Russian churches. Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Lipetsk. Currently, services are held in the cathedral
Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ- cathedral church of the Latvian Orthodox Church. Located in Riga, on the Esplanade (Brivības Boulevard, 23).
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Construction of the temple[ | ]
At the end of the 18th century, the question arose about the need to build a new Orthodox church, but after lengthy discussions the project was never implemented. Discussions on this topic were returned in 1836, when the opening of a suffragan see of the Pskov diocese in Riga was announced in the Riga Orthodox Church of Peter and Paul, and also in 1850, when an independent Riga diocese was formed and the same church was declared a cathedral.
At the very beginning of the 1870s, the Governor-General of the Baltic region, Prince Bagration, on the advice of his associates, representatives of the Russian population of the Baltic provinces, sent an official petition to the head of the foreign affairs department of the Russian Empire A. M. Gorchakov, in which the idea was formulated about the need to build a temple, with which Gorchakov agreed. After this, Archbishop of Riga and Mitau Veniamin (Karelin) turned to the Orthodox who inhabited the province with a request for donations in favor of the construction of an Orthodox church. At the same time, it is known that on September 1, 1873, the strongest storm in recent times occurred over the provincial capital, and the Church of Peter and Paul was struck by lightning, seriously damaging the bell tower of the temple, breaking the glass in the upper windows and damaging the gilding - probably this circumstance also contributed to resolve the issue of building a new temple as soon as possible. Finally, on April 17, 1874, Russian Emperor Alexander II allocated 900,000 rubles to the Riga diocese for the creation of a new cathedral, which would become a truly representative Orthodox church in the territory of the Livonia Governorate.
Three projects for the future cathedral were sent to Moscow for consideration. One is the project of a young and promising architect Jānis-Fridrikhs Baumanis, the first Latvian architect with a higher architectural education. The second project belonged to the academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Heinrich Schel, who worked in Riga since 1853, the author of many famous buildings in the city. But in the end, in 1875, preference was given to the project of a young but ambitious graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Robert Pflug, who proposed the construction of a temple in the neo-Byzantine style, which partly pursued certain political goals (in the middle of the 19th century, a “war” broke out between the Russian and Ostsee communities in the region monuments" and architectural styles).
It was decided to build the temple on the territory of a free plot - an esplanade, the development of which was formally prohibited. Only in 1902, on the opposite side of the same esplanade, the construction of the Riga Commercial School will begin, which will be carried out by the architect Wilhelm Boxlaff.
The contractors' competition was won by the construction master of the Vilna province, academician N. M. Chagin. The ornamental decoration and stone building details were made in the workshop of August Folz. The consecration of the foundation stone of the cathedral took place on July 3, 1877. Emperor Alexander II donated 12 bells to the temple, the largest of which, in the name of the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, weighed more than 820 pounds. The foundry master who cast the bells was Ksenophon Verevkin, who worked in the workshop of N. D. Finlyandsky in Moscow. To accommodate the donated bells, an additional construction of a bell tower above the entrance to the Orthodox Cathedral was required, which was also financed by the Russian Emperor.
Well-known masters of painting in Russia participated in the design of the interiors of the Nativity Cathedral: the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts P. Shamshin (his brushes belonged to the icons “John the Baptist” and “The Virgin and Child”), as well as academicians K. Wenig and V. V. Vereshchagin. Vereshchagin was the author of the icons of the first tier of the main iconostasis; He also owns the painting of the Royal Doors. In addition, Vereshchagin created the following icons for the Nativity Cathedral: “The Nativity of Christ”, “The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and “St. Alexander Nevsky”. Professor Vasiliev painted icons for the second and third tiers of the iconostasis; he was assisted by artists F. Zhuravlev and A. Korzukhin.
Temple at the beginning of the twentieth century[ | ]
View of the cathedral in 1900
At the beginning of the 20th century, Archpriest V.I. Pliss, who was also a teacher of history, exposing schism and accusatory theology at the Riga Orthodox Theological Seminary, became the rector of the cathedral, and served as the seminary's librarian. During the first decade, the prestige of the temple among the people reached its culmination point, which was also facilitated by the previous rector of the temple, Archpriest V.S. Knyazev, who, being a professor of church and biblical history, being a subtle expert and connoisseur of Orthodox icons and impeccably understanding the peculiarities of the Orthodox Church canonical architecture, instilled in the Russian population of Riga a desire to visit the Church of the Nativity of Christ.
After August 21, 1917, when Riga was occupied by German regular forces for the first time, the occupation administration decided to turn the Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ into a garrison church. In addition, it was decided to cut down parts of the eight-pointed Orthodox cross that adorned the dome of the temple in order to deprive the cross of its symbols of belonging to Orthodoxy. Eyewitnesses claim that at the moment when the German soldier had almost finished cutting off the “extra” crossbars, the autogenous gun slipped out of his hands and sawed off his hand.
The church served as a garrison church until mid-1918, when, during the ongoing revolutionary upheavals in Riga, political power changed several times. At the same time, the Riga government banned worship in the cathedral. When Archbishop John (Pommer) arrived in Latvia at the invitation of the All-Latvian Council of Orthodox Parishes, he found the church in a catastrophic state. The iconostases were destroyed, many valuable things were taken from the temple during several years of the civil war. In order to prevent further desecration of the temple, Archbishop John settled in the basement of the cathedral. He collected and preserved everything that was valuable and that they did not have time to take out of the temple. To heat the temple, as well as the semi-basement room in which the archbishop settled, a stove was built. In general, liturgical life was resumed with difficulty. At first, each service required special permission from the authorities. And only from Christmas 1922 services began to be held daily. The service was performed in Church Slavonic and Latvian.
Closing of the cathedral [ | ]
In post-war Riga, the cathedral remained active until October 5, 1963, when by order of the Riga City Executive Committee it was closed again. The temple was turned into the House of Knowledge: its interior decoration, including paintings, was completely destroyed, interfloor ceilings were installed in the main hall and a planetarium was located, and a cafe was located in the basement. The former Minister of Culture of the Latvian SSR V.I. Kaupuz in an interview in 2010 indicated that the Riga Nativity Cathedral after the war was under the care of the city executive committee, and the remodeling of the temple was initiated by the deputy chairman of the Riga City Executive Committee Reichmanis. As part of the city's campaign to collect non-ferrous metals, he ordered the copper crosses of the cathedral to be cut down, and then the object as a whole was repurposed.
Coordinates:Cathedral of the Birth of Christ in the Ryazan Kremlin (formerly, Assumption Cathedral)- Orthodox Cathedral of the city of Ryazan. Along with the Assumption Cathedral, it is one of the two main churches of the Ryazan Metropolis. It is the first stone building on the territory of the Ryazan Kremlin, and one of the oldest buildings in the Ryazan region that has survived to this day.
It was founded at the end of the 14th century by Grand Duke Oleg Ryazansky on the territory of his court and consecrated as the Assumption Cathedral. When the bishop's see was transferred from Borisov-Glebov to the Kremlin in 1522, the cathedral became a cathedral. After the construction of the new building of the Assumption Cathedral, it was consecrated as the Nativity of Christ.
Story
After the destruction of Ryazan, along with the stone churches, the grand-ducal court was moved to Pereyaslavl, and then the bishop's court moved nearby to the small town of Borisov-Glebov. At that time, all the buildings of Pereyaslavl were wooden, so Grand Duke Oleg Ryazansky began construction of the first stone cathedral. After acquiring the status of a cathedral, each new bishop tried to improve it in some way and bring something new to the architecture of the building. The Nativity Cathedral was rebuilt several times and has survived to this day in the classicist style, in the form that emerged already at the beginning of the 19th century, thanks to the architect Stephenhagen.
The inside of the cathedral had rich decoration, a magnificent carved iconostasis. In 1873-1875, its walls and vaults were painted by the famous Ryazan icon painter N.V. Shumov, on whose initiative the temple also received its completion in the form of an octagonal rotunda with windows - “an octagon on a quadrangle.”
In the XIV-XV centuries, five Ryazan princes and three princesses were buried in the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, and at the beginning of the 19th century - two Ryazan bishops. The cathedral was visited by the following emperors: Alexander I (1819, 1820, 1824); Nicholas I (1832, 1836); Alexander II, being Tsarevich (1837); Nicholas II (1904, 1914).
The last major renovation of the cathedral before its closure was carried out in 1913; since then, Metlakh tiles have remained on the floor.
In 1930, the cathedral was closed and the regional archive was housed in its building. In 2002, the building was returned to the church and consecrated personally by Patriarch Alexy II.
Relics
In 2002, the relics of St. Basil of Ryazan, the first bishop and patron of the Ryazan land, were transferred to the temple. Above the place of his burial you can venerate the shrine containing a piece of his relics. To the right and left of the pulpit are the venerable relics of the 19th century Ryazan saints Gabriel (Gorodkov) and Meletius (Yakimov) in crayfish. There are reliquaries with particles of the relics of many Ryazan saints and 84 venerable fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk. In addition, the cathedral also contains: part of the Robe of the Lord, particles of the relics of the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, St. Seraphim of Sarov, Blessed Matrona of Moscow and other numerous shrines available for worship.
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Excerpt characterizing the Nativity Cathedral (Ryazan)
“If you know how to force us to serve the church, then why are you burning us?!..” I ventured to ask. – After all, what we possess cannot be purchased for any money. Why don't you appreciate this? Why do you continue to destroy us? If you wanted to learn something, why not ask to teach you?..– Because it is useless to try to change what you already think, Madonna. I can’t change you or people like you... I can only scare you. Or kill. But this will not give me what I have dreamed of for so long. Anna is still very young, and she can be taught to love the Lord without taking away her amazing Gift. It is useless for you to do this, because even if you swear to me your faith in Him, I will not believe you.
“And you will be absolutely right, Your Holiness,” I said calmly.
Karaffa stood up, preparing to leave.
– Just one question, and I beg you to answer it... if you can. Your defense, is she from the same monastery?
“Just like your youth, Isidora...” Karaffa smiled. - I'll be back in an hour.
This means that I was right - he received his strange “impenetrable” protection there, in Meteora!!! But why then didn’t my father know her?! Or was Caraffa there much later? And then suddenly another thought struck me!.. Youth!!! That's what I wanted, but I didn't get Karaffa! Apparently he had heard a lot about how long real Witches and Sorcerers live and how they leave “physical” life. And he wildly wanted to get this for himself... in order to have time to burn out the remaining “disobedient” half of existing Europe, and then rule over the rest, portraying a “holy righteous man” who mercifully descended on the “sinful” earth to save our “lost souls.”
It was true - we could live a long time. Even for too long... And they “left” when they were truly tired of living, or believed that they could no longer help anyone. The secret of longevity was passed on from parents to children, then to grandchildren, and so on, until at least one exceptionally gifted child remained in the family who could adopt it... But not every hereditary Sorcerer or Witch was given immortality. It required special qualities, which, unfortunately, not all gifted descendants were awarded. It depended on the strength of spirit, purity of heart, “mobility” of the body, and most importantly, on the height of the level of their soul... well, and much more. And I think it was right. Because for those who longed to learn everything that we - the real Sages - could do, simple human life, unfortunately, was not enough for this. Well, those who didn’t want to know so much didn’t need a long life. Therefore, such a strict selection, I think, was absolutely correct. And Caraffa wanted the same. He considered himself worthy...
My hair started to stand up when I just thought about what this evil man could have done on Earth if he had lived as long as he did!..
But all these worries could be left for later. In the meantime, Anna was here!.. And everything else didn’t matter. I turned around - she was standing, not taking her huge radiant eyes off me!.. And at that same moment I forgot about Caraffa, and about the monastery, and about everything else in the world!.. Having rushed into my open arms, my poor the baby froze, endlessly repeating only one single word: “Mom, mommy, mom...”.
I stroked her long silky hair, inhaling its new, unfamiliar aroma and hugging her fragile thin body to me, I was ready to die right now, if only this wonderful moment would not be interrupted...
Anna frantically clung to me, clinging tightly to me with her thin little hands, as if wanting to dissolve, hide in me from the world that had suddenly become so monstrous and unfamiliar... which was once bright and kind and so dear to her!..
Why were we given this horror?!.. What did we do to deserve all this pain?.. There were no answers to this... Yes, there probably couldn’t have been.
I was afraid until I lost consciousness for my poor baby!.. Even at her early age, Anna was a very strong and bright personality. She never compromised and never gave up, fighting to the end despite the circumstances. And I wasn't afraid of anything...
“To be afraid of something is to accept the possibility of defeat. Don’t let fear into your heart, dear” – Anna learned her father’s lessons well...
The Nativity Cathedral is not only the main Orthodox church of Lipetsk, but also the real spiritual center of the city, one of its symbols. From an architectural point of view, this is undoubtedly the main dominant feature in the city landscape. The construction of the temple was initiated by Empress Catherine II, and the building project was developed by the Italian architect Tomaso Adalini.
Construction of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity of Christ began during the life of the Empress, in 1791, and was completed 11 years later. The temple stood for less than a year and was soon badly damaged as a result of a strong fire that destroyed all the wooden elements. By 1805, the church was completely restored, and in 1807 the solemn consecration of the main altar took place in honor of the Nativity of Christ. In 1825-1835, the cathedral bell tower was built, made in the style of classicism. At the end of the 19th century, eight bells hung on it, the largest of which weighed 489 pounds. A few more years later, the bell tower and the main volume of the cathedral were connected by a refectory.
In 1931, the cathedral was closed, and the question of its demolition arose due to its disrepair, but in order to save the architectural monument, it was decided to house a local history museum in the building. It was possible to defend the cathedral then with the active participation of the chief architect of the region. In 1991, the cathedral was returned to the diocese.
Nativity of Christ Cathedral
The Nativity of Christ Cathedral is located on the central square called Sobornaya, in the city of Lipetsk, its architect was Tommaso Adolini.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1791, and the construction of the temple part of the Nativity Cathedral was completed in 1803.
A fire occurred in the not yet consecrated church, it destroyed all the wooden parts of the cathedral, and the building itself was severely burned due to the fire. After which the temple was opened in 1805, and already on June 20, 1805, the throne of the renewed temple in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was consecrated.
In 1842, the church cathedral was built, all decrees were from Empress Catherine Alekseevna, but already in 1931 the cathedral was closed due to the fact that the main square of the city was created. But so that the city’s monument would not be lost, the Lipetsk Museum of Local Lore was placed in its building.
And soon, in 1991, the temple was given to believers, and it became a cathedral.
Address: Lipetsk, Cathedral Square
Years of construction: 1791-1805 - cathedral, 1825-1835 - bell tower, 1840-1842 - refectory
Architect: Tommaso Adolini
Style: Empire
The Nativity of Christ Cathedral is an Orthodox church located on the central square of the city of Lipetsk - Sobornaya. Architect - Tommaso Adolini.
The construction of the temple was completed in 1842. The cathedral was built by decree of Empress Catherine Alekseevna, with the blessing of the Holy Synod and His Eminence Innocent, Bishop of Voronezh.
According to the traditional point of view, the construction of the stone cathedral Church of the Nativity began in 1791. The construction of the temple part of the Nativity Cathedral was basically completed by 1803, but it was not possible to consecrate the built temple immediately: a fire occurred, during which all the wooden parts of the cathedral burned, and the main volume of the building was also badly damaged. By 1805, the cathedral church was reopened through the zeal of many benefactors, and on June 20, 1805, the first altar of the new church was consecrated - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
The main cathedral throne in honor of the Nativity of Christ was consecrated on May 25, 1807. It was from this time that the function of the cathedral church of Lipetsk passed to the Church of the Nativity from the Church of the Ascension, which stood on the current Theater Square. The third altar in the temple part (right, in the southern aisle) was consecrated in 1816.
In 1822, a decision was made to erect a cathedral bell tower, designed in a strict classical style. Its construction began in 1825 and was completed in 1835. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were eight bells in the bell tower of the Nativity Cathedral. The largest, weighing 489 pounds and cast in 1859, was cast in 1900.
After the construction of the bell tower, there was a rather long break in the construction of the cathedral. And only when the volumes of the bell tower and the temple part, different in height and weight, stabilized, the construction of the refectory began. The stone refectory was added in 1840-1842, the work was supervised by Archpriest Andrei Ivanovich Kalugin. Two altars in the refectory church were consecrated in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria in 1841 (left) and the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord in 1842 (right). The construction of the main cathedral church of Lipetsk was completed with the construction of the refectory and the consecration of the thrones.
In 1922, church valuables were removed from the temple.
From the report of the Lipetsk Regional Committee for March 1922: “The campaign to confiscate church valuables was carried out in the city and district from mid-March. The confiscation occurred without incident; there was one small outbreak during the confiscation of valuables from the Cathedral. A crowd of believers, mainly women, gathered; when 6 horsemen appeared, they fled, after which they began to confiscate valuables; in the rest of the churches of the city and district, the work proceeded well.”
In 1931 the cathedral was closed. During Soviet times, the temple began to fall into disrepair. Therefore, when creating the main square of the city - Lenin Square (now the Cathedral Square), the question arose about its demolition. In order not to lose the architectural monument, the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore was located within its walls (the chief architect of the Lipetsk region, L. E. Rudakov, was an active opponent of the demolition).
In December 1970, at the 30-meter height of the cathedral's bell tower, the Lipetsk chimes were installed and launched. The clock mechanism with music was manufactured at the Petrodvorets Watch Factory. The dial was designed by Lipetsk resident V.I. Neminushchy.
In 1991, the temple was returned to believers. Then it became a cathedral.