Nativity of Christ Cathedral

The choir stall to the left of the iconostasis remains a place for singers, and the old burial is preserved beneath its floor. Nativity of Christ Cathedral is one of Ryazan's principal episcopal churches. When a new Assumption Cathedral was built nearby, the former dedication was transferred to it, while this church was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ. Its present name is therefore newer than its walls.

The main shrine of this cathedral is hidden beneath a stone to the left of the iconostasis. Archbishop Theodoret ordered the remains of Basil of Ryazan, the first bishop of Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, to be placed there.

Basil died at the end of the thirteenth century. He was buried in Boris and Gleb Cathedral outside the present-day Ryazan Kremlin. Nearly three centuries later, that church was moved back from the crumbling bank of the Trubezh River. New walls were built slightly to one side, and the bishop's grave ended up outside them, beside the altar area. The revered burial was left without the protection of church walls.

Theodoret headed the Ryazan Diocese during the Time of Troubles and wanted to move the remains inside the fortified Ryazan Kremlin. A suitable cathedral stood right here, but its reconstruction had made no progress for eight years: the archbishop lacked the funds. He asked the tsar for help, received twenty-four stonemasons, and brought the work to completion.

In June sixteen oh nine, Theodoret opened the old grave. According to church testimony, Basil's remains were incorrupt. They were carried in procession to the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral—this church was called that at the time. The archbishop did not display them openly but placed them under a stone tomb beside the left choir stall, the place for singers near the iconostasis. Theodoret then composed a life of Basil and church hymns in his honor and ordered his icon to be painted. The transfer marked the beginning of the solemn veneration of Basil as Ryazan's principal saint.

Three hundred years later, a church commission decided to raise the remains from beneath the floor. The slabs were removed with great difficulty, and water flooded the opened area. The church report also mentions a fiery pillar that appeared above the water; this is testimony of religious tradition, not a verifiable fact. The work was stopped, the floor was restored, and the remains were left where Theodoret had placed them.

Later, a new Assumption Cathedral was built nearby, and the former dedication was transferred to it. The old church was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ—the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the origin of its present name, which is newer than the building itself. Today it is one of Ryazan's cathedrals—that is, its principal episcopal churches. Services take place above that same stone tomb: the grave that was once left outside church walls has stood by the left choir stall for more than four centuries.