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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Ascension Church (1535) | |
| Location | Moscow, Russia |
| Criteria | Cultural: ii |
| Reference | 634 |
| Inscription | 1994 (18thSession) |
| Website | Official site |
| Coordinates | 55°40′10″N37°40′08″E / 55.66944°N 37.66889°E /55.66944; 37.66889 |
.jpg)  Location of Kolomenskoye in European Russia  Kolomenskoye (Europe) Show map of Europe | |
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Kolomenskoye (Russian:Коло́менское) is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center ofMoscow,Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town ofKolomna (hence the name). The 390hectare scenic area overlooks the steep banks of theMoskva River. It became a part of Moscow in the 1960s.
Kolomenskoye village was first mentioned in thetestament ofIvan Kalita (1339). As time went by, the village was developed as a favourite country estate of grand princes ofMuscovy. The earliest existing structure is the exceptionalAscension church (1532), built in white stone to commemorate the long-awaited birth of an heir to the throne, the futureIvan the Terrible. Being the first stone church of tent-like variety, the uncanonical "White Column" (as it is sometimes referred to) marked a stunning break from theByzantine tradition.
The church reaches toward the sky from a low cross-shapedpodklet (ground floor), followed by a prolongedchetverik (octagonal body, and then an octagonaltent, crowned by a tiny dome. The narrowpilasters on the sides of thechetverik, the arrow-shaped window frames, the three tiers of thekokoshniks and the quiet rhythm of stair arcades and open galleries underline the dynamic tendency of this masterpiece of theRussian architecture. The whole vertical composition is believed to have been borrowed fromhipped roof-style wooden churches of the Russian North. Recognizing its outstanding value for humanity,UNESCO decided to inscribe the church on theWorld Heritage List in 1994.
TsarAlexis I had all the previous wooden structures in Kolomenskoye demolished and replaced them with a newgreat wooden palace, famed for its fanciful, fairytale roofs. Foreigners referred to this huge maze of intricate corridors and 250 rooms, as 'an Eighth Wonder of the World'. Although basically only a summer palace, it was the favorite residence of Tsar Alexis I. The future EmpressElizabeth Petrovna was born in the palace in 1709, and TsarPeter the Great spent part of his youth here. Upon the departure of the court forSt. Petersburg, the palace fell into disrepair, so thatCatherine II refused to make it her Moscow residence. On her orders the wooden palace was demolished in 1768, and replaced with a much more modest stone-and-brick structure.
Detailed plans of the Alexis I palace survived. The Moscow Government completed a full-scale reconstruction in 2010. The rebuilt palace stands approximately 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) to the south of its original location near the White Column, in order to preserve the historic foundations. The palace erected by Catherine the Great in 1768 was demolished in 1872, and only a few gates and outside buildings remain.
During the early Soviet period, under the initiative of architect and restorerPyotr Baranovsky, old wooden buildings and various artifacts were transported to Kolomenskoye from different parts of the USSR for preservation, so currently Kolomenskoye Park hosts an impressive set of different constructions and historical objects.
