ROSTOV

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Redeemer Monastery of St. Jacob , established in the late 14th, is located on a lake shore. The monumental Church of St. Demetrius (1794-1802) stands out in the monastery ensemble. The project of the cathedral is attributed to Moscow"s architect E.S.Nazarov influenced by the works of M.F. Kazakov. A cylinder spanned by a huge sphere-shaped cupola stands on the cube of the main construction with a rotunda rising over it. Drums topped by small domes are set in the corners of the main body. The five-domed Church of the Conception (1686) tones well with the integral ensemble of the monastery. Its interior with extant frescoes of the 17th century and a tree-tier gilded carved iconostasis (1762 - 1765), true masterpiece of Russian art, is of great historical and artistic value. In 1836 the Church of St. Jacob with an ample porch was attached to the Church of the Conception, combining these constructions into a single group supplemented by an attractively decorative refectory of the 18th century, ornate with sculptures and bas-reliefs. The monastery is skirted by stone walls with four octahedral towers and two gates. An elegant three-tier column was erected above one of the gates in 1776-1786. The monastery walls have two-storied cell blocks of the 18th century inside, which have gone through a considerable amount of alternations. In 1764 in the process of the construction works the grounds of St. Jacob"s and the neighboring Princess"s Monasteries merged. Of the older Princess"s Monastery only the Church of Our Savior on the Sands has survived dating back to the late 17th century.
Gate Church of the Resurrection(1670) is mounted on the tall ground floor. Its lower tier has three arches with a gallery opening above. The temple is lit by the sunshine streaming through the central light drum. Decorative window casings, numerous tiles, the gallery and icon-casings with frescoes above an arcatured passage impart the mood of grandeur. Two projecting round towers stand by the side of the church making it castle-like. The gate is ornate with figured bricks and carved stonework. The interior murals are painted by Yaroslavl"s and Kostroma"s artists in a bright color scheme.
The Holy Gate separating the cathedral square from the Metropolitan"s homestead was meant for ceremonial appearance of the Metropolitan.
Assumption Cathedral (15th -16th centuries). Rostov"s cathedral is in many ways reminiscent of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The 60-meter-high monumental edifice with a cross stands on the site of the old cathedral which had been built in the times of Andrei Bogoliubsky and collapsed during the fire in 1204. The fragments of the murals of the old cathedral and a handle of the wooden doors in the shape of a lion"s head have been unearthed by archaeologists. Six massive pillars inside the cathedral hold the vault. The carved wooden iconostasis of the 18th century is of a high artistic merit. The square in front of the cathedral used to be the town"s center where veche (popular assembly in ancient Russia) was held, making decisions of war and peace.
The bell-tower, topped by four domes, stands on the tall ground floor. The white through gallery is mounted high above the ground. Over 300 years the tracery arches hold the load of the celebrated Rostov bells cast in the 17th-19th centuries. The total weight of the 13 bells is 74 tons. The biggest (32 tons) is called Sysoy, Poliley weighs 16 tons, Lebed (Swan) - 8 tons.
Each bell has its own chime. The museum stores tuning forks of the late 19th century re-creating the tonalities of the bells.
The bell-tower links @2110406 {the Assumption Cathedral} with the square where the Metropolitan"s homestead stands. To get there from the Cathedral square one has to pass through the Holy Gate and @2110405 {the Church of the Resurrection}
TheKremlin was founded by Rostov"s Metropolitan Jonah Sysoyevitch in the 17th century. Son of a country preacher, he was put in charge of the Patriarch"s post when Patriarch Nikon fell into disgrace. No wonder, he had his residence erected with such a pomp. The proxy of the Metropolitan during the construction of the Kremlin and his residence was Rostov"s mason Peter Ivanovitch Dosayev, and the builders who erected the complex were natives of Rostov. Thus, the Kremlin absorbed the local architectural traditions. It took 30 years to erect this magnificent fairy-tale town. Its domes, covered with silvery wooden tiles, bunches of green and silver cupolas of the five-domed churches, long narrow red tent-roofs and numerous chimneys seem to float over the ground. Green four-sloped roofs with golden flags are seen above them. Tracery crosses with pendent chains beam over the churches. The complex of the Metropolitan"s homestead with dwelling and household buildings, chambers for receptions, churches, cathedrals, surrounded by fortification walls and towers, is known as Rostov"s Kremlin. It also includes the former St. Gregory"s Monastery and the Assumption Cathedral with a belfry. Behind the walls of the Kremlin the Metropolitan"s garden was laid out. The Kremlin fortification walls have 11 battle towers. Their main purpose was to emphasize the magnificence of the residence of Rostov"s Metropolitans. The towers have different shapes, four of them are barbicans. Two couples of the towers stand on the sides of the gate churches: @2110405 {the Ressurection Church} above the main Holy Gate and @2110411 {the Church of Johan the Theologian} above the gate giving the access to the Kremlin grounds from the Moscow road. Lake Nero comes into view from the observation ground on the Sadovaya (Garden) Gate Tower.