The Mirovarya Chamber of the Patriarchal Palace in the Moscow Kremlin, also known as the Mirovarya or Cross Chamber, is one of the two main halls of the building constructed between 1635 and 1656.

The central element of this room is a huge oil-pressing oven, which from 1763 to 1917 was the only place for this rite in Russia.

According to the Bible, the Lord told Moses to take the best fragrant substances: five hundred shekels of myrrh, two hundred fifty shekels of cinnamon, two hundred fifty shekels of cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, and olive oil, to create the holy anointing oil. This oil must be prepared by a skilled artisan and used for sacred anointing.

By the decision of the church council in 1675, the oil-pressing was conducted exclusively in Moscow, once every two to three years, during Holy Week of Great Lent. The holy oil was used during baptisms, the consecration of new churches, coronation, and anointing.

The ceremony of consecrating the components of the oil began on Wednesday of the Cross Veneration Week after the service to the Life-Giving Cross. The oil-pressing was completed during Holy Week, when the oil was boiled from Great Monday to Great Wednesday in silver cauldrons, accompanied by continuous reading of the Gospel. Then fragrant ingredients were added to the oil and poured into 12 silver vessels, known as kungans, symbolizing the 12 apostles. The consecration of the holy oil took place on Great Thursday in the Assumption Cathedral. During the ceremony, several drops of previously consecrated oil from a small vessel, an alabaster, were added to each of the 12 vessels. The newly pressed oil replenished the alabaster, symbolizing the continuity of the sacraments in the Orthodox Church. The consecrated oil was solemnly transported from the Assumption Cathedral back to the Patriarchal Palace and stored in the altar of the Church of the Twelve Apostles in silver vessels. From there, it was distributed through the archbishops to all Orthodox churches in the country.