V. Banige: The Kremlin of Rostov the Great XVI-XVII veka.

Izkusstvo, Moskau, 1976, 143 Seiten mit 102 Bildern. Gebunden Hardcover.

Text in russischer Sprache, Bilduntertitel und Zusammenfassung auch in englischer Sprache "Rostov Yaroslavsky is a small town in Yaroslavl oblast (region) on the shores of the Lake Nero. In the olden times, nearly one thousand years ago, Rostov was one of the most populous and influential cities in Russia. The earliest date to which the existence of Rostov is traced is the year 862. This year is accepted as the beginning of the formation of Russia. Rostov reached its zenith in the 1 1 th-12th centuries. (1237, the year of the Tartars' invasion, marks the end of this period). At that time Rostov was a big and rich city, strong both politically and militarily. It was then that it received the title of Veliky (Great). All the city's buildings were wooden; only a cathedral and a palace at the princely court nearby were constructed of stone. The cathedral was erected in 1161 on the site formerly occupied by a wooden church which had been put up, according to a legend, in the late 10th century and later burnt down. In the early 13th century the cathedral's top Part collapsed. The remaining foundation and walls were used a few years later for construction of a new cathedral also of white stone, a near copy of the previous one. Next to the cathedral there was the bishop's court and a little to the south — the princely court. These two courts together with the cathedral square made up the city's center. Towards the late 13th century the Rostov principality became involved in the rapid process of splitting up, weakening and falling under the domination of rising Moscow. (Most of the principalities in the feudal Russia were not passed over from father to eldest son, but were devided among several heirs). In 1470s Rostov was integrated into the young centralised Moscow state.The Rostov principality ceased to exist but the wealth and influence of Rostov's bishops continued to grow; intensive construction was carried on within their expanding eparchy especially in the bishop's own court. We know that in the late I5th century considerable construction was undertaken at the bishop's court and the cathedral square but the buildings of that period have not survived, with one exception — the most grandiose and magnificent building in Rostov, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin, constructed of brick an the foundations of the white stone cathedral which had also been consecrated to the Virgin and the exact time and causes of destruction of which are not known.In 1630s, on the Tsar's orders the Rostov's centre was fortified by Dutchman Rodenburg: a bank of earth and a moat were dug round it and wooden towers put up ...".