ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF THE INTERIOR SPACE

Three entrances decorated with perspective portals, seeming to be projecting from the depth of the wall, lead to the cathedral. The portals of white stone are topped with carved acroteria and decorated with delicate and stylized relief flower ornament typical for Italian Renaissance architecture – high decorative vases with fantastic images of dragons and fish intertwine with the pattern on the background of grass and flow­ers. The central archivolt (the bow-shaped decoration of the arch aperture) is presented as a laurel garland, intertwined with a ribbon. In the summer of 1978 an attempt was made to restore the initial colouring of portals – blue background with the greenish shade, light ochre and gilding of a white-stone relief pattern (a small detail was cleared then).

Two small portals are located on the western facade. Behind them steep spiral staircases lead to upper floors of the western appendix. It should be noted that in the old times it was also possible to enter the cathedral through the small left portal. The eastern side of the cathedral contains five semicircular apses.

Five domes of the Archangel Cathedral, like of the Assumption are shifted towards the East. The largest dome, the central one, is above the main middle cross of the cathedral. The domes over the altar part are of a smaller size to avoid the effect of the architectural structure's shift toward the east. The mid-sized cupolas are located correspondingly over southern and northern naves. The well-proportioned upward drums of the five domes are cut with long and narrow windows, decorated with arcature belts and topped with helmet-shaped or semispherical domes, originally laid with black polished tile. The vaults of the cathedral were also laid with compact rows of both red and black polished tile.