Kazan Cathedral Religious Site

Address: Kazan Cathedral (Our Lady of Kazan), Red Square, Moscow, Russia

Admission: Free (church; donations welcome)

Kazan Cathedral on Red Square is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the ikon of Our Lady of Kazan and is located on the northeast side of the square. The original church dated to the 17th century, was demolished in 1936 during the Soviet period and later rebuilt on the original site.

The cathedral’s appeal to visitors is both religious and architectural - it serves as an active parish church and a reconstructed example of pre-Soviet Moscow ecclesiastical architecture. The rebuilt church follows the historic design and is used for services and visits by tourists.

Historically a city landmark from the 17th century, the original building underwent several reconstructions before its demolition in 1936; the post-Soviet reconstruction project returned the cathedral to Red Square and was completed and reconsecrated in the early 1990s.

The cathedral stands on Red Square in central Moscow, adjacent to the GUM department store and directly on the square’s pedestrian route.

• Dates of destruction and reconstruction: Originally constructed in the early 17th century, demolished in 1936 and reconstructed in the early 1990s with reconsecration completed in 1993.
• Location in the city: Located on Red Square near the GUM department store, making it one of the small, frequently visited churches in central Moscow.

Kazan Cathedral (Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan) sits on the northeast side of Red Square in central Moscow. The cathedral is a very short walk from the interconnected metro stations Okhotny Ryad (Sokolnicheskaya line, Line 1), Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Arbatsko‑Pokrovskaya line, Line 3) and Teatralnaya (Zamoskvoretskaya line, Line 2) - exits put you within a few minutes’ walk of the cathedral and Red Square.

• Go early in the morning before Red Square fills with visitors and tour groups to see the cathedral exterior and, if open, the interior in relative quiet.
• Enter Red Square from the Manezhnaya/State Historical Museum side to reach the cathedral with fewer crowds than the GUM/Lenin's Mausoleum approaches.
• Remember the cathedral is an active place of worship and can close briefly for services; check opening times if you specifically want to go inside to see the restored interior and iconostasis.