Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
9 : atgve
COXE S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA. $95
The palace, inhabited by the antient Tzars, ftands at the extremity of the Kremlin. -
Part of this palace is old, and continues in the fame ftate in which it was built under
Ivan Vaflilievitch I. The remainder has been fucceflively added at different intervals
without any plan, and in various ftyles of architecture, which has produced a motley
pile of building, remarkable for its incongruity. The top is thickly fet with numerous
little gilded fpires and globes ; and a Jarge portion of the front is decorated with the
arms of all the provinces which compofe the Ruffian empire. The apartments are in
general exceedingly {mall, excepting one fingle room, called the council-chamber, in
which the antient Tzars ufed to give audience to foreign ambafladors, and which has
been repeatedly defcribed by feveral Englifh travellers, who vifited Mofcow before the
Imperial refidence was transferred to Peterfburgh. The room is large and vaulted, and
has in the centre an enormous pillar of {tone, which fupports the cicling *.
This palace, in which the Tzars formerly held their courts in all the fplendour of
Eaftern pomp, was once efteemed by the natives an edifice of unparalleled magnificence ;
fince the modern improvements in architeCture, it is far furpafled by the ordinary man-
fions of the nobility, and by no means calculated even for the temporary refidence of
the fovereign t.
In this palace Peter the Great was bornin 1672; an event here mentioned, not only
becaufe it is remarkable in the annals of this country, but becaufe the Ruflians them-
felves were, till lately, unacquainted with the birth-place of their favourite hero. ‘That
honour was ufually afcribed to Columna, which, on that fuppofition, has. been pro-
fanely ftyled the Bethlehem of Ruflia; but the judicious Muller has unqueftionably
proved, that the Imperial palace of Mofcow was the place of Peter’s nativity t. I was
greatly difappointed that we could not view that part of the palace called the treafury.
The keeper being lately dead, the door was fealed up, and could not be opened until a
fucceflor was appointed. Befide the crown, jewels, and royal robes, ufed at the coro-
nation of the fovereign, this repofitory contains feveral curiofities which relate to and
illuftrate the hiftory of this country.
There are two convents in the Kremlin; one a nunnery, and the other a monaftery
for men, called Tchudof. It is well known inthe Ruflian hiftory as the place in which
the Tzar Vaflili Shuifki was confined (1610) after his depofition, and from whence he
-was conveyed into Poland, where he only exchanged one prifon for another ftill more
difmal, and fell a victim to his own difappointment and chagrin, as well as to the ill
treatment of the Poles. We are naturally led to compaffionate the fate of a depofed
amonarch, who dragged on a miferable exiftence amidft the horrors of perpetual im.
prifonment ; but the black ingratitude of Vaflili Shuifki towards Demetrius, his fove-
reign and benefactor, almoft extinguifhes our fenfe of his calamities. For even if the
perfon who aflumed the name of Demetrius was an impoftor, Shuifki, when condemned
for high treafon to an ignominious death, was indebted to him for his pardon; an aé
of clemency ill requited by the depofition and murder of his benefa@or §.
The nunnery called Viefnovitfkoi, was founded in 1393 by Eudoxia, wife of the Great
Duke Dmitri Ivanovitch Donfki, who was canonifed and interred under the altar. The
abbefs politely accompanied us over the convent, and pointed out every objet worthy
* <« The roof of the andience-chamber was arched and fupported by a great pillar in the middle.”? Lord
Carlifle’s Embafly, p- 149. In the feaft which Alexéy Michaelovitch gave to the Earl of Carlifle, this
great pillar was adorned with a wonderful variety of godd and filver veflels, p. 292. r
+ The Emperor Paul ordered this venerable feat cf the Ruffian monarchs to be reftored and fitted up as
a manfion for himfelf and family. ~
See Journ, St, Pet. § See Chap. 7.
4G 2 of
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
