Cathedral of the Epiphany (Moscow)

 Baroque (architecture), interesting place, Russian Orthodox Church, 17th century construction, object of cultural heritage of federal importance (Russia), Orthodox church

the Cathedral of Bogoyavlensky or Cathedral of Epiphany part of a monastery established by Prince Daniel in the late 13th century to protect the inhabitants of the then unwalled suburb. It is the second oldest monastery in Moscow. All that remains of the monastery is the present day late Moscow-Baroque church constructed in the 1690s. The single dome sits atop an octagon that rises above an arcaded cubic base. In 2002 the building was under reconstruction although work on the dome was completed.

All the churches were closed by the late 1920s and the belltower was torn down. In 1940 a four-story building was constructed on the grounds of the monastery and then in 1941 the cathedral suffered serious damage from a blast wave when a German bomber fell nearby resulting in the loss of its single dome with octagonal base. Restoration work began in 1980.

The cathedral consists of two separate churches, an upper church dedicated to the Epiphany dating from 1697 and a lower church consecrated in honor of the Kazan icon on the Mother of God. Associated with the lower church is a necropolis containing over 150 tombs many of which had sculptures that were destroyed in the 1930s. In 1991 the church was returned and the sanctuary of the upper church was reconsecrated in 1998.

At the same time, an academy to teach religious chanting in Greek opened in association with two other churches in Kitai Gorod. The other churches are the Church of St. Nicholas of the beautiful belltower and the tiny Church of Sts. Cosmos and Damian on Old Panekh. Today the reconstruction work is almost completed.