Kremlin & Kitay Gorod - Moscow - page 150

opened. The now-functioning, multitiered Saviour Church is tucked into the courtyard
away from the street.
On the orders of Tsar Alexey, the Likhud brothers - scholars of Greek - opened the
Slavonic Greek and Latin Academy on the monastery premises in 1687. (Mikhail Lomono-
sov was a student here.) The academy later became a divinity school and was transferred to
the Trinity Monastery of St Sergius in 1814.

MONASTERY

MONASTERY OF THE EPIPHANY
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Bogoyavlensky per 2; Ploshchad Revolyutsii)
This monastery is the second oldest in Moscow, founded in 1296 by Prince Daniil, son of
Alexander Nevsky. The current Epiphany Cathedral - with its tall, pink, gold-domed cu-
pola - was constructed in the 1690s in the Moscow baroque style. If you're lucky, you may
hear the bells ringing forth from the old wooden belfry nearby.

HISTORICAL BUILDING

SYNOD PRINTING HOUSE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Nikolskaya ul 15; Ploshchad Revolyutsii)
Now housing the Russian State University for the Humanities, this elaborately decorated
edifice is where Ivan Fyodorov reputedly produced Russia's first printed book, The Apostle,
in 1563. (You can see the man himself near Tretyakovsky proezd.) Spiraling Solomonic
columns and Gothic windows frame the lion and unicorn, who are facing off in the centre of
the facade.
Up until the early 19th century, Kitay Gorod was something of a printing centre, home to
26 of Moscow's 31 bookshops.

HISTORIC SITE

TRETYAKOVSKY PROEZD
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Teatralnaya)
The gated walkway of Tretyakovsky proezd (originally built in the 1870s) leads from Teat-
ralny proezd into Kitay Gorod. Nearby, you can see where archaeologists uncovered the
16th-century fortified wall that used to surround Kitay Gorod, as well as the foundations of
the 1493 Trinity Church. There is also a statue of Ivan Fyodorov, the 16th-century printer re-
sponsible for Russia's first book.
Back in the day, the archway was financed by the Tretyakov brothers (founders of the
namesake art gallery). Apparently the construction of the medieval-style gate and the open-
ing of the passageway were an attempt to relieve traffic on Nikolskaya ul. It was reopened
in 2000 and is now lined with exclusive shops.