Kolomenskoye Estate - the cradle of the Russian Czars

The grounds of the former estate are today part of a 160-acre (400-hectare) conservation area with notable 600-year-old oak trees. The main gate, the clock, and water towers, part of the original palace complex, have survived.

The church of the Ascencion constructed in 1532, in the imperial estate of Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, to celebrate the birth of the prince who was to become Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible". The church is now situated near the centre of Moscow on the steep slope that descends to the floodplain of the Moscow River. The church represented a new stage in Russian architecture. It is the first tent-roofed church to be built in stone. The remarkable tent roof rises from an octagonal base crowned by small kokoshniks; the base itself also rises from a larger base formed by a series of tiered kokoshniks. Galleries reached by steps at various levels surround the church. In the eastern altar part of the gallery, facing the Moscow River, there is a "royal pew" in the form of a throne with a white-stone ciborium above it. Because of this specific construction, the walls are 2.5 to 3 metres thick, making the interior very small, although the 41-metre high ceilings create a feeling of spaciousness.

In 1918, the Church of the Ascension was proclaimed state property as an outstanding cultural and historical monument. Its status was confirmed by the Decree of the Council of the People's Commissars "On registration and protection of art and antiquity monuments being in private, society and institutional property"(1918). At the time of inscription, the property was a part of the Architectural-Archaeological and Natural Complex of the Museum Zone Kolomenskoye. Today, the monument is owned and managed by the Moscow State United Art Historical-Architectural and Nature Landscape Museum-Reserve.