Petrok Maly, also known as Petrok Maly Fryazin (, lit. Peter Junior) (? - ), was an Italian architect, who arrived in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

together with the envoys of

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

in 1528. He was likely born Pietro Annibale in Italy, and worked as an architect by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. He would have lost his secure employment with the Sack of Rome in 1527. There was a demand for builders in Muscovy, and he traveled there with the Pope's support. His work in Russia includes the 1532 construction of the Ascension Church in

Kolomenskoye Kolomenskoye () is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna (hence the name). The 390 hectare scenic area overlooks the steep ...

(the true architect's identity is still contested), one of the earliest Russian churches showing

tented roof A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hip roof, hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak.W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious archite ...

design. In 1533, Petrok Maly was commissioned to build the so-called Kitai-gorod wall, the construction of which would be finished in 1538. The 2.6-km wall originally featured 12 towers and four gates.

In 1539 turmoil at the royal court after the death of Elena Glinskaya led Maly to flee to

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, where he told his story to the Bishop of Dorpat (

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maly, Petrok 16th-century Italian architects Architects from Moscow