Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Icon of the Mother of God

Moscow. The Donskoy Monastery. Small (Old) Cathedral of the Donskoy Icon of the Mother of God and the Monastery Necropolis.
Variations on a theme «...with a film across Moscow»
Film format: 35mm half frame
Camera: Olympus Pen EE-3 (1973)
Lens: D.Zuiko 28mm/f3.5 (fixed focus)
Film: Samsung Prime Color Film 800 (exp 04.2006)
Photo taken: 22/08/2017

The Cathedral of the Don Icon of the Mother of God of the Donskoy Monastery, now called the Small or the Old Cathedral, was built in 1591-1593. There is a suggestion that its builder was the Moscow architect Fyodor Kon (Fyodor Horse). According to one testimony, the customer of the cathedral was Tsar Feodor Ioannovich, on the other - Boris Godunov. One way or another, Godunov in his patrimony Khoroshevo soon builds the Trinity Church on the model of the Donskoy.

In the Soviet era, when in the late 1920's. the temple was closed, it had a museum hall. After the Great Patriotic War, in 1946, it again opened as a temple, and until the 1960s. in it regular services were conducted and even a mirovar furnace was installed. Every few years in the Holy Week, from Monday to Wednesday, a holy ointment was cooked here for all parishes; this continues to this day - the Donskoi Monastery supplies the world with all the Russian parishes.

In the years 1948-1950. the restoration of the ancient cathedral; During the restoration, many parts of the church were restored, although not all of them - the windows of the oldest part of the building were not subject to restoration. The floor was raised in comparison with the original by almost 50 cm.

Most of the services are held in the new, Great Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, and now it is not so easy to get inside the old cathedral - you need to wait for large church or temple festivals.

More photos by abbsound