Cathedral Square, Moscow

Cathedral Square in Moscow, a veduta by Quarenghi, 1797.

Cathedral Square or Sobornaya Square (Russian: Соборная площадь, romanized: Sobornaya ploshchad) is the central square of the Moscow Kremlin where all of its streets used to converge in the 15th century.[1]

The square owes its name to the three cathedrals facing it – Cathedral of the Dormition, Cathedral of the Archangel, and Cathedral of the Annunciation. Apart from these, the Palace of Facets, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the Church of the Twelve Apostles are placed there. The tallest structure on the square (and formerly in all of Russia) is Ivan the Great Bell Tower,[2] which also separates Sobornaya Square from Ivanovskaya Square.

Cathedral Square is famous as the site of solemn coronation and funeral processions of all the Russian tsars, patriarchs, and Grand Dukes of Moscow. Even today, the square is used in the inauguration ceremony of the President of Russia.[3]

  1. ^ "History of Moscow". Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  2. ^ "Ivan the Great Bell Tower". Archived from the original on 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  3. ^ "Medvedev sworn in as Russian president". China Daily. Xinhua. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2012-03-24.