CEREMONIES AND RITES AT THE ARCHANGEL CATHEDRAL

In the last quarter of the 16th century, two side chapels dedicated to the Intercession of the Mother of God and St John the Baptist  were arranged at the east side of the cathedral. These two constructions are clearly seen on the Kremlin’s earliest plans of 1600s. Probably, the harmonious arcade of the church porch, where the distinguished guests stood during sumptuous ceremonies, was joined to the cathedral from three sides – northern, western and eastern.

In 1606, after the killing of pseudo-Dmitry I, wishing to cut off the string of the impostors, Tsar Vasily Shuisky ordered to hold a solemn ceremony of transferring the relics of Tsarevich Dmitry, the last son of Ivan IV, from Uglich to Moscow and to place them at the Archangel Cathedral. As the legend narrates, soon the miracles began to be created from the tomb of the tsarevich.  After these events, his relics were announced imperishable, and Dmitry was canonized as the saint martyr.

In 1610, on the insistence of the public, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, the nephew of Tsar Vasily Shuisky was burned at the side chapel of St John the Baptist. He was a talented commander and it was he who defeated the “impostor of Tushino” pseudo-Dmitry II.

The sovereigns of the new dynasty of Romanov treated the royal burial place with special attention. During the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich, a year after his election to the throne, cloth “crimson covers” were made for thirty seven grand-princes tombs. In 1628, a magnificent shrine was made for the patron of the Romanov dynasty, Saint Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich. The tombstones were also taken care of—white slabs with epitaphs and carved ornament were made for them.