Church of Tsarevich Dmitry on the Blood, Orthodox church in Uglich, Russia.
The Church of Tsarevich Dmitry on the Blood in Uglich is a building with five bright blue domes and white decorative details set into red walls, positioned within the Kremlin complex. It rises above the surrounding area and overlooks the Volga River and the city below.
A wooden chapel was built at the murder site of Tsarevich Dmitry in the early 17th century and was replaced by a wooden church in 1630. Construction of the stone church began in 1681–1682 with royal donations, and from 1690 Princess Anna Vasilyevna Cherkasskaya, a relative of Tsarina Maria Nagaya, took patronage. The church was completed and consecrated in 1692.
The church is now a museum, not an active parish. Its wall paintings from 1772, attributed to the Moscow contractor Sapozhnikov's workshop, show the death of Tsarevich Dmitry and the crowd's punishment of his killers. In the refectory, Pyotr Khlebnikov of Borisoglebsk Sloboda painted the Creation, Adam and Eve, and their expulsion in 1788, with realistic nude figures.
The church is not an active parish but a branch of the Uglich Historical, Architectural and Art Museum, so entry is ticketed. The south facade is the best-preserved side; a 19th-century chapel on the north side clashes with the 17th-century building. Wall paintings were cleaned and strengthened by the Yaroslavl restoration workshop between 1971 and 1976.
The exiled bell displayed here is the Uglich alarm bell: in 1591 it rang to summon the townspeople after Tsarevich Dmitry's death, and for that it was flogged, had its clapper removed and was sent to Siberia. It was returned to Uglich in the 19th century and now hangs in the church.
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