Golden Crown With Cross of Dubrovitsy Church Against Blue Sky

The top of the Church of the Virgin of the Sign in Dubrovitsy decorated by a shining golden crown instead of a traditional onion-shaped dome in a background of the blue sky. The unique and only one church that was built in European Baroque, Catholic style, was carried out from 1690 to 1698 years in Southern suburbs of Moscow city by foreign artisans, possibly Italian-Swiss, on the money of Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn (1651-1714), the tutor of Peter I. The legend says that the church was built as a sign of reconciliation between Golitsyn and Peter the Great and that the Russian tsar even helped to build it. The shape of the dome of the Dubrovitsy Church suggests the regal authority in honor of Emperor Peter the Great’s reign, and also symbolizing the crown of Christ. The octagonal church was constructed out of local white stone and left bare and richly decorated with stone carving.

Photo #083 taken on May 08, 2016