Cathedral of the Assumption

In front of the bell tower stands the Kremlin's main church, the Assuption Cathedral or Uspensky Sobor. In 1475, Ivan the Great chose the Italian architect Aristotile Fioravante to design the church. He modeled it on the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Golden Ring town of Vladimir.

This church, also known as the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin, was built on the site of a stone church of the same name first constructed by Ivan I in 1326. For two centuries this national shrine stood as a model for all Russian church architecture. Within its walls czars and patriarchs were crowned. It also served as the burial place for Moscow metropolitans and patriarchs.The spacious interior, lit by 12 chandeliers, is covered with exquisite frescos and icons that date back to 1481. The northern and southern walls depict the life of the Blessed Virgin.

The elaborate five-tier iconostasis dates from 1652. Its upper rows were painted by monks from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in Sergiev Posad in the late 1600s. The silver frames were added in 1881. Napoleons's armies used some of the icons as firewood and tried to carry off tons of gold and silver.

Ivan the Terrible's carved wooden throne stands to the left of the southern entrance.  Made in 1551, it is known as the Throne of the Monomakhs. It is elaborately decorated with carvings representing the transfer of imperial power from the Byzantine Emperor Monomakh to the Grand Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1113 - 1125), who married the emperor's sister.