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Russian Orthodox Crosses
Russian Orthodox crosses have their roots is Byzantine
designs from the time Christianity became the official
religion of Russia until the reign of Prince Vladimir
of Kiev in 988A.D. Many Orthodox crosses have been created
duplicating the Byzantine and Russian symbolism. Most
of the Russian crosses are very ornate with the cross
of St.
Andrew depicted in the center of a larger, more
decorative cross.
Types of Russian Orthodox Crosses
† The Kiev Cross: A Byzantine Style Russian Orthodox
Cross with the St. Andrew cross inside the larger Byzantine
cross. It depicts the traditional inscription of Jesus
of Nazareth, King of the Jews at the top and the
symbols IC and XC on the ends of the crossbar, meaning
Jesus Christ. This is a beautiful example of a traditional,
silver Orthodox cross emanating with Byzantine symbolism.
† The St.
Andrew Cross - This is the most well known of the
Russian Orthodox crosses. The three bar cross often
appears etched or in bas relief in larger gold Orthodox
crosses. The traditional story of the origin of the
St. Andrew cross is that St. Andrew arrived in Russia
preaching the word of Jesus. He brought with him a three
barred cross. He explained to the people that the tilted
bottom bar represents two things: the right side tilted
up symbolizes the followers of Christ being raised to
heaven, while the left side, facing down symbolizes
those that reject the words of Jesus will go the the
abyss of Hell.
† St.
Olga Cross -This is another traditional Russian
cross that contains the St. Andrew's cross in the center.
It is in Byzantium style and is named after Olga who
ruled in Kiev after her husband, Igor, was murdered.
She was the mother of Vladimir.
Russian Orthodox Cross Jewelry
All of these historical Russian Orthodox crosses are
available today in the form of a Russian pendant, a
Russian cross necklace, an Orthodox cross, and a gold
Russian Orthodox cross.
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