Hermitage of Patriarch Nikon: 1658-1662; Resurrection Cathedral 1658 -1666 and 1679 -1685; Fortress wall and refectory complex 1686 -1698.

Work on Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery was begun in 1658 by Nikon, Patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia (1605-1681). Construction continued under his direction until 1666. The monastery's architecture and landscape (territory over 10 square km) reproduce the topography, toponymy, and religious edifices of the Holy Land.

Resurrection Cathedral is ornamented inside and out with unique tile decorations. These polychromatic architectural ceramics powerfully influenced the making of tiles in Moscow, Yaroslavl, and other cities in the second half of the seventeenth century. The tile iconostases, casings, and inscriptions of the cathedral are without parallel in Russian architecture in their complex profile, their variety of ornament, and the skill of their execution.

Resurrection Cathedral was completed in the first half of the 1680s by Patriarch Nikon's pupils and followers. Dating from the same period is the Cathedral's unique "stone guidebook" - forty-eight white stone tablets, of which thirty have survived. These tablets are inscribed with explanations of what is located in the corresponding spot in the Cathedral of the Tomb of the Holy Savior in Jerusalem, and what is here in Resurrection Cathedral. These tablets, together with liturgical and explanatory tile inscriptions belonging to the 1660s, make the cathedral both a house of worship and an act of devotion. There is nothing like it anywhere in the Christian world.

Also preserved in the cathedral are verse epitaphs, unique examples of eighteenth-century church poetry, cut in stone above the graves of Patriarch Nikon and Archimandrite German.

In the mid-eighteenth century Resurrection Cathedral was partially remodeled and decorated with Baroque moldings. The interior also holds the side-chapel of Mary Magdalene, executed in the classical style in the early nineteenth century.

Resurrection cathedral is a monument of Old Russian architecture, and also of Baroque and classical architecture. Its significance for Russian history, architecture, and high culture cannot be overstated. At the same time, the cathedral is a unique architectural source for the study of the Holy Savior's Tomb (12th-17th centuries), since the Jerusalem site underwent considerable remodeling after a fire in 1808.

Resurrection Cathedral as a whole is comparable only to the Tomb of the Holy Savior in Jerusalem. Some parts of the cathedral can be compared to medieval European Calvaries: in Spain near Cordova, in Italy (Abruzzi), and in Poland near Krakow.

The hermitage of Patriarch Nikon (within the territory of New Jerusalem monastery) is unique in that a single building serves both ecclesiastical and residential functions. This combination is Nikon's own inspiration, without precedent in Russian or world architecture.

The hermitage of Patriarch Nikon and Resurrection Cathedral are of world significance in their design, in the quality of their interior and exterior tile work, in their architectural harmony, and in their deep theological interpretations of their models.

No full-scale measures for preservation and reinforcement of the tile decoration in Resurrection Cathedral have been conducted in the years since World War Two, when the cathedral was bombed by Nazi occupying forces. The 17th century ceramic work inside and outside the cathedral continues to deteriorate. At the same time, the original brickwork of the building is weakening, which makes the need for restoration all the more urgent. Portions of the plaster moldings and the 18th century wall paintings are also in very dangerous condition. Without these elements of interior and exterior decoration, the cathedral will lose its main artistic characteristics.

From the 1940s through the 1980s, studies were made of the damage caused by the explosion in Resurrection Cathedral, and basic structures and architectural spaces were repaired. Efforts now should be focused on stabilizing temperature and humidity in the cathedral, and on preserving and restoring the decorations that have survived. Practically no such work is being done because of the lack of financing.

The most important devotional site of the cathedral, the replica of the Life-Giving Tomb of the Savior, has survived. Like the original, this consists of Side-Chapel of the Angel and the stone Resting-Place of the Savior.

The upper part has been completely lost. The 17th-century white-stone brickwork and tile decorations are in very poor condition.

In the rotunda of the Savior's Tomb, the original brickwork of the support columns has survived under 18th-century additions. A portion of the tile inscription from 1665 has also survived in the southern part of the rotunda.

In the transept, the ceramic inscription of the "Mysteries of the Church," dating to 1666, has survived, as have the tile parapet in the Golgotha Side-Chapel and the ceramic cartouches on the parapets of the choir.

In the passage behind the altar, three tile iconostases from the first half of 1666 have survived, along with two portals from the same period.

The first level of the bell tower of Resurrection Cathedral survived the bombing. This was the site of the Church of All Saints, a unique example of the cathedral's original architecture, with a minimum of remodeling in later centuries. Suffering from deterioration at the present are portions of the walls and vaults, the white-stone portal, the ceramic casing of the altar window, the tile iconostasis, and the inscribed plates with the epitaphs of two abbots of the monastery, Varsonofi (died 1680), and German (died 1682).

The plates with the "stone guidebook", with carved inscriptions from the first half of the 1680s have survived on the first course of the walls of Resurrection Cathedral.

All parts of the original cathedral are in a dangerous condition.