart and a ditch in front of it began. Until the middle of the 17th century there were walls on it. Lithuanian chronicles of the 14th century emphasize that main city The principality is located in a “naturally defensive place,” and its fortifications “give the impression of a capital castle.”

Assumption Cathedral

The Assumption Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin was built in 1693-1699 by the serf architect Yakov Grigorievich Bukhvostov.
Given the similarity of the general plan with the Moscow Assumption Cathedral and its traditional features - the three-part western facade, the division of the southern and northern walls into four divisions, the five-domed structure, etc., the architect implemented a number of innovations that enriched the features of the “Naryshkin style”.
The height of the cathedral (without basement) to the cornice is approximately 28 m, 31 m wide and 45 m long, and with galleries 41 m wide and 56 m long, and the width of the walls is up to 2.4 meters. The grandiose structure was built in seven years and is decorated with white stone lace carvings, rare for its century.

A large brick, six-pillar, five-domed cathedral on the basement. The walls of the unplastered building, cut through by three rows of windows, are decorated with rich white stone decoration in the spirit of the Naryshkin Baroque. Closed approx. 1929, transferred to the museum. Since 1992, it has been used jointly by the museum and the diocese, and in 2008 it was completely transferred to the diocese.

Chandelier of the Assumption Cathedral

The central part of the iconostasis

Painting of the internal column of the Assumption Cathedral

Carved white stone window decoration of the western facade

Fragment of carved white stone decor of the external semi-column

Portal of the Assumption Cathedral

South portal

Painting the vault of the Assumption Cathedral

Detail of white stone carving under the apse window

Interior of the Assumption Cathedral

Royal Doors of the Assumption Cathedral

Shrines of the Assumption Cathedral

The main Ryazan shrine was considered the miraculous Feodotyevskaya icon of the Mother of God, which appeared in 1487 in a field near the village of Feodotyevo, near Spassk. In honor of this icon, celebrations were held annually on July 2.
Another miraculous icon of the Mother of God - Murom - is more ancient. This icon was blessed by the holy prince. Konstantin of Murom (Yaroslav before baptism) his father Svyatoslav, Grand Duke of Kiev, grandson of the Holy Equal to the Apostles. Vladimir on the reign and spread of Christianity in the Murom-Ryazan region. St. prayed before this icon. Vasily, Bishop of Ryazan, when in 1288 he sailed from Ryazan (old) to Pereyaslavl-Ryazan. In ancient inventories the icon is called “Prayer of St. Vasily."
There was also a very revered ancient image of St. in the cathedral. John the Baptist.

By the 15th century, a fortified city building was being built near the city. Prison. Then the stone construction begins. The first building was the Assumption Cathedral, which has survived to this day in a rebuilt form under the name Nativity of Christ.




Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ . Turn of the XVI-XVII centuries.

A brick temple built at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. on the site of the old white stone one and later completely rebuilt. Originally a two-pillar, five-domed building. Originally Uspensky, from 1753 Nativity of Christ. The refectory was built in 1753, the western portico in 1826, the drum with a dome in 1873-1874. Closed in 1929, in the 2nd half. XX century occupied by the regional archive. Returned to believers in 2002.
Winter Church at the Assumption Cathedral. In the XIV-XV centuries. - tomb of the Ryazan princes.

In the left choir of the cathedral are the relics of St. Basil of Ryazan.


Memorial marble cross dedicated to St. Vasily Ryazansky near the Nativity Cathedral

Kremlin hill, rampart and ditch

The Kremlin hill is of natural origin, surrounded on three sides by two rivers - Trubezh and Lybid. On the fourth side there is a man-made dry ditch dug by city residents in the 13th century. The ditch could be filled with water and connect both rivers, thus forming a continuous water ring around the hill.
The Kremlin rampart was built from the soil dug for the ditch. The current length of the shaft: 290 meters, the current height: 18 meters from the outer bottom and 8 meters from Verkhneilyinskaya Street near the Kremlin. Until the 18th century, defensive walls and towers were located on its top. The other two ramparts were located on the territory of the fortified Ostrog, adjacent to the Kremlin. They were completely torn down during the reconstruction of the city in the 18th - 19th centuries.
During the Great Patriotic War, one of the city’s air defense points was located on the rampart, and at its foot there was an artillery school that operated almost until May 1945.
Kremlevsky Val street is named after this defensive structure.

Walls and towers

The entire period of its existence, the Ryazan Kremlin was wooden. In the 16th century, the first stone tower was built - Glebovskaya, which was located on the site of the modern Cathedral Bell Tower. The city walls were made of strong oak forest and encircled the entire territory of the Kremlin Hill. The top of the walls ended in a “breakdown” - a plank-covered platform that protruded significantly outward - which made it difficult for attackers to take the walls. This site also housed city defenders and patrols, who could freely move along the wall from tower to tower.
The city walls were supported by 12 towers, the names of some of them have not survived:
1. Glebov Tower (with the Glebov Gate) - was named after its location: it looked at the small fortified fortress of Borisov-Glebov, which was the residence of the Ryazan bishops.
The tower was made of stone, with an open platform on which hung a verst bell weighing 11 pounds. On the second floor of the tower there was a gate chapel, in which the image of the Mother of God Hodegetria was located, which was later transferred to the Elias Church.
2. Spasskaya Tower - received its name in honor of the Image of the Savior not made by hand, which was located in it, then transferred to the Cathedral of the Savior on Yar.
3. Secret Tower (with Secret Gate) - so called due to the secret passage located in it, which was used to take water from Trubezh during sieges.
4. Dukhovskaya Tower - located on the territory of the Dukhovsky Monastery.
5. Ipat Tower (with Ipat Gate)
6. Tower No. 6
7. Tower No. 7
8. Tower No. 8
9. All Saints Tower
10. Ryazan Tower (Ryazan Gate) - looked at the “Ryazan side”. At the foot of the tower, the Great Ryazan Highway began, leading to Ryazan.
11. Vvedenskaya Tower
12. Tower No. 12
The wooden walls fell into disrepair by the 18th century and were demolished during the approval of Catherine's urban plan after 1778.

Gates and bridges

By the 15th century, next to the Kremlin, a fortified Ostrog was located, in which the poorer urban classes, as well as artisans, lived. The Kremlin and Ostrog were connected by the only drawbridge, Glebovsky Bridge - during sieges, the bridge rose to the walls. The modern stone Glebovsky Bridge was built in the 18th century, simultaneously with the construction of the Cathedral Bell Tower. Today it connects the territory of the Cathedral Park with the Kremlin.

Glebovsky Bridge. XVIII century

Bell tower. 1789 – 1840 Architects: S.A. Vorotilov, I.F. Russko, K.A. Ton, N.I. Voronikhin.

The foundation of the bell tower was laid in 1789 on the site of the former Glebovaya Tower of the defensive belt of the Ryazan Kremlin. The bell tower of the Ryazan Kremlin has overall height 83.2 meters. Used for ringing two Ryazan cathedrals: summer Assumption and winter Nativity.

In the 13th - 18th centuries, during the maximum development of the Kremlin, there were four gates on its territory, built into towers and leading to four main directions from the city: Glebovsky Gate (Glebovskaya Tower) - Ostrog, Great Moscow Highway Secret Gate (Tayichnaya Tower) - Ipatskie city pier gate (Ipatskaya tower) - Vladimirsky tract Ryazan gate (Ryazan tower) - Great Ryazan tract
In addition to the Glebovsky Bridge, under the walls of the Kremlin there were two more, leading through Lybid - next to the Ipatsky and Ryazan Gates. All bridges were wide, made of bog oak with railings.

Then the Archangel Cathedral was built.

Cathedral of the Archangel (XV-XVII centuries) - the cathedral was built as a princely house church and at the same time - the tomb of Ryazan bishops and metropolitans. 22 burials are located in the cathedral, among them - the famous religious and public figure, associate of Peter the Great and President of the Holy Synod Stefan Yavorsky.

A small brick, single-domed, four-pillar, three-apse temple. Initially it had Borisoglebsky and Prince Vladimirsky chapels, which were later abolished. It was rebuilt several times, the last time in 1865. It is currently occupied by the exhibition of church art of the Ryazan Museum.

The Kremlin is surrounded by a chain of defensive near and distant outposts: Borisoglebskaya fortress, Trinity, Solotchinsky, Poshchupovsky and Epiphany monasteries. By this time, the Kremlin, like Pereyaslavl itself, became the starting point of a large abatis line of the Russian state.

TO XVI century Posads appeared around the fortified city - Upper, Nizhny and Torgovy, where lively craft activity and trade took place. Outside the city and Ostrog there were settlements: Chernoposadskaya, Vladychnaya, Zatinnaya, Streletskaya, Yamskaya, Vypolzova.

The life of the wealthiest urban classes was concentrated inside the Kremlin. Behind the walls was the courtyard of the Pereyaslavl governor, the courtyard and chambers of the archbishop, and the diocesan chancellery. Next to them were stables, a cooper's workshop, malting chambers, a mill, and warehouses. Directly behind the stone Glebovskaya Tower, located on the site of the modern Cathedral Bell Tower, there was the Order of Detective Affairs, the city prison, gunpowder and weapons chambers. Inside Kremlin walls There were also 3 monasteries: Spassky Monastery, Yavlensky Women's Monastery and Dukhovskoy, 9 churches, 3 cemeteries, food warehouses, more than two hundred courtyards. One of them was the yard that belonged to the grandfather of Peter I - Kirill Poluekovich Naryshkin. Under the eastern wall of the city there was a trading post, and under the western wall there was a ship port and a Fisherman's settlement. The fortress was surrounded by numerous orchards. Since the second half of the 17th century, stone construction has been predominant in the Kremlin. The Bishops' Chambers are significantly increasing in size. The Singing and Consistory buildings and the Epiphany Church with a bell tower are being built. At the same time, a new Assumption Cathedral was being laid, since the old one could no longer accommodate everyone. The new cathedral was built by 1692 - however, due to errors in calculations, it collapsed overnight. In 1693, Yakov Bukhvostov began construction of the building. He managed to build a cathedral twice as tall as the previous one, with luxurious carvings, huge domes and a wide walkway, which became the most grandiose building in Russia in the 17th century.

In the 18th century, as a result of the expansion of the Russian Empire, the country's borders moved deep from the Ryazan Kremlin and the serif line. Military construction in Pereyaslavl is gradually fading away, giving way to the flourishing of civil architecture. In the absence of proper maintenance, the wooden walls and towers of the Kremlin are gradually falling into disrepair.

In 1778, as a result of the administrative-territorial reforms of Catherine II, Pereyaslavl-Ryazan was renamed Ryazan, and in 1796 it became the center of the Ryazan province. At the same time, the capital of the new land was given a master development plan with clear, regular, geometrically correct forms of streets and squares. The dilapidated walls and towers of the Kremlin were demolished, like many other buildings. Administrative, secular, commercial and cultural life cities concentrated in new centers. However, the Kremlin continues to be actively reconstructed and built up.
In 1789, construction began on the Cathedral Bell Tower of the Assumption Cathedral, and the Nativity Cathedral was reconstructed and rebuilt, acquiring modern features. Until the end of the 19th century, numerous reconstructions of the Bishop's Palace took place. River port Trubezh continued to be the main port facility of the city. A stone church is being built on Spassky Yar.
On June 15, 1884, by the decision of the Provincial Registration Archive Commission, the Ryazan historical Museum, which later became a modern historical and architectural museum-reserve.
In 1895, on Ilyinskaya Square next to the Kremlin, as part of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Ryazan, Cathedral Boulevard was laid out and the Triumphal Arch appeared.

Since 1964, the city planetarium and traveling museum exhibitions began operating in the Assumption Cathedral. Many buildings are transferred by administrative institutions - a state regional archive appears in the Nativity Cathedral and the Church of the Epiphany, a museum library occupies the Spiritual Church, and the Ilyinsky Church is rebuilt into a scientific lecture hall.
In 1968, by order of the USSR Ministry of Culture, the Ryazan Kremlin became a historical and architectural museum-reserve with a special protection status.

Transfiguration Cathedral . 1702

Transfiguration Cathedral (XVII century) - the main cathedral of the former Spassky Monastery. Built with money from the Ryazan merchant M. Nemchinov. The windows of the building are decorated with carved white stone frames of the “Naryshkin” style, and in the lower part of the building there is a belt of highly artistic colored polychrome tiles.

Epiphany Church. 1647

Epiphany Church (XVII century) - the second church of the former Spassky Monastery. The building is located close to the monastery wall, next to the Holy Gate. It was presumably built by the architect V. Zubov on the site of an older white-stone church of the 16th century, destroyed by fire in 1647.