PRAYER PLACES

The tsars and the metropolitans worshipped side by side in the сathedral. Each had a special seat provided for him in the church. The most ancient one is the stone elevation decorated with carved flowers; it was created for metropolitans and patriarchs in 1479.

The Tsar's Prayer Place also known as the Monomakh's Throne was made in 1551 for Ivan the Terrible, the first Russian Tsar. It might have been created by carvers from Novgorod. Here one can see various styles and ways of carving widely spread in Ancient Rus'.

There are four sculptures at the throne's pedestal shaped as some fantastic creatures symbolizing royal power. They hold the quadrangular construction with four carved pillars and balusters, crowned with a tent roof decorated with the so-called kokoshnik (ogee-form decoration), roses and vases.

Twelve bas-relief compositions on the throne relate the story of the Kievan Prince Vladimir Monomakh receiving the insignia of imperial power - the Monomakh's Cap, barmy (regalia collar) - from the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos and other events stressing the Russian-Byzantine link.

There is also a Prayer Place for Tsarinas at the north-east pillar of the сathedral. The throne was transferred from the tsarinas’ family chapel especially for Maria Iljinichna, the first wife of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich. The icons in kiots depict three scenes: the Nativity of Christ, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the Nativity of St. John the Precursor. They should have reminded tsarinas of prayers for an heir to the throne being born. There is an embroidered double-headed eagle with the emblems of Russian provinces at the back of the Prayer Place.