Church and State

I ended my last post speaking about my first impressions of the magnitude of Red Square, not only in spacial terms, but in the historic sense as well.  However, this was only part of our excursion into the heart of the Russian empire.  We also went behind the Kremlin walls and took a tour of the Armory; a collection of the accrued treasures of the Motherland from the 4th to early 20th centuries.  I was unfortunately not allowed to take pictures inside the building, but some of the opulent exhibits can be viewed HERE.

One of the most staggering statistics I can remember off hand is of a copy of the Russian Orthodox gospel that was encased in almost 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs) of solid gold and then adorned with diamonds.  I have never seen anything like this.

After that we went on a cathedral tour.  The first cathedral we visited was the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Holy Virgin of the Moscow Kremlin.  Yes, that's the actual name.

I'd have cut to the chase and named it "Church of the 'Of The's"

It was a small church with many murals depicting the Holy Virgin of the Eastern Orthodox church.  All of the iconostasis (depictions of holy icons) were from the 17th century, giving the place a stylistic unity.

The next stop on the tour was the Dormition Cathedral; the Cathedral where Russian Patriarchs were laid to rest, pictured below.

After that was the Archangel Cathedral (below).

This place had a specific interest to me because of the fact that Ivan the Terrible (pictured below) and his sons were laid to rest here.  Ivan was one of the most notoriously vicious tzars to ever rule Russia, but also a very intelligent leader.  In one of his most notorious bouts of mental instability he snapped and actually killed his son and chosen heir Ivan Ivanovitch who was later buried next to his father in this cathedral.

("I brought you into this world, I can take you out.")

I found my focus waning as I became overcome by the blatant hypocrisy of this entire establishment.  These gorgeous churches, religious murals and priceless artifacts were being forged at a time when 4/5ths of the Russian peasantry were being traded as property under a system of serfdom where they had no rights other than what their landowners gave them (which was usually only rights to work until you died).  They were taken away from their families and traded to other farms at their landowner's whim.  These gorgeous works of artisanship seemed hollow when viewed on the backs of these wretched slaves who fed their creators.  Jesus Christ stared down at me from almost every wall with sorrowful eyes as I looked at holy icon after holy icon, but all I could see was the sweat and blood wasted on these fruitless gestures that ironically opposed the very ideals they were intended to uphold.  Vanity, thy name is history.

It was pretty neat though I guess.  I got another story on the way about being robbed by a grandma in the metro.  Peace!

DH