They say that every city founded in antiquity or the Middle Ages has its own secret name. According to legend, only a few people could know him. Its DNA was embedded in the secret name of the city. Having learned the "password" of the city, the enemy could easily seize it.
According to the ancient urban planning tradition, at the beginning the secret name of the city was born, then the corresponding place was found, the “heart of the city”, which symbolized the Tree of the World. Moreover, it is not necessary that the navel of the city should be located in the “geometric” center of the future city. The city has almost like Koshchei: “… his death is at the end of a needle, that needle in an egg, then an egg in a duck, that duck in a hare, that hare in a chest, and the chest stands on a tall oak tree, and that Koschey tree is like his own eye protects.
Interestingly, ancient and medieval city planners always left hints. Many professional guilds were fond of puzzles. Some Masons are worth something. Before the profanation of heraldry in the Age of Enlightenment, the role of these puzzles was played by the coats of arms of cities. But this is in Europe. In Russia, until the 17th century, there was no tradition at all to encrypt the essence of the city, its secret name, in the coat of arms or some other symbol. For example, George the Victorious migrated to the coat of arms of Moscow from the seals of the great Moscow princes, and even earlier - from the seals of the Tver principality. It had nothing to do with the city.
However, we do not know whose relics lie at the foundation of the Assumption Cathedral. There is not a single mention of this in the annals. Probably, the name of the saint was kept secret.
At the end of the 12th century, a wooden church stood on the site of the current Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. A hundred years later, the Moscow prince Daniil Alexandrovich built the first Assumption Cathedral on this site. However, for unknown reasons, after 25 years, Ivan Kalita is building a new cathedral on this site. It is interesting that the temple was built on the model of St. George's Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky. It's not clear why? St. George's Cathedral can hardly be called a masterpiece of ancient Russian architecture. So there was something else?
The sample temple in Yuryev-Polsky was built in 1234 by Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich on the site on the foundation of the white-stone church of St. George, which was built in 1152 when the city was founded by Yury Dolgoruky. Apparently, this place received some kind of increased attention. And the construction of the same church in Moscow, perhaps, should have emphasized some kind of continuity.
The Assumption Cathedral in Moscow stood for less than 150 years, and then Ivan III suddenly decided to rebuild it. The formal reason is the dilapidation of the structure. Although one and a half hundred years for a stone temple is not God knows how long. The temple was dismantled, and in its place in 1472 the construction of a new cathedral began. However, on May 20, 1474, an earthquake struck Moscow. The unfinished cathedral received serious damage, and Ivan decides to dismantle the remains and start building a new temple. Architects from Pskov are invited for the construction, but those, for mysterious reasons, categorically refuse to build.
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Then Ivan III, at the insistence of his second wife Sophia Palaeologus, sends emissaries to Italy, who were supposed to bring the Italian architect and engineer Aristotle Fioravanti to the capital. By the way, at home they called them “new Archimedes”. It looks absolutely fantastic, because for the first time in the history of Russia, a Catholic architect is invited to build an Orthodox church, the main church of the Moscow state!
From the point of view of the then tradition - a heretic. Why the Italian was invited, who had never seen a single Orthodox church in his eyes, remains a mystery. Maybe because not a single Russian architect wanted to deal with this project.
Perhaps this was due to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which in 1395 was transported from the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral to the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, built by Ivan Kalita. However, history has not preserved direct indications of this.
One of the hypotheses why the Russian architects did not get down to business, and the Italian architect was invited, is associated with the personality of the second wife of John III, the Byzantine Sophia Paleologue.
More about this.
As you know, the Greek princess was actively promoted to the wife of Ivan III by Pope Paul II. In 1465, her father, Thomas Palaeologus, brought her with his other children to Rome. The family settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV.
A few days after their arrival, Thomas died, having converted to Catholicism before his death. History has not left us with information that Sophia converted to the "Latin faith", but it is unlikely that the Paleologues could remain Orthodox while living at the court of the Pope. In other words, Ivan III, most likely, wooed a Catholic woman. Moreover, not a single chronicle reports that Sophia switched to Orthodoxy before the wedding. The wedding took place in November 1472. In theory, it was supposed to take place in the Assumption Cathedral. However, shortly before this, the temple was dismantled to the foundation in order to start new construction. This looks very strange, since at least a year before it was known about the upcoming wedding. It is also surprising that the wedding took place in a wooden church specially built near the Assumption Cathedral, which was demolished immediately after the ceremony. Why no other Kremlin cathedral was chosen remains a mystery?
Let's return all the same to the refusal of the Pskov architects to restore the destroyed Assumption Cathedral. One of the Moscow chronicles says that the Pskovites allegedly did not take up the work due to its complexity. However, it is hard to believe that Russian architects could refuse Ivan III, a rather harsh man, on this occasion. The reason for the categorical refusal had to be very weighty. This was probably due to some kind of heresy. A heresy that only a Catholic could endure - Fioravanti. What could it be?
Perhaps, the relics of a non-Orthodox saint could have become a “mortgage” relic. As you know, Sophia brought many relics as dowry, including Orthodox icons and a library. But, probably, we do not know about all relics. It is no coincidence that Pope Paul II lobbied this marriage so.
If during the reconstruction of the temple there was a change of relics, then, according to the Russian tradition of urban planning, the "secret name" was changed, and most importantly the fate of the city. People who understand history well and subtly know that it was with Ivan III that the change in the rhythm of Russia began. Then still Russia.
Alexey Pleshanov