Spas-Na-Boru Cathedral: The Heart of the City

The cathedral in 1882, dwarfed by the surrounding Kremlin buildings.

The tour begins at the former site of one of Moscow’s oldest structures. Nestled within the walls of the Kremlin, the Church of the Savior in the Wood (or “Spas-na-boru”) was originally built in planks in the 1200s and rebuilt in white stone in 1330, making it almost as old as the city itself [1]. This ancient heritage inspired artists such as Russian author Ivan Bunin, who wrote: “The Spas na Boru church. How good it is: the Savior in the woods! This and everything Russian like it stirs me, enchants me by its antiquity, by my blood kinship with it.” [2] Bunin’s description of the cathedral, as well as the symbolism of its physical presence within the “heart” of the capital, located religion at the center of Russian identity.

A 19th-century drawing of the cathedral. Note the spires of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the distance.

Soviet officials likely saw this symbolism as a threat to their vision of a secular Russia. The Spas-na-boru was one of many ancient structures destroyed during their purge of the city’s central district, along with the Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Both of the latter structures have since been replaced by the post-Soviet government, but the Spas-na-boru remains lost. In this instance, Soviet reforms were successful in erasing a key component of Moscow’s cultural identity.