Archbishop house in Astrakhan Kremlin

The big archbishop house is to the south from the Assumption Cathedral. The archbishop court was built there long before the Assumption Cathedral when only the Trinity Cathedral was on the territory of the Astrakhan Kremlin. A wooden archbishop house was built at the beginning of 17 century. It was replaced by a stone one in 1677.

The Assumption Cathedral was finished in 1711. The same year a second floor was added to the archbishop house, as well as the Church of the Saviour not Made by Human Hand was also built. The archbishop house was then the largest building in Astrakhan. And besides, it was designed in the single Old Russian architectural style.

During the repair works after the fire of 1778 a third floor in the style of classicism was added to the archbishop house. A fourth floor was added to the house in 19 century. The upper two floors spoiled the appearance of the archbishop house. Currently, the restoration project is underway. It is planned to remove the upper two floors to return the archbishop house the original look of an Old Russian building.