Today I have a really amazing, authentic and ancient thing in Moscow to discover - Krutitskoye Patriatch's town church!
Very strange but this place is not tourist at all! Even not all the Moscow residents know that there is this wonderful place where you can come and walk among authentic buildings, dip into the atmosphere of the old Moscow. There is practically no people, therefore it's a big pleasure to walk here. It's really difficult to imagine that just near there are noisy and vivacious avenues.
Krutitskoye town church is a street-museum which is located in the center of Moscow, not far from Taganka on the crosshead of Krutetskaya street and Krutetsky lane. The pass is free.
So what is the history of Krutitskoye town church? It was founded in 1272 as a cloister on the elevated bank of the Moscow river. From here goes the name Krutitsy (elevation). During the time when Rus was under Mongol-Tatar invasion and many Russian orthodox believers were under the Golden Horde but conserved their orthodox faith, Krutitsy became a special eparchy named Sarskaya and Podonskaya.
The architectural complex has been forming from XIII to XVII centuries. Assumption cathedral with traditional five domes symbolising Jesus Christ among four evangelists has two floors. Krutitsy went through hard times: it was robbed and set on fire by poland soldiers during the Time of Trouble and by french soldiers in 1812.
In 1680-1690 here was built the special arch named Krutitsky terem all decorated with unique tile. According to legend from the windows of the terem the archiereus were blessing the people gathered on the square and were giving alms to the beggars. Now it is under protection of UNESCO.
Krutitskoye is a perfect place for our Russian style photoshoots. Check out the details by the link
