The Dormition Cathedral stands on Cathedral Square in the Moscow Kremlin, and was the principal church of the Russian state for centuries. Grand Prince Ivan III commissioned it after the earlier church there had fallen into disrepair, and hired the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti, who combined traditional Russian forms, inspired by the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, with Renaissance engineering. It was the place where tsars were crowned, and metropolitans and patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church were buried. Its interior is covered in frescoes, mostly from the seventeenth century, and has a great iconostasis. The cathedral was damaged when Napoleon's troops occupied Moscow in 1812, and it is now a museum.
Before and after
- c. 1473William Caxton prints the first book in English
- 19 February 1473Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus
- from c. 1470s to 1620sThe Ming dynasty rebuilds the Great Wall in brick and stone
- from 1475 to 1479War of the Castilian Succession
- 1475Construction of Dormition Cathedral
- 6 March 1475Birth of Michelangelo
- 28 June 1476Birth of Paul IV
- from 22 October 1476 to 5 January 1477Battle of Nancy
- 1477Founding of University of Tübingen
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 622 CEConstruction of Prophet's Mosque
- from 800 CE to 1258Islamic Golden Age
- 1342Construction of Palace of Westminster
- from 1370 to 1789Construction of Bastille
- 1386Construction of Heidelberg University
- from 1438 to 1533Inca Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.