Just a glance at the Annunciation Church is enough to understand that you are looking at not just a church, but a significant event in architecture. Today, Vyazniki may seem provincial, but in the past, it was such 'provincial' architectural schools that made Russian art multifaceted and original. Alexey Alexeevich Tits, in his book 'In the Outlying Lands of Vladimir' (1969), wrote: 'This complex, completed in 1683, is very interesting. It reflects the struggle between two artistic concepts: the mid-17th century with its desire for ornamentation and the end of the century with a tendency towards geometric regularity. Picturesqueness and symmetry coexist in this monument, giving it a unique character. The asymmetrical composition of the complex, with the bell tower to the north, the gallery to the west, and the elongated apses to the east, is balanced by the calm volume of the church. The architect, like a sculptor, seems to mold his work from separate volumes. Stonemasons, imitating nature, made the lower parts of the structure more massive and sturdy. The idea of growth and vertical development is also utilized in the Annunciation Cathedral.

The group of volumes of the church is united by a common base, a substructure, where a warm church was located. This base allowed the architects to apply an interesting technique, the 'two-level' apses, where the altar parts of the lower and upper churches are arranged in steps, and the lower apses are elongated to the east. This technique was popular among masters from Gorokhovets, as seen in the Nikolsky Cathedral. Although there is no functional basis for this solution, it enhances aesthetic perception, makes the silhouette of the church more complex and picturesque, and allows for the creation of an expressive facade with minimal decor. This is a memorable 'business card' of the local architectural school. An 'encyclopedia of Russian window frames' could be written about the churches of the ornamentation era: each church is a separate chapter. The northern facade of the Annunciation Cathedral features five types of window frames, but the windows are arranged strictly symmetrically, which is a sign of a new architectural era.