The chief architectural masterpiece of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, which was founded in 1923, is regarded the Church of the Ascension, consecrated in 1532.
As legend has it, the Church was built by order of Vasilii III to celebrate the birth of his long-awaited heir - Tsar to be Ivan IV, upon the project of Italian architect Pietro Annibale.
The building differs essentially from other architectural monuments of that time. It is assumed to be the first stone steepled church in Russia. The height of the church is 62 m; until 1600, it was considered the highest building in the Russian state. It was built of red brick and decorated with white stone elements. The basement has the form of an equal-pointed cross, and the thickness of its walls reaches 2.5-3 m. The Church is fairly small inside, because originally, it was a family chapel and only representatives of the great ducal family could pray in it.
In 1994, the Church of the Ascension entered into the UNESCO World Heritage List.
A surcharge of the new denomination was made on the postage stamp and the museum jubilee logo devoted to the 100th Anniversary of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve is provided on the margins of the postal block.
The overprinted postal block is to be on sale as part of an illustrated cover.
Design Artist: A. Moskovets (block); design: M. Miloradova (surcharge).
Face value: 63 rubles.
Block size: 71×85 mm; stamp size in the block: 30×42 mm.
Quantity: 4.5 thousand blocks.
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