The Assumption Cathedral was the largest building in new capital of Andrei Bogolyubsky and became the focal point of the cities architectural ensemble and its southern aspect.
From its excellent vantage point it seemed to dominate the whole of the city and its broad surroundings. Its golden dome was visible from the distant wooded heights along which lay the road to Murom. The very position of the Cathedral, standing boldly on the edge of the city, emphasises the importance of its role, namely, to affirm the independence of the Vladimir lands and the ambitious political and ecclesiastical pretensions of the prince and bishop of Vladimir.
The new Cathedral stood guard over the steep approaches to the city like a giant warrior in a golden helmet. The foundations of the Cathedral were laid in 1158 at the same time as work was begun on the erection of huge defensive ramparts round the city. The chronicles tell us that Prince Andrei intended it to be not only the main Cathedral of the Vladimir bishopric, but a demonstration that the Vladimir Metropolitan was independent of the ecclesiastical authorities in Kiev. Vladimir was claiming to be the "supreme head", i.e., the political centre of feudal Russia. This inevitably involved the question of ecclesiastical supremacy as well. The Church extended its authority throughout the separate feudal principalities as a constant reminder of Russian unity at a time when the country was riven by internecine feuds. The local builders and craftsmen who had acquired their skills during the reign of Yuriy Dolgoruky were too few in number to carry out the ambitious plans for building the new capital, particularly the Assumption Cathedral, and the chronicle tells us that "God brought artists to Andrei from all parts of the earth". These did not, however, include master brick layers from Kiev and the cities of the Dnieper Basin. They were expert stone masons, including Romanesque craftsmen from the West who are said to have been sent to Andrei by F. Barbarossa. In the Europe of the Middle Ages it was quite usual to gather craftsmen from various different countries to erect buildings of some importance. It was particularly significant in the case of Vladimir, whose striving to consolidate its independence and establish its authority over all the Russian lands inevitably brought it into conflict with Kiev and the Kiev Metropolitan. The use of Western craftsmen was, to a certain extent, an open refusal to rely on help from Kiev and Kievan architectural and artistic traditions. Like his famous ancestor Vladimir I (Vladimir Svyatoslavovich), the "baptiser" of Russia, whom Andrei strove to emulate, the prince endowed the new Cathedral, which was completed in 1160, with extensive lands and set aside a tenth of his revenue for its upkeep. Thus the Vladimir Cathedral became a "tithe" foundation, like the old Church of the Dime (Desyatinnaya Tserkov) in Kiev.
The present building dates back to two separate periods. The Cathedral erected by Andrei was severely damaged in the fire of 1185 when its wooden supports were destroyed and the white limestone of the walls was badly burnt, making it difficult to restore the building to its original form. The architects of Vsevolod III "Big Nest" therefore decided to surround the structure with new walls or galleries (1185-1189), strengthening the old ones with pillars and connecting them to the new walls with arches. Thus the old building was encased, as it were, in a new one. Large and small arched openings were cut in the walls of the old building forming rows of pillars in the enlarged Cathedral which also had three new apses.
The subsequent events in the history of this magnificent building are also of importance.

When the Mongols captured the city in 1238 they stacked up wood against the exterior and interior of the Cathedral and set fire to it, with the prince's family, the bishop, and some of the people in the choir-gallery. The building remained standing, however, and at the end of the thirteenth century it was given another tin roof and a new brick Chapel of Saint Panteleimon was added in the south-west corner, which has not survived.
In 1410 the city was attacked by the Mongols for the last time, when they "did ravage the gold-domed Church" as the chronicle puts it. There is also mention of the priceless Church-plate being concealed in a secret hiding-place inside the Cathedral.
The building was again damaged by fire in 1536.
By the eighteenth century it was in a very dilapidated condition, with numerous long cracks in the walls and arches. It was then repaired with a new hip roof and many other alterations which spoilt its original appearance.
In 1862 the heated, brick Chapel of Saint George was built between the bell tower and north wall of the Cathedral. It was not until the restoration work carried out in 1888-1891 that the Cathedral regained its original appearance. However, a large section of the outer walls was refaced with new stone, part of the weathered stone carving was replaced, and a new vestibule was built on the west side. Restoration work has revealed the same excellent technical features which we observed in our study of the Golden Gate: the fine finish of the stone and masonry (stone laying), and the use of a lighter material, porous tufa, for the vaulting and domes of the Cathedral.

Now look at west gallery of the Cathedral. Here we can see the west wall of the old Cathedral intersected with large arches. On a level with the choir-gallery there is an ornamental frieze consisting of a arcade band, with slender columns, wedge-shaped consoles, cube-like capitals of Romanesque type, and a line of vertically set stone over the decorative arcade band. This type of ornament can be traced through out all the subsequent building in Vladimir and Suzdal and later appears in Moscow architecture.
The structure of the wall determined the position of the band. The section of the wall below the band is thicker. Above the band it becomes thinner forming a drip mould above the line of vertically set stone. In the upper section of the wall on either side there are graceful slit windows with indented jambs.
Walking through to the northern gallery we see the same picture. Here between the slender columns of the decorative arcade band there are small windows which originally formed the lower tier of lighting. Consequently the old Cathedral must have been very light inside.
There is also an extremely rare fragment of the frescoes which were painted on the outer walls in 1161. Two blue peacocks with magnificent tails stand above the narrow slit window on either side of which there is a graceful foliate design. The spaces to the right and left of the columns are filled with the figures of two prophets with scrolls in their hands. The columns were originally covered with gold. Thus the gleaming white walls of the old Cathedral had a rich band of colour running round them. This fresco band foreshadowed the later appearance of a strip of ornamental carving.
In place of the large openings in the middle of the north, west and south walls of the old Cathedral one must imagine deeply recessed portals leading into the body of the Church. These portals contained the precious "golden gate" covered with damascened copper sheets, similar to those which we shall see in the Suzdal Cathedral. The portals themselves were also covered with thin sheets of gilded copper. Excavation work on the floor of the north gallery has revealed that there were small vaulted vestibules adjoining the portals. Traces of the articulating pilasters on the outer walls of the old Cathedral can be seen here and there under the pillars of the gallery adjoining the old walls.
The upper section of the old walls topped with rounded zakomaras and the rich foliate capitals of the pilasters can also be seen above the vaulting of the gallery. There was a little carving on the zakomaras and round the windows, part of which were later transferred to the outside of the new walls. In the central zakomaras there were large compositions depicting such scenes as the Ascension of Alexander the Great, the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace. Below these were carved female masks, a sign that the Cathedral was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and animal masks at the corners of the windows. The simplicity of the carving emphasised the slender, elegant lines of the building. We shall observe a similar restrained use of carved adornments in the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. Carved birds and vessels of gilded copper were placed above the zakomaras. The drum of the Cathedral's single helmet-shaped golden dome was decorated with a arcade band with semi-columns and sheets of gilded copper and stood on a square base rising above the vaulted roof.
We shell enter inside old Cathedral and stand under its dome. The light spacious interior of the building impresses one, first and foremost, by its height. And the Cathedral did in fact rival in height the greatest building of its time in old Russia, Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Kiev. This was obviously intentional, since Prince Andrei could not allow his new Cathedral to be less impressive than the one in Kiev.
The area which it covered was less, however, and this made its height all the more striking. Moreover, the architects reinforced this impression by the comparative lightness of the six graceful cruciform pillars which appeared to support the Cathedral's vaulted roof and single dome without the slightest effort. The light from the dome's twelve windows created the impression that the enormous head of Christ painted on the inside of the dome was rising into the heavens. The construction of the base of the dome is interesting. The builders used the unusual technique of introducing eight small supplementary vaulted ceilings between the large corner ones, thus effecting a smooth transition from the square of supporting arches to the circular drum.
The general impression of lightness and height was reinforced by the bold use of carving. At the impost of the arches there are pairs of lions couchant carved in high relief with an absence of intricate detail, evidently because of their foreshortened appearance when seen from below. On the other hand, the bands of shallow carved ornament under the choir-gallery opposite contain the most graphic detail. Everything, from the building as a whole down to the smallest section, bears witness to the remarkable skill and taste of the architects.
In place of the present eighteenth-century iconostasis we must try to picture a low altar screen, probably in the form of a row of white stone arches with rich coloured hangings, altar cloths and a few icons. Due to the lowness of the screen the three semi-circular apses behind it opened up into the main body of the Cathedral, turning the interior of the building into a magnificent, unified whole.
The most important position on the screen, to the left of the Holy Doors, was occupied by the principality's most cherished sacred possession - the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Vladimir which Andrei Bogolyubsky had transferred from Kiev to Vladimir in 1167. This icon, which can now be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, was the work of an extremely gifted Byzantine master and shows a degree of lyrical emotion quite unusual for its date. Instead of the usual proud, stylised "Queen of the Heavens" the painter has represented the tender figure of a young mother with a delicate, oval face and eyes which radiate love for her child and sadness at the fate which awaits him. This icon, so full of human warmth, must have made an extremely powerful impression on people at that time. The prince had it lavishly decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.
The chronicle tells us that during the feast of the Assumption the golden gates of the south and north portals were opened and between them, on two "wondrous cords" were hung the sumptuous vestments and other rich cloths donated to the Cathedral by the princes. Along this corridor of precious, brightly coloured cloth which continued outside the Cathedral as well, swaying slightly in the breeze, a stream of people and peasants came to pay homage to the icon. The rich majolica tiled floor of the Cathedral spread out under their feet like a shining carpet.
The Cathedral's splendour was en hanced by the sumptuous plate inside it. Mikula, the prince's spiritual advisor, describes the adornments as follows: "Prince Andrei ... did build the wondrously fair Church .. of the Blessed Virgin Mary and did adorn it with divers objects of gold and silver, building three golden gates and ornamenting the Church with precious stones, pearls and many wondrous patterns. He did light the Church with many silver and gold chandeliers and censers and did build an ambo of gold and silver. The Church did possess much gold Church-plate, flabella, and other holy objects studded with precious stones and pearl. Thus the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was as wondrous fair as the very Temple of Solomon". One can well imagine the powerful impression which this scene made on the worshippers who had come from their crude peasant huts and cramped city dwellings.
Their saint faith in the miraculous power of the divine, in particular, in main shrine of Vladimir - icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Vladimir, played an important part in the Vladimir princes bitter political struggle for overlordship of all the Russian lands, in the struggle of the people for the independence of Vladimir, and the attempts of the boyars to gain control of the city. At the same time the flourishing arts served to enhance the authority of the princes and the Church.
During a service the prince and his entourage were to be found in the choir-gallery at the west end of the Cathedral, from which they had an excellent view of the whole interior and the ritual taking place at the altar. Under the choir-gallery was placed the large complex fresco composition of the Last Judgment, one of the most important in the strictly prescribed sequence of religious scenes with which Russian Churches were decorated.
There was also a special entrance leading to the choir-gallery. Two arched openings can still be seen in the walls, which now lead from the gallery to small platforms standing on the cross-vaulting above the galleries built by Vsevolod III. A new spiral staircase has been built up to the old choir-gallery. We do not know exactly what the original entrance looked like. The chronicles mention buildings that were linked with the Cathedral, such as the entrance passage of the bishop's residence and, it appears, the royal chambers. Excavations in the northern gallery near the northern entrance to the choir-gallery have revealed the foundations of a building connected to the Cathedral by a narrow passage. It is possible that these are, in fact, the remains of the bishop's residence, the first floor of which would also have been connected with the choir-gallery by another passage. It is most likely that this was matched on the south side by a wing of the royal chambers also connected directly with the choir-gallery.
The erection of galleries round the Cathedral turned it into a new, even larger building. In place of the old apses three new ones were built considerably further east. Although new openings were made in the walls of the old Cathedral the building did not take on the form of a Church with eighteen pillars and five aisles. The distinction between the old Cathedral and the new galleries was quite obvious inside the building and was emphasised by the building of separate entrances on the west side.
The interior of the old Cathedral took on a quite different character. It became darker in spite of the double row of windows which were built in the south wall of the gallery and the four new windowed domes above the galleries. The galleries themselves with their solid arched cross-pieces were also dark. They were intended to serve as a burial place for the princes and Church dignitaries of Vladimir, and special arched niches for the white stone sarcophagi were built into the walls. A sarcophagus containing the remains of Prince Andrei, the Cathedral's founder, was transferred from its original resting place to the northeast corner of the galleries. By the opposite wall stood the coffin of his brother and successor, Vsevolod III, who had given the old Cathedral a new casing. Other members of the royal family and bishops were subsequently buried in the remaining niches and below the gallery floors. Thus the interior of the old Cathedral lost its bright, festive appearance. Its jubilant, majestic atmosphere was replaced by the hushed solemnity of a dark burial vault, the giant mausoleum of the "Vladimir autocrats".
A few very precious wall-paintings which were restored in 1918, have survived in the interior of the Cathedral. Most of the walls are covered with late nineteenth-century frescoes of no artistic value restored recently by the Cathedral priests. Nothing remains of the original paintings of 1161 apart from the fragment which we have already noted in the decorative arcade band on the north wall. When the new walls were added in 1189 the interior of the original building was entirely restored.
The floors were decorated with a rich mosaic of majolica tiles and plates of copper like burnished gold, and the frescoes were renewed with new ones being added. A few fragments have survived, although some of them are obscured by the new iconostasis. The visitor is able to examine the two figures of Artemius and Abraham on the inside walls of the aperture leading into the southwest corner of the old Cathedral. The figures are extremely well framed under arches decorated with stylised acanthus leaves and resting on slender columns. This means that they blend in well with the building as a whole and with the decorative arcade band on the outside in particular. If the figures of saints in other parts of the Cathedral, particularly on the columns, were also surrounded by arched frames they would have emphasised the lightness of the supports rising up like a series of slender arches resting one on top of the other. These frescoes were the work of Russian painters who adhered strictly to the artistic canons of their time. The highly stylised frontal figures of the saints are void of any suggestion of movement or life.
On the wall of the south gallery there is a fragment of a painting commissioned by Bishop Mitrophanes on the eve of the Mongol invasion in 1237. It is part of the figure of a warrior. It is possible that all painting of the casket of prince vault depicted subjects connected with war.
In 1408 the great painter Andrei Rublev was sent from Moscow to restore the Cathedral frescoes which had been damaged by fire, together with his friend Daniil Chorny and some apprentices. The damage was so considerable that they had to produce a completely new set of paintings, although they kept for the most part to the original positioning of the various scenes. The visitor should bear in mind that the fragments of these frescoes which have survived retain only a fraction of their original beauty. They have suffered all sorts of damage, including inept attempts at restoration, and in some places the paint has been removed entirely.
Most of the surviving frescoes are to be found under the choir gallery and form part of the Last Judgment. On the arch there are the figures of angels blowing their trumpets to summon the dead to judgment. On the keystone is a huge hand holding a number of tiny human figures - an illustration of the biblical words "the souls of the righteous are in hand of God". The figure of Christ sitting in judgment with a halo of many-winged seraph is on the vault. Above his head angels are rolling up the scroll of the heavens. Here too in a medallion are the four beasts symbolising the four kingdoms. On the wall beneath the vault stands the judgment seat with the kneeling figures of Adam and Eve, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist praying for sort human. Here too we see the apostles Peter and Paul on the sides of the vault with the elders of the apostolic tribunal and the huge throng angel.
On the flat surface of the north pillar under the choir-gallery is the angel appearing to the prophet Daniel.
The most interesting section of the composition, although it has almost disappeared, is to be found on the opposite, south side above the arch. This shows the earth and sea represented by female figures, with a ship symbolising the sea, yielding up their dead. Further on, starting with the flat surface of the south pillar under the choir-gallery, is the final scene of the Last Judgment - the righteous entering paradise. This is continued on the small south arch and the side of the southwest vault over the gallery, where we see the head of the procession led by the apostle Paul.
On the wall of the south arch stand the wooden gates of paradise guarded by an angel with a fiery sword, and the figure of the Penitent Robber who is the first to enter. Further along, on the curve of the arch is paradise itself with the three forefathers, and the small figures of the righteous resting in Abraham's bosom, while other righteous souls stand and wait their turn. Finally, on the north side of the arch we see the Queen of Heaven surrounded by angels.
In the northern section under the gallery there must have been scenes of punishment and infernal torment, but these have not survived. There is nothing to indicate how this picture of divine retribution was depicted. However, the sections of the composition that have survived show that the popular conception of the Last Judgment and the way it was depicted by artists had changed radically by the time of the Russian Renaissance. The tremendous hardships which the country endured under Mongol rule had by then receded into the past. The defeat of the Golden Horde led by Mamai at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 heralded the end of Mongol supremacy and the country entered a period of national awakening in which despondency was replaced by hope. This explains the spirit of peace and joy which radiates from Rublev's paintings.
The figures of Christ sitting in judgment, the apostles, and the angels have nothing grim or frightening about them. On the contrary, they are slender and youthful with their graceful small heads and sloping shoulders. In their representation of the saints and the righteous, which closely resemble the faces of ordinary Russian people, Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chorny were striving to give artistic expression to the ethical ideas of their heroic age by making their figures radiate spiritual strength and moral purity.
The angels with trumpets on the entrance arch are infused with a remarkable spirituality and beauty. They have nothing in common with the terrible heralds of the Last Judgment calling the dead souls to judgment. Their bodies have a supple, feminine grace and seem to be almost weightless. Their beautiful heads rest gracefully on slender necks, and their figures seem to vibrate as if the artist were striving to capture that elusive moment when their feet have barely touched the ground and their wings are still spread in flight. The slender trumpets in the hands of these heralds of judgment are like shepherds horns incapable of emitting terrifying sounds. The powerful, naked figures of bearded hermits in the arch of the south wall have much in common with the angels. Their bodies have the same feminine, rounded, flowing lines. A comparison of these figures with the stiff, severe ones of Artemius and Abraham next to them painted in 1189, gives a clear illustration of the different outlooks on life prevalent in the two periods, as expressed in their art.
There are four more fragments worthy of mention. On the southwest pillar supporting the central dome there is the magnificent figure of a warrior in golden armour and fragments of a painting of Prince Vladimir. It is possible that after the Battle of Kulikovo subjects connected with war occupied pride of place in painting. On the north arch under the central dome there are parts of a large composition representing the Transfiguration. On the left side of the altar is a particularly interesting fragment showing John the Baptist as a young boy being led into the wilderness by the archangel. The figure of the young boy in a simple, red-patterned shirt, hardly able to keep up with the huge strides of the enormous archangel, whose trailing wing seems to enfold him, is really magnificent.
In order to build up a complete picture of what the interior of the Cathedral looked like after it had been decorated by Andrei Rublev and his fellow-painters we must imagine it with the old iconostasis. The present sumptuous, heavy one with its rich gold carving and elaborate design, made after the Cathedral was repaired in 1773-1774, is a typical specimen of eighteenth century art and clashes violently with the old interior of the Cathedral. It replaced an iconostasis which dated back to the time of Rublev.
When the new iconostasis was built the icons belonging to the old one were sold to the village of Vassilyevskoye in the Vladimir region. In 1922 they were taken to Moscow, restored, and are today the pride of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg.
The old iconostasis was considerably lower than the present one, but at the beginning of the fifteenth century it was the most impressive of its kind. The icons of the main tier showing the Deesis, i.e., Christ in Majesty, bent around by archangels, apostles and saints, were about ten feet high. These huge figures stood out sharply against the gold background, with their brilliantly simple, rhythmical lines and superb colouring in which dark greens alternated with yellowish-golds and reds, and dark blues with cherry-reds. Andrei Rublev and his fellow painters were past masters at the art of monumental painting. The iconostasis was organically linked with the vast main body of the Cathedral and its icons could be clearly seen by a person as soon as he entered the building.
The introduction of the iconostasis was an important stage in the development of that complex system of interdependent art and architecture, peculiar to Russian Churches, which brought about certain radical changes in the plan of the interior. The tall screen of the iconostasis separated the altar, or sanctuary, from the main body of the Church where the congregation stood. The worshippers now saw before them row upon row of icons in strictly prescribed order. Thus the iconostasis gave expression, through a synthesis of painting and architecture, to the mediaeval Russian concept of mutual subordination and unity in both political and ecclesiastical life. It did not so much divide the altar from the congregation, as level and unite all those gathered together for worship.
Cathedral of 1185-1189 alrady much powerfully differed from the original building. The galleries and the enlarged sanctuary with its three graceful apses divided up by semi-columns were somewhat lower than the walls of the old Cathedral. The zakomaias and the large golden dome on a square base rose above the vaulted roofs of the new galleries with their smaller corner domes crowned with filigree crosses of gilded copper.
The Cathedral became an ensemble of rising tiers, which were typical of eleventh and twelfth century Churches, in particular the Church of the Dime and the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Kiev. Here, again, we see the desire to imitate and surpass the famous buildings of the capital on the Dnieper . The increased size and grandeur of the Vladimir Cathedral was in keeping with the town which had also grown. It was now firmly established as the main building of capital.
The proportions of Cathedral had also changed. It had become broader and more static, spreading outwards rather than soaring upwards. The pilasters on the outer walls of the galleries were set further apart than they had been on the old building. A new arcade band was added to the outer walls, and deep shadows lay in the narrow, richly structured windows and wide, deeply recessed portals. It is interesting to note that here, too, the architects paid special attention to the appearance of the Cathedral from the river and beyond. This explains why the decorative arcade band is somewhat lower on the south front, increasing the area of its upper section which could be seen above the walls of the citadel. This device made the south wall seem less foreshortened when viewed from below. The new band stood out in greater relief than the old one, producing a sharper contrast of light and shade and heightening the plastic quality of the walls. It could now be seen clearly from a considerable distance.
There were occasionally blocks of carved stone on the outer walls intersected at uneven intervals by pilasters. The only large composition, the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace, comprising several carved blocks, was in the central section of the north wall above the vaulting of the new adjoining building. Carved female and lion masks in no apparent order decorate the corners of the windows.
Close inspection of the masonry at the west end of the south wall under the decorative band reveals clear traces of carving. There are two blocks showing the figures of small people immersed in water, which is indicated by a few wavy lines. These are the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. On the right of the pilaster are three stones bearing the faint outline of carving which depicts a popular mediaeval legend - Alexander the Great being borne up to heaven by two winged griffins. The same subject fully intact in the carving on the Cathedral of Saint Demetrios.
The haphazard arrangement of the carvings shows that there was no deliberate intention to decorate the episcopal Cathedral with carved ornament. The Church did not approve of carving because it was so reminiscent of the pagan art which had existed not so long ago. Consequently all these specimens must have come from the walls of the old Cathedral built by Andrei Bogolyubsky. The single large composition of the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace was placed on the wall facing the city, possibly as a reminder of the fire of 1185.
The consoles of the decorative arcade band on the west wall alternate between being wedge-shaped and structured, suggesting that segments of the old band were used to build the new one. Even in these early carvings it is possible to distinguish two styles: one richer, more prominent and expressive, and the other flatter and more naive, evidently the work of craftsmen who were used to carving in wood.
The Assumption Cathedral in its present form is predominantly the work of craftsmen by Vsevolod III, that they done unassisted foreign craftsmen. It bears eloquent witness to the high level of technical and artistic mastery which enabled them to find a brilliant solution to extremely complicated problems of construction and design. As well as preserving the old Cathedral they created a magnificent new edifice which impresses one by its scale and execution. It is not surprising that when the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti was brought to Moscow at the end of the fifteenth century to design buildings for the Moscow Kremlin, he was sent to examine the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, which was to serve as a model for the Cathedral of the same name in the Moscow Kremlin. Fioravanti was so impressed by the building that he thought it must have been the work of Italian masters. He could simply not imagine that "savage Muscovy" had possessed its own flourishing architecture and native builders in the distant past. Looking at the splendid panorama of the Klyazma water-meadows and forest opening out from the Cathedral hill, we appreciate the remarkable taste and feeling for natural beauty which determined the choice of this site for the main building of capital. Its lines and proportions blend in beautifully with the magnificent high bank over the Klyazma. Rather than dominating the bank, the Cathedral seems to grow out of it, a fitting crown for the natural peak of the Middle Town.
The Vladimir architects understood perfectly the role which this monumental building was to play in the landscape of the city and country. The natural surroundings were used to enhance the effect produced by the building. This organic link between architecture and landscape, which can be seen in all the greatest specimens of early Russian architecture, is fully developed in the Assumption Cathedral, which adds to the beauty of the countryside and, in its turn, is enhanced by its natural surroundings.