The removal of the tomb of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina from the Cathedral of the Ascension Monastery before its demolition in 1929.

 

Who was Natalya?

 

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (Russian: Ната́лья Кири́лловна Нары́шкина; 1 September 1651 – 4 February 1694) was the Tsaritsa of Russia from 1671–1676 as the second spouse of Tsar Alexis I of Russia, and regent of Russia as the mother of Tsar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) in 1682.

 

Coming from a noble family of Tatar descent,daughter of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin (1623–1691), and wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva (d. 1706, daughter of Leonty Dimitriyevich Leontyev and spouse Praskovya Ivanovna Rayevskaya who died in 1641), she was brought up in the house of the great Western-leaning boyar Artamon Matveyev. She was given a freer and more Western-influenced upbringing than most Russian women of the time.

 

I’m starting off this visit to the tombs under Archangel Cathedral a bit confused.

In this source the photograph above is said to show the removal of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina’s tomb. But, in another source it’s called the removal of Zoe Palaiologina’s tomb. Zoe was the Byzantine Greek wife of Ivan Grozny.

Why am I surprised at the muddle? I should be used to it by now :o)