Smolensk

December 15, 1595
“His Majesty the Tsar and Grand Prince Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia ordered Prince Vasily Andreyevich Zvenigorodsky, Semyon Volodymyrovich Bezobrazov, the scribes Posnik Shipilov and Nechay Perfiryev, and the city master Fyodor Savelyev Kony to travel to Smolensk. His Majesty the Tsar and Grand Prince Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia decreed that his royal patrimony, the city of Smolensk, should be rebuilt in stone.”

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God (Assumption Cathedral) is the cathedral of the Smolensk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
It is located in the central part of the city of Smolensk on Cathedral Hill.
It was erected in memory of the heroic defense of Smolensk in 1609–1611 on the site of a cathedral of the same name from the 12th century.