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Krutitsy by night.

Krutitsy (Russian: Крути́цы) is a former ecclesiastical estate and monastery, situated on the steep left bank of the Moskva River, in the south-east of present-day Moscow. Its name may be translated to English as "the Steep Banks". From 1454 to 1738, it was the residence of the Krutitsy bishops.

After the Mongol invasion of Russia some Orthodox priests, both Greek and Russian, briefly entertained an idea of converting the Mongols to Christianity. The Mongols were quite tolerant to the Russian Orthodox church, and it has been speculated that Genghis Khan's mother was a Nestorian. In 1261, they established a bishopric with its seat in Saray, the capital of the Golden Horde. These bishops without congregation resided there for two centuries and styled themselves the "bishops of Tsar's and the Don".

After the Golden Horde had disintegrated into several warring principalities, the bishop moved his seat to Krutitsy near Moscow in 1454. The bishops of Krutitsy were elevated to the metropolitan rank in 1589, the year when the Moscow patriarchy was instituted. They were made responsible for numerous parishes situated along the Lower Volga and Don rivers. By the late 17th century, the metropolitan of Krutitsy controlled about 1,000 churches. In 1738, his diocese was merged with that of Moscow.

A close-up of the 17th-century tiling.

Deserted since that time, the metropolitan's residence in Krutitsy has come down to us as an island of old Russian architecture at the heart of Moscow. The complex was originally centered on the Assumption Cathedral, built in 1460s and reconstructed in 1516. In 1675, the metropolitan had it rebuilt into a cross-vaulted chamber, which functioned as his reception hall. When the bishopric was demolished, the chamber was again turned into a church. Nearby stands the new Assumption cathedral, consecrated in 1683 and housing the metropolitans' burial vault.

The most noteworthy structure of Krutitsy is the Holy Gate (better known as Teremok), designed by Osip Startsev and elaborately decorated with colored tiles. This barbican structure is considered a gem of the Muscovite baroque style which was all the vogue in the 1690s. It leads to a metochion garden, of which little remains now.

In the imperial period of Russian history, Krutitsy was intermittently used as a political prison. Its buildings remember such tenants as the Archpriest Avvakum and the Russian political writer Alexander Herzen. In 1920, the bishopric of Krutitsy was restored, but the metropolitan had to reside elsewhere. In 1947, the diocese was merged with that of Kolomna. The same year, Peter Baranovsky, an outstanding Russian restorer, made Krutitsy the headquarters of his restoration workshop. Much work was undertaken to renovate the buildings in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Monasteries of Moscow
Andronikov | Bogoyavlensky | Chudov | Conception | Danilov | Donskoy | Krutitsy | Marfo-Mariinsky | Nikolsky | Novodevichy | Novospassky | Perervinsky | Simonov | Sretensky | Ugreshi | Voznesensky | Vysokopetrovsky | Zaikonospassky | Zlatoustovsky