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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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