A. Main centers of culture and their monuments of architecture.

   Moscow--founded in 1147, according to the chronicles, it became the leading Russian town in the centuries after the Mongol invasions. Moscow is characterized by a triangular, red brick Kremlin with its 19 unique pointed towers (the earliest version of this Kremlin, or town fortress, was wood and earth, then white stone, and finally brick). Inside the Moscow Kremlin were located the Great Kremlin Palace (home of the Muscovite grand princes and --after the 15th century--the Russian tsars), as well as the Patriarch's Residence (Moscow became the seat of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 14th century; in Kievan times there hand been no Russian Patriarch). There were also several notable cathedrals, including the Cathedral of Michael the Archangel where the tsar's before Peter lie buried; the Cathedral of the Dormition, where the tsars were coronated;  the Cathedral of the Annunciation, where the royal family attended mass; and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great (Ivan the Terrible's grandfather). The Kremlin also contains the Tsar-Bell and the Tsar-Cannon, which we will discuss later.

   Aside from the Kremlin, Moscow housed several famous monastaries and nunneries, including the New Virgin Convent (Novodevichy Monastery), where Peter imprisoned his half-sister Sophia. Moscow was also said to contain the largest number of churches of any Russian city (40 times 40, as the legend goes). And this despite many fires and calamities, including the Tatars, who burned the city as late as 1571 and Napoleon, who burned it again in 1812. (Unfortunately, Moscow lost most of its smaller churches and even some of its largest ones in the decades after the 1917 Revolution.) Post-Kievan innovations in architecture included the development of kokoshniki, decorative peaked triangles in the area where the wall meets the roof. Onion domes became gradually more stylized, as did the belltowers.  

    Novgorod--founded in Pre-Kievan times and escaping conquest by the Mongols, the Republic of Lord Novgorod the Great, as it was affectionately called by its inhabitants, did not survive the aggression of Moscow. Much of the town was destroyed by Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible in the 15th-16th c. Church bells were even taken down from the cathedrals and removed from the city. Many ancient monuments nevertheless survive, including the white-walled Novgorod kremlin and the Cathedral of St. Sophia, but Novgorod did not remain an innovative force in Russian architecture.

B. Icon painting. Continued the traditions established during Kievan times. After the Tatar-Mongol invasion, however, separate schools of icon painting developed such major Russian towns as Moscow, Pskov, Novgorod;  each school developed its own unique flavor, although all adhered fairly strictly to traditional Byzantine patterns. Some of the schools became associated with famous icon painters whose style transcended and transformed tradition.

1. In the late 14th century many Byzantine Greeks fled north to Russia as the Muslim Turks began to conquer the Slavic lands of the Balkans. They brought innovations in icon painting which enriched an alreadly developed Russian tradition at a time when Russia was cut off from most outside contact by Mongol domination. This infux of highly skilled, highly learned men is known as the Second South Slavic Influence (the first being the Christianization process itself). The best known iconographer of this group was Theophanes the Greek (in Russian, Feofan Grek). His frescoes and icons are known for their artistic vitality.

2. Andrei Rublev. In the early 15th century the central figure in Moscow icon-painting was Andrei Rublev, who is considered the most famous Russian icon painter of all times. His icons show a special genius for depicting subtleties of emotion.

3. Dionysius. In the late 15th century and early 16th century Moscow iconography became more monumental, with large, elongated figures and more somber colors than before. The painter most closely associated with these innovations was Dionysius.

C. Iconostasis. During the post Mongol period icons came to be grouped together to form a wall, or screen, which separated the congregation from the altar. This icon wall, or iconostasis, at first consisted of three tiers, or levels. The first, the Local Tier, contained icons of Christ and the Virgin, as well as of the local saint for whom the church had been named; it also contained the Royal Doors, painted with a scene of the Annunciation; the priest passed through these doors when moving from the alter to the congregation. The second tier was called the Deesis and contained a central figure of Christ enthroned in Heaven meting out the Last Judgement; the third tier, called the Festive tier, contained an icon depicting each one of the dozen major Orthodox Church holidays. Later, two more tiers were added:  the Prophet Tier, depicting a standing Virgin with arms raised in prayer flanked by Old Testament prophets; and finally, the Patriarchal Tier, depicting God the Father (Savaof) in the center, surrounded by Old Testament patriarchs such as Adam, Seth, Noah, and Abraham.