The virtual exhibition is based on the catalogue “Coronations of Tsars and Emperors at the Moscow Kremlin” and dedicated to the coronation ceremonies that were held at the Moscow Kremlin in the 16th-17th centuries. The ritual of new tsar enthronement was the principal state ceremony and consisted of several consecutive actions. The ritual began with a solemn passage of the future tsar to the Assumption Cathedral, where the principal stages of the coronation took place. Its culmination was the ceremony of laying the regalia on the sovereign, after which he turned from the pretender to the throne into its legal ruler. The world’s unique collection of the 17th-century attributes of Russian monarchs’  supremacy preserved in the Armoury Chamber gives a revealing insight into this ceremony.

The exhibition is organized by the chronology, its sections are dedicated to the enthronement of the first Russian tsars in the 16th-17th centuries, starting from Ivan the Terrible and finishing with the dual coronation of two Princes Ivan and Peter. The exhibition opens with an essay about the first enthronement of Prince Dmitry to the grand princedom that became a prototype of future coronations. The last section tells about the tsar feast prepared in celebration of the enthronement.

Have a pleasant viewing!