Cathedral of the Annunciation, Moscow Kremlin

Viewed from northeast This court church, where tsars were married and christened, was built on the site of an earlier church, using its old foundations. This cathedral is opposite the Archangel Cathedral and its east facade with apses faces the central square. The fifteenth century church has been extensively modified obscuring most of the earlier church with added chapels. Because of its location on Cathedral Square, the builders added two cupolas, on the northeast and southeast corner bays--thus a proliferation of cupolas. Unlike the other important cathedrals on the square, it had builders from Pskov who adhere to traditions of the past. Note, for example, the blind arcade on the apses; these owe no doubt to the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir. In plan (4 piers, three apses with entrances on three sides) it also follows tradition.
	The far side of the cathedral (south side)
The eastern entrance

Works Consulted or Quoted:
William Craft Brumfield. A History of Russian Architecture. Seattle: University of Washington P, 2004.
George Heard Hamilton. The Art and Architecture of Russia. New Haven: Yale UP, 1983.

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