Living history: what the oldest buildings in Moscow look like

Today, Moscow is a city of mirror-like skyscrapers, brightly colored high rises and modern architecture, but if you go deeper into the network of its side alleys, you’re going to easily come across low-rise buildings and imposing churches, some of them over five centuries old.

Moscow’s architectural heritage is being meticulously preserved. Highly skilled professionals control the landmarks’ condition. Starting from 2011, over 1,750 architectural landmarks have been restored in Moscow. Another 500 facilities are being worked on.

In anticipation of the International Day for Monuments and Sites, we talk about the oldest buildings of Moscow with Filipp Smirnov, local historian and chief editor of Moscow Heritage magazine.

Dormition Cathedral and Palace of Facets

Grand Kremlin Palace

Two of the oldest buildings in Moscow are located at its very heart: inside the Kremlin walls. They have been the keepers of the city’s history for over 500 years. 

“The Dormition Cathedral and the Palace of Facets are the oldest buildings on the Kremlin grounds. They are the centers of strength: faith, power, statehood and community,” says Filipp Smirnov.

The foundation for the main cathedral in the Kremlin and the first stone church in Moscow was laid down in 1326, on the day Ivan Kalita took the Moscow Princedom. In 100 years, the church was destroyed; it wasn’t until the 15th century that they resolved to build it anew, but an earthquake made it impossible, collapsing the walls. Then Ivan III invited Aristotele Fioravanti, an architect from Italy who dismantled the destroyed vaults and built a new cathedral from scratch. 

The Dormition Cathedral was the crowning place of Ivan IV the Terrible and the meetings of the 1613 Zemsky Sobor that elected Michael Romanov to the throne. Emperors of Russia were also crowned there. Regular church services are held in the Dormition Cathedral nowadays.

The snow-white Palace of Facets was built in the late 15th century on Ivan III’s orders, which makes it the oldest secular building in Moscow. When building the palace, they decorated its façade with white slabs with four facets each, hence the name. That was where the Boyar Duma sat and where the most important issues of state used to be decided.

The two-level facility was built to emulate a refectory in a monastery, with one support pillar in the middle. The throne chamber, where Russian Tsars used to hold feasts or ceremonies, was located on the second floor. Official processions and meetings with foreign emissaries took place in front of the palace. 

In the 16th century, they decorated the windows with fancy trims and painted the interior walls and ceiling with frescoes. In Peter the Great’s times, the murals had been destroyed, but they managed to restore them in the latter half of the 19th century.

Its advanced age notwithstanding, the Palace of Facets keeps serving the Russian state, serving as a reception hall to the President’s official residence. 

Andronikov Monastery’s Spassky Cathedral

10/5 Andronyevskaya Square

The Spassky Cathedral, the oldest active church outside the Kremlin, is located on the bank of the Yauza River. Chronicles state that it was founded way back in 1357. 

Initially, the Spassky Cathedral was made of wood. A fire destroyed it in the 14th century, so after that it was rebuilt in stone. The cathedral acquired its appearance, familiar to Muscovites now, in the 1420s. Andrey Rublev and Daniil Cherny were among those painting the frescoes there. Small fragments of those frescoes can still be seen on the windowjambs.

This specimen of the Russian stone church architecture is part of the Andronikov Monastery ensemble. Abutments partition the cathedral façade; its top part is adorned with arches and kokoshniks.

There are services conducted there today. It also houses the Central Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art,” Mr. Smirnov says.

The cathedral has been restored twice. In 1846–1850s, they reconstructed the porches, renovated two aisles and the dome, installed a new icon stand. In the late 1950s, the cathedral was renovated again, returning to its original appearance.

This year, experts approved a Bill of Conservation for the Spassky Cathedral. Any restoration now may only be done according to the Bill and a project approved by the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. Soon, the cathedral will undergo a new restoration.

Old English Courtyard

4a Varvarka Street

The white stone building of the Old English Courtyard in Zaryadye Park was built in the 15th century;  it’s one of the oldest secular buildings in Moscow. The main building consists of two chambers: the official chamber and the cooking chamber which was also used as a refectory.

In the mid-16th century, the courtyard was handed over to the Muscovy Company that started developing trade with England, supplying gunpowder, saltpeter and broadcloth. “The Embassy of England got the building in Zaryadye, close to the Tsar’s court. At the time, the building included official chambers and lots of warehouses,” says the historian.

In 1649 the trade relations between Russia and England were severed, and English merchants had to leave Russia. For 20 years after that, the building had been owned by nobleman Ivan Miloslavsky, and after that they gave it to the court of Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1720, Peter the Great used it to open one of the first primary schools in Russia; later the building was sold and changed hands multiple times. New owners rebuilt and reconstructed the courtyard time and again, so by the mid-20th century it became unrecognizable. 

It got a second life in the second half of the 20th century. Restoration architect Pyotr Baranovsky spearheaded the initiative. He discovered that the complex had been formed around an older building that was revealed by the restoration made in 1968-1972. 

The Old English Courtyard Museum opened in 1994 to showcase the collection of items found in Zaryadye and Kitay-gorod throughout various periods.

Church of the Ascension 

39/1 Andropov Prospekt

Not only at the heart of the city can old buildings be found, however. One is located in the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. There, on a bank of the Moscow River, stands one of the first tented-roof churches in Russia: the Church of the Ascension listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The white stone church was built in the early 16th century on an order of Vasili III of Russia, to celebrate the birth of his son, future Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The building was one of the tallest in the city (over 62 meters) at the time.

It was built of stone, but made to resemble traditional Russian wooden architecture. In addition, it features some elements of the European Gothic (pediments and bead moldings) and early Renaissance styles (capped abutments). The church was built on a 7-meter thick slab. They buttressed the soil under it with oak piles that hardened with time, becoming stronger than iron. That had been preventing the soil creep for almost 500 years.

“The design of the church is amazing, it takes into account every little detail: window locations, lighting, interiors. Every design solution never fails to impress, for example, how they were able to achieve the feeling of grandeur when the building itself is relatively small. The church is compact inside, and that makes the icons seem larger,” emphasizes Mr. Smirnov.

Interestingly, the church’s appearance has changed very little in all those centuries. The white stone carvings changed with time, roofs were built over the galleries, but on the whole, the church still looks virtually the same it looked to the 16th century Muscovites. Nowadays the church is a museum that also holds services. 

White House

1/2 Prechistenka Street

Real old architecture of the 17th century can be seen by anyone walking in Khamovniki. More precisely, we’re talking about the White House at Prechistenka Street. The building features a white stone façade, small and deeply set windows and a tented roof. It was built in two stages: 1685 to 1688 and 1712 to 1713.

The White House is unique in that in the 17th century buildings of that kind were never multi-leveled. This building, however, was built on two levels, with a basement and an arch. On top of that, it was outside the White (Stone) City, and stood out quite a bit among the building of that period,” says Mr. Smirnov.

The house was the main mansion of Prince Prozorovsky, who managed the Weapons department. In the early 18th century, the house was rebuilt, later, in the mid-19th century, they added an annex to it. There was a tavern there in the late 19th century; still later it was replaced by a movie theater. In the Soviet times, the house became residential.

It was a miracle it survived to our times. In 1972, there were plans to demolish it in a push to free Moscow of obsolete buildings. However, restoration architects interfered and managed to save the house. The restoration effort started the same year. They went on for 23 years. That was when the White House was presented to Muscovites in its original splendor. That’s how we see it today.

Alexandrovsky Courtyard

23/1 Starovagankovsky Pereulok

The Arbat district much beloved by tourists also has an antique two-level building with a mezzanine. You can recognize it by its bleached walls and bright green roof. It’s the Alexandrovsky Courtyard house, one of the very few public buildings from the second half of the 17th century still standing in Moscow.

It was built for the Dormitory Convent in Alexandrovskaya village. Nuns had been using the house for their own purposes up to the early 19th century, but later started renting it out to private clients.

In three centuries, its appearance has changed significantly (for example, the central porch was removed). Nevertheless, the façade decor and the interior design stayed the same: the grand entrance on the courtyard side and two chambers with antechambers on the first floor and in the basement.

The restoration of the building launched in 2020. They’re planning to strengthen the foundation, remove the peeling paint from the façades and bleach them anew. Restoration artists are also going to eliminate chips and cracks in walls and wall bases, replace the roof, renovate door and window openings.