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H U R C H O F
H E T W E L V E
P O S T L E S
КРЕМЛЬ
The Patriarch ' s Chambers is a rare and one of the best
monuments of Moscow ’ s civil architecture of the mid -
17th century . The chambers were built by decree of
Patriarch Nikon in 1653 - 1655 by Russian craftsmen on
the site of the older structures of the metropolitan ,
and then the patriarchal court in the Moscow Kremlin .
The works were led by the apprentice stone affairs
Alexey Korolkov and the apprentice Ivan Semenov .
The ground floor of the palace was occupied by
economic services , the third - the private chambers of
the patriarch . On the second floor there were
ceremonial rooms . The main among them is the Cross ,
or the Peace Chamber , where the meetings of the Holy
Council took place , and feasts were held in honor of
the king and foreign guests . In the 18th – 19th
centuries , the Moscow Synodal Office was located in
the Patriarchal Chambers .
Today on the second floor of the Patriarchal Chambers
is a museum exhibition . It is dedicated to the Russian
culture of the 17th century , when , on the eve of the
reforms of Peter the Great , the worldview , traditions
and the whole way of life of Russian society changed .
The museum presents precious dishes , jewelry , items of
royal hunting , antique furniture , monuments of facial
and ornamental sewing . In the home church of the
Twelve Apostles of particular interest is the carved
gilded iconostasis of the turn of the XVII – XVIII
centuries . The church also houses an exhibition of
icons , which tells about the evolution of icon painting
throughout the century . The new tendencies in
painting are vividly illustrated by the works of leading
court izografs , Simon Ushakov and Fyodor Zubov .
The museum exposition tells about the artistic tastes
of the Russian society of the XVII century , about the
uniqueness of the spiritual life of Russia , which stood
on the threshold of the New Age .