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The cathedral in Bogoliubovo had four round
piers with Corinthian-like capitals, three apses and a single helmet-shaped
cupola. The interior walls were covered with frescoes. An icon representing the
Virgin standing and praying to Jesus beneath the Deisus composition was
especially ordered by the prince. The icon was named the Virgin of Bogoliubov
meaning the place loved by god. The same name was given to the village and
Prince Andrei was nicknamed Bogoliubsky. Nevertheless in 1174 after the service
in the cathedral, Prince Andrei was attacked by the boyars (see the chapter
entitled Moscow relating to the tavern owner Kuchko). He ran for
safety through the gallery and tried to hide himself in a niche behind the
pillar in the staircase tower. The boyars followed the spots of his blood,
found him and finished him off. We have photos of Bogoliubovo in the section on
Vladimir in the Russian cities directory.
By 1177 the palace was already ransacked first by the prince of Riazan,
Gleb, followed by many other pillagings. In the 13th century the monastery of
Bogoliubovo was established and in the beginning of the 19th century a row of
cells were built on the spot where once stood prince Andrei's palace which are
today occupied by workers' families. The cathedral collapsed in 1722 while
under restoration, and it was rebuilt on the old foundation in 1751. In the
nineteen twenties the monks were chased out and in the thirties archeological
excavations were begun inside the cathedral, that with long intervals lasted
some 20 years, turned many stones and left bare walls. Today the cathedral
looks the same as it was when archaeologists left it. The most popular
attraction inside is the 12th century carved stone cross believed to have
miraculous power to help women have children. Each time I have been there, I
always found a woman or two who volunteered to kiss the cross and bite and
swallow a small fragment of it. Only the tower turned later into a belfry and
the connecting gallery remain from the original construction. In the
nineteen-sixties the gallery was clumsily repainted by Soviet painters over the
existing fresco designs. As for the icon only fragments of it can be seen in
the museum of Vladimir. We do not know how and when this beautiful piece of art
was damaged and it is dubious that it was painted by a Russian iconographer as
Soviet historians claim it was. The similarity of expression of her face and
the perfection of its execution remind us very much of the famous Virgin of
Vladimir. Possible the painters of the two icons belonged to the same school.
For the services rendered to the church and probably because of his tragic end
Prince Andrei was beatified in 1702 by Russian Orthodox religious authorities.
Almost from the first days as Christians Russians often looked for safety
and salvation in the divine protection that the Virgin, as they believed, had
been ready to extend to them. In gratitude for this patronage many churches
were dedicated to her and a special holiday was established, presumably
initiated in Russia by Prince Andrei, to mark every year the appreciation of
the Russian people for the special favors she has been extending to them.
"Pokrov" is an old Slavic word which means protection, intercession.
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