b o o k The abbefs politely accompanied us over the convent herfelf,
. ' . and pointed out to us every objedt in the leaft degree worthy
of attention. She firft conduced us to the principal chapel,
which contained the tombs of feveral tzarinas and princeffes-
of the Imperial family. The tombs are a kind of ftone'
coffins laid on the floor, and ranged in rows very near each
other ; fome were inclofed with brafs, and others with iron
ballaftrades, but the greateft number had no diftinCtion of
this fort. Each fepulchre was covered with a pall of crimfon
or black velvet, ornamented with an embroidered cro s in
the middle, and edged with a border of gold and filver lace.
Over thefe, on great feftivals, are laid other coverings of
gold and filver tiffue, richly ftudded with pearls and precious
ftones. The foundrefs of the convent is a faint, and isf
buried under the altar. The abbefs very obligingly pre-
ffehted me with a MS. Ruffian account o f the princeffes, who
are interred in the church. After we had fully examined
thefe repofitories of the dead, and furveyed--the rich veil*
mentsof the prieits, and the figures of various faints painted-
on the walls* the abbefs invited us into her apartments; She
led the way,, and5 at the top of the flairs, as-we‘ entered the
anti-chamber, ftruck the floor two or-three blows with her
ivory-handled cane, when inilantaneoufly a chorus of about-
twenty nuns received us with hymns-, which they continued
finging as long as we itaid : the melody was-not unpleafing.
In an adjoining room tea-was ferved to the company, and a
table was plentifully fpread with pickled herrings, fliees of
fait fifh,. cheefe, bread, butter,, and cakes : champaigne and
liqueurs were tendered by the abbefs herfelf. After we had
partaken of thefe refrelhments, we attended the abbefs
through the apartments of the nuns, many of whom were
employed
employed in embroidering facerdotal habits for the arch- c h a p .
biihop of Mofcow, and we took our leave. < / ■
The nuns wore a long robe of black fluff, black veils,
black forehead-cloth, and black wrappers under the chin,
which made them look very difmal and pale. The abbefs
was diflinguifhed by a robe o f black filk. The nuns are
totally prohibited from meat, living chiefly upon fifh, eggs,
and vegetables. In other refpedts the order is not rigid, and
they are allowed to pay occafional vifits in the town.
I have already had occafion to mention the great number
of churches contained in this city. The Kremlin is not
without its fhare ; in a fmall compafs I counted eight al-
moit contiguous to each other. Two of thefe churches,
namely that of St. Michael, and that of the Aflumption of
the Virgin Mary, are remarkable ; the one for being the
place where the fovereigns of Ruilia were formerly interred;
and the other where they are crowned. Thefe edifices are
both in the fame ityle of architecture, and were probably
conflruCted by Solarius of Milan, who built the walls of the
Kremlin. Though the architect was pbliged to conform
his tafle to the models of ecclefiaftical buildings at that time
ufed in Ruffia, yet their exterior form is not abfolutely inelegant,
although it is an oblong fquare, and much too high
m proportion to the breadth.
In the cathedral of St. Michael I viewed the tombs of the
Ruffian fovereigns. The bodies are not, as with us, deposited
in vaults, or beneath the pavement, but are entombed
in raifed fepulchres, moflly of brick, in the fhape of a coffin,
and about two feet in height. When I vifited the cathedral,
the moil antient were covered with palls of red cloth, others
of red velvet, and that of Peter II. with gold tiffue*, bor-
Upon great feftivals all the fepulchres are covered with rich palls o f gold or filver
rQfii»de, ftudded with pearls and jewels.
Q q a dered