THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



385 



siastical objects, heaped up between the 

 Altar and the Royal Gates, but the Altar 

 itself, in spite of its nearness to the ruin, 

 was uninjured. 



In the Church of St. Nicholas lies a 

 part of the holy relics of the Prelate 

 Nicholas, a saint honored by all Chris- 

 tians and even by the heathen. The walls 

 of the entrance to this church are written 

 over with the most filthy and sacrilegious 

 inscriptions and invectives, not only in 

 Russian, but (more significant of the lead- 

 ership in all this despoliation) in Ger- 

 man. The entrance of the church where 

 the relics lie was used as an outhouse. 



MADMEN DIRECT A RAIN OF DESTRUCTIVE 

 SHELLS 



When raining destructive shells on the 

 Kremlin, the madmen evidently decided 

 beforehand not to spare one of the 

 churches ; and, in fact, traces of the crime 

 are left on all. 



The famous porch of Lodgetti, of the 

 Church of the Annunciation, from which 

 Ivan the Terrible admired the comet, is 

 destroyed by shot and shell. Miracu- 

 lously, the age-dimmed interior of this 

 remarkable little church is unharmed. 

 The jasper floor which the Shah of Per- 

 sia gave to the Tsar Alexis, the floor of 

 many-colored jasper, like an Apocalyptic 

 sea, binding the door-posts and lintels, 

 set with precious stones, remains like a 

 ponderous Byzantine cope-clasp. 



The Church of the Archangel is scarred 

 with the marks of shells. The Churches 

 of the Resurrection and of the Deposi- 

 tion of the Robe, the oratories of the ikon 

 of the Mother of God of Pechersk, and 

 the Church of the Forerunner, in the 

 Borovitsk Tower, domes like a garden of 

 Hafiz, or Omar Khayyam, all fell beneath 

 sacrilegious fury. The last-named church 

 came in for severe usage, and some shots 

 struck the ikons of the sainted Prelates 

 of Moscow and of the Mother of God of 

 Kazan. 



DIAMONDS AND PEARLS IN RUBBISH HEAP 



The Patriarchal Sacristy, containing 

 treasures of incalculable value, has been 

 turned into a heap of rubbish, where, 

 among sand, rubble, fragments of the 

 walls, and broken glass, the unholy hand 

 digs for diamonds and pearls (see p. 387). 



The worst devastation has occurred in 

 Room No. 4, which was pierced by a 

 bursting shell. Here several glass cases 

 and cupboards with precious ancient cov- 

 ers, or palls, ornamented with gold and 

 precious stones, were torn to shreds. 

 Some memorial palls were pierced and 

 completely ruined. 



A book of the Holy Gospels of the 

 twelfth century (11 15), of the Grand 

 Duke Mstislav, of Novgorod, was injured 

 by a splinter. Various precious objects 

 and ornaments of the Patriarchs, such as 

 mitres, gauntlets, church utensils, vessels, 

 and crosses, are all thrown out of the 

 cases onto the floor and broken to pieces. 



Another shell, in Room No. 6, de- 

 stroyed a case containing Patriarchal 

 vestments. The historical Russian ec- 

 clesiastical treasury, the noble monument 

 of the past Patriarchal life of a great 

 nation, is shattered. 



Subsequently, after the Bolsheviks had 

 assumed protection of the treasury and 

 locked themselves into the Kremlin, these 

 rooms were broken open and ruthlessly 

 looted by some of their own company. 



GEMS GOUGED FROM ORNAMENTS 



In their haste to rifle the cases and in 

 their indifference to the national signifi- 

 cance of the treasury, these robbers wan- 

 tonly ruined ecclesiastical ornaments by 

 brutally gouging out the gems or ripping 

 off their golden mountings, and by cutting 

 out the jewel-studded medallions from 

 the vestments made of ancient stuffs, in 

 which weaver and goldsmith wrought 

 with a mutual hand. Some of the treas- 

 ure has been recovered, but most of it is 

 either destroyed or irrevocably lost. 



What hope is there for the safety of 

 the Hermitage treasure brought from 

 Petrograd in wooden boxes now lying in 

 the Kremlin? 



The Church of the Twelve Apostles is 

 riddled with shot. Furrowed by shells 

 and broken, its east end lighted by holes 

 and cracks, it gives the impression of be- 

 ing held together by some miracle. 



One shell pierced the wall from the 

 south side, below the window, and burst 

 in the church, causing much destruction ; 

 the standard candle-holders were broken 

 and many ikons on the walls injured by 

 splinters. 



