The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael is of even plainer appearance than the Uspenski; its south wall has been propped by a common buttress which, pierced for the lancet windows, gives that side much the appearance of a fortress. Its history is similar to that of the other cathedrals; the first wooden church on the site was erected in the twelfth century. Ivan "Kalita" built it anew as the place of sepulture for himself and his descendants. Ivan III. demolished that church and employed the Italian Aleviso to construct the present edifice, consecrated in 1500. It has suffered severely at different times, especially during the French occupation, when an attempt was made to destroy it by exploding a large quantity of spirit the French brought within for the purpose, but this served only to scatter the tombs, wreck the interior and spring the south wall. The church contains the remains of the princes and all the Tsars of Moscow. The petitions of the people laid upon the tombs of the Tsars were taken and read by Peter I. himself. Most of the religious ceremonies peculiar to this church relate to masses for the dead, and homage paid to the memory of ancestors. It has the usual rectangular form, the four central columns, the five cupolas, which the people think always dedicated to the Saviour and the four evangelists. The chapel on the west side is a later addition--the sole remaining one of four, which existed in the seventeenth century. On the south side is a small chamber which was the _izba_, or Palace of Justice, and below it are vaulted arches which extend almost the whole length of the Kremlin; the original paving is now some 12 feet below the level of the squares adjoining. Here the Tsar's gift of money was scattered at his coronation. The most noteworthy objects in the church are: the ikonostas, high, brilliant and sparkling with gems; the excellent metal-work of the shrines; the mural paintings--portraits of the Tsars whose tombs are below, and the richly worked palls over the tombs. _The ikonostas_ is of five stages; the sacred ikons are: (_a_) The Virgin "Beneficent," brought to Moscow by the Tsaritsa Sophia Vitovtovna; (_b_) the Virgin of Tikhvin, the ikon of the Tsaritsa Maria Nagoi, mother of the murdered Tsarevich, Dmitri; (_c_) St Basil the Great, near the south wall; (_d_) St Simeon Stylite.