Holy Dormition Cathedral of Smolensk. Holy Assumption Cathedral in Vitebsk (upper church) Resurrection from the ashes
The Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk is both the main cathedral of the city and a monument symbolizing its heroic and turbulent history, and, together with the rest of the buildings of the Cathedral Hill, a luxurious architectural ensemble, which is the main dominant feature of Smolensk, its symbol and decoration. If you don’t visit here, it means you won’t see the city. And therefore, first of all, we go to the Holy Assumption Cathedral.
1. The ensemble of Cathedral Hill in the form in which it exists today was formed mainly by the middle of the 18th century. How good it is that historical center There are no multi-storey buildings in Smolensk! Thanks to this, the turquoise and white stucco cathedral is clearly visible from almost anywhere in the city, and even from trains passing through Smolensk. On the left is the Assumption Cathedral, on the right is the gateway Epiphany Cathedral, built in different years, but in the same style - Baroque. You can get to the top of the Cathedral Hill by passing under the arch of the gateway Epiphany Cathedral, built in 1787, or along the stairs from Bolshaya Sovetskaya.
2. At the end of the 11th century, Smolensk became an appanage city of the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise - Vladimir Monomakh. The prince attached great importance to Smolensk. In 1101, he founded a large stone cathedral here in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Vladimir Monomakh took part in the consecration of the cathedral and at the same time placed in it the image of the Mother of God Hodegetria. By the 40s of the 12th century, an ancient architectural ensemble had formed on Cathedral Hill.
3. On Cathedral Hill there is not only the ensemble of the Assumption Cathedral, but also the complex of the bishop's courtyard.
4. Until the beginning of the 17th century, despite the turbulent historical events that took place in Smolensk, the cathedral retained original appearance. In 1609, the Polish king Sigismund launched a military campaign against Russia. In September of the same year, the Polish army besieged Smolensk. The heroic defense of the city lasted 20 months. During the assault, the powder magazines located in the thickness of the Cathedral Mountain were blown up. The explosion destroyed almost the entire top of the cathedral. The Poles covered the building with boards and built a church in it.
5. After the return of Smolensk, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, taking care of the construction of Orthodox churches in the cities returned from Poland, on November 30, 1676, sent Smolensk Archbishop Simeon a plan for the construction of the Smolensk Assumption Cathedral on the site of the former church. On August 2, 1677, the cathedral was founded. Construction work proceeded quite quickly at first. But since 1679, the construction of the temple was suspended and only resumed in 1728. The author of the project for the completion of the cathedral is considered to be the architect Anton Ivanovich Shedel. On August 13, 1740, the cathedral was consecrated. But its fragility was revealed almost immediately: dangerous cracks appeared in the vaults and domes. It was decided to replace the plank roof with a tin one.
6. By 1760, the architect Pyotr Obukhov rebuilt the domes of the cathedral. He removed the seven-domed crown and crowned the cathedral with a traditional five-domed dome; instead of a large stone dome, he installed a wooden one.
7. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the cathedral went through difficult times. He miraculously survived the Patriotic War of 1812. Having taken Smolensk, the French not only did not destroy the temple, but also guarded it. Only the helmet of the patron saint of Smolensk, Saint Mercury, has disappeared. During the Great Patriotic War, the cathedral also survived, but forever lost its main shrine - the Smolensk miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria".
8. Forged gates leading to the cathedral courtyard.
9. An elegant two-tier bell tower was erected at the northwestern corner of the cathedral in 1766-1772. It has a convex roof with a dome and two floors, the lower of which was built on the remains of a 17th-century bell tower. The stone fence around the Assumption Cathedral and the upper part of the granite staircase were built simultaneously with the bell tower (60-70s of the 18th century).
10. An extension for the clock adjoins the eastern wall of the bell tower. The watch was made in 1791 by Smolensk master V. Sokolov.
11. Detail of the decoration of the bell tower.
12. On the turquoise facades of the cathedral and bell tower there is an abundance of white baroque decor.
13. Near the bell tower there is an ancient bell on a wooden stand. The date on it is 1636.
14. On both sides of the entrance to the cathedral there are signs telling about heroic story Smolensk: "The architectural monument of the Assumption Cathedral. Erected as a monument to the heroic defense of Smolensk in 1609-1611. Its construction began in 1677 by Moscow stone mason apprentice Alexei Korolkov. In 1679, the eastern wall collapsed during construction. Work stopped. Construction of the cathedral was completed in 1732 -1740 according to the design of the architect A.I. Shedel.
15. The cathedral stores many unique items. Its main shrines are the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria", the sandals of Saint Mercury, the patron saint of Smolensk, the embroidered shroud "Entombment".
The five-tiered iconostasis of the cathedral was made in the 1730-40s by the Ukrainian carver S. Trusitsky with assistants P. Durnitsky, F. Olitsky and S. Yakovlev. The icons were probably painted by the same masters. The iconostasis is an outstanding monument of Baroque architecture.
16. It is not known exactly how the ancient icon “Hodegetria” came to Rus'. According to legend, she was brought by the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, who was married to Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich. The Byzantine princess and the Russian prince had a son, Vladimir, and a daughter, Yanka. After the death of his parents, the icon passed to Vladimir Monomakh. It was he who brought it to Smolensk at the beginning of the 12th century and placed it in the new cathedral. Then it began to be called “Smolenskaya”.
The image was miraculous. One of the main miracles was the deliverance of the city from Batu’s invasion in 1239. At the behest of the icon, the righteous warrior Mercury went to the enemy camp and saved Smolensk at the cost of his life. Mercury was canonized and buried in the cathedral church.
In 1941, in place of the missing icon, the image of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” (1602), brought by Boris Godunov, was installed. Now this icon is located on the right side of the cathedral; two cast-iron stairs lead to it, converging on a cast-iron platform near the icon.
17. In the left support column there is another shrine of the Smolensk Cathedral - the shroud "Entombment". As the inscription embroidered on it at the feet of Christ says, the shroud was embroidered in the workshops of Euphrosyne Staritskaya in 1561. Princess Staritskaya, the aunt of Ivan the Terrible, was involved in a conspiracy against Ivan. In 1563, she was exiled to the Goritsky monastery near Kirillov. In addition to this shroud, two more have been preserved, from Staritskaya’s workshops - one in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (1561), the second in the Russian Museum (1560).
The Shroud, located in the Assumption Cathedral, was the princess's contribution to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. From it, along with other valuables, the shroud was stolen by the French in 1812 and sent to France. Smolensk partisans recaptured Napoleonic convoys and, as a reward for this, the shroud was granted to the Smolensk Assumption Cathedral.
22. June 9-12 became special days for the Holy Assumption Cathedral. A particle of relics was delivered to the cathedral - the right hand of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, and a miraculous icon.
23. The ark with the relics was accompanied by a delegation of Athonite monks from the Xenophon monastery. They also accepted notes from believers in the courtyard of the cathedral.
24. On Cathedral Hill, in the souvenir shop you can buy icons, books, and booklets.
25. View from the Assumption Cathedral to the Resurrection Monastery.
27. Staircase leading from the cathedral. To the right is the monument to Kutuzov and the parking lot, to the left is Bolshaya Sovetskaya.
29. Behind the walls of the cathedral...
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30. View of the bell tower and the Assumption Cathedral.
33. It is interesting that historically the Cathedral Mountain complex begins not with the cathedral, but with observation deck in the eastern part. There was once a princely tower here, built in the middle of the 12th century, presumably by Prince Rostislav.
Parish of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Vitebsk, Vitebsk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
Address: 210 026 Vitebsk, st. Krylova, 9.
Tel.: (0212) 662 853.
Story.
The first documentary evidence of the existence Orthodox Church Holy Mother of God on Lysaya (Prechistenskaya) Mountain, at the confluence of Vitba and Western Dvina, dates back to 1406. And by the beginning of the 15th century, the newly built Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared, and the dominant height in the city was named Assumption Mountain.
By that time the church was already covered with stone.
Following the verdict of the Polish court regarding the murder of Uniate Bishop Josaphat Kuntsevich, the Assumption Church was dismantled, 20 people were executed, and the city was deprived of Magdeburg rights and all privileges.
A few years later, with the money collected, the residents of Vitebsk restored the wooden church, but in 1629 it burned down. In 1636, a new Assumption Church was built, but half a century later it fell into disrepair.
In 1743, the brick building of the temple and monastery was laid. The author of the project was the Italian architect Joseph Fontana.
The temple was completed after the partition of Poland through the efforts of the Russian Orthodox Governor-General Chernyshev and the civil governor Krechetov and was completed in 1777. In 1799, the Assumption Cathedral by order
Paul I was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Orthodox. On August 30, 1799, the cathedral was consecrated with a new rite by the Belarusian Bishop Anastasy. In 1804, a dome was installed on the cathedral. In 1839, a solemn service took place in the church on the occasion of the return of the Uniates to Orthodoxy. In 1864, a chapel in the name of St. was built in one of the towers of the cathedral. Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk.
The complex with the cathedral included the buildings of the Vitebsk Theological Seminary. After October 1917, the seminary and cathedral in Vitebsk were closed. By the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the BSSR dated July 5, 1926, the Assumption Cathedral was declared the state property of the republic, which did not prevent one of the most beautiful churches of White Rus', the spiritual shrine of Vitebsk, from being blown up in September 1936.
In 1949, a huge workshop for a sharpening machine factory was built on the site of the cathedral. The complete blasphemy did not bring any good; the plant fell into disrepair and ceased to exist even under its builders. In the 80s, the building was abandoned and only demolished in the summer of 1998.
In space and time, the Holy Assumption Cathedral has passed its historical path. He died in fire and was reborn, destroyed by the hands of Gentiles and rose again.
On September 26, 1998, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow laid a capsule with a commemorative letter and consecrated the first stone for the restoration of the cathedral.
The idea of reviving the Holy Assumption Cathedral in the 90s of the last century was supported by the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko.
Construction work began in June 2000. By the winter of 2004, builders began re-coating the basement floor to avoid the negative impact of winter weather. weather conditions and save high quality completed amount of work. The construction headquarters for the revival of the Holy Assumption Cathedral was active from the very beginning. Vladimir Leonidovich Polovtsev, an experienced construction specialist, considered the revival of the temple his sacred duty. The cathedral's board of trustees was headed by the chairman of the regional Council of Deputies, Alexander Egorovich Atyasov.
In the ancient Russian city of Tula, so famous for its skilled gunsmiths, samovars and gingerbread, there is a wonderful temple, the main chapel of which is consecrated in honor of the great holiday - the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What brought it great fame was not the antiquity of the building (it was erected a little over a century ago) or the famous names of historical figures who visited its walls, but its remarkable architecture, which put it on a par with the best monuments temple architecture of Russia.
The care of the Empress Mother
In 1791, the pious Empress Catherine II ordered money to be allocated for the reconstruction of the monastery of the same name in the glorious city of Tula, which was very dilapidated by that time. These funds came at a very opportune time, since the old building, who knows when it was built (no documents have been preserved), had fallen into complete disrepair. Over many years, the walls of this two-story building sank into the ground so much that on rainy autumn and spring days the first floor was mercilessly flooded with water.
In 1792, it was dismantled and a new one was erected in the same place, also made of stone, but one-story and with three aisles. The work was supervised by the Tula civil governor Andrei Ivanovich Lopukhin. It served people and God until 1857, when it also began to show signs of decay, somewhat strange for stone structure, which did not last even seventy years. However, measures were taken: the building was strengthened and expanded, which is why, as is clear from the documents, it fell into an even worse state. It’s a common thing - we wanted the best, but it turned out...
Cathedral - beauty and wonder
However, they did not lose heart, but waited another forty years and, having received their blessing, dismantled the temple to its foundations. At the beginning of the next century, or rather in 1902, a new building was erected in its place. This time the result was a truly beautiful temple, known today as the Assumption Cathedral (Tula). The combination of red brick walls and black domes topped with golden crosses and crescents was found very successfully. Two-story, built in pseudo-Russian style and richly decorated, it has become a real decoration that Tula is rightfully proud of.
The Assumption Cathedral is also famous for its paintings interior spaces. It accurately reproduces the frescoes made by Viktor Vasnetsov when he decorated the famous Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. The level of execution is so high that it suggests the participation in their creation of masters who were previously involved in painting the Kyiv Cathedral. Work on them was completed in 1909, as evidenced by the inscription on one of the walls that has survived to this day.
Age of Destruction
The Bolsheviks, who seized power in 1917, abolished the monastery, its inhabitants were dispersed, and the Assumption Cathedral (Tula) was closed. Since the primary task was to destroy everything that had been created before, and, as it is said in their hymn, “to the foundations,” they destroyed it without hesitation. Hundreds of masterpieces of Russian temple architecture perished irrevocably in those years, but in defiance of their evil will the Assumption Cathedral (Tula) survived.
In the thirties, they repeatedly tried to blow it up, but the walls, covered with gunpowder soot, stubbornly refused to give up. This was all the more surprising since two buildings that had previously been erected on this site fell into premature disrepair and threatened to collapse without any explosions. One can only guess: whether the diligence of the builders of this “third temple” gave its walls such unprecedented strength or whether the Lord did not allow the dirty deed to happen and thanks to Him ancient Tula did not part with its shrine.
The Assumption Cathedral survived, and, having failed to destroy it, the city authorities decided to use the building for their own purely secular purposes - they placed an archive within its walls. But since the Soviet institution could not be under the shadow of domes and crosses, which were, as they said then, a relic of the past, they were demolished, hopelessly violating the harmony of the entire architectural composition.
The difficult process of reviving the shrine
Uspensky cathedral photo which are presented in the article, as a result of new trends brought with it by perestroika, was returned to believers, but this process turned out to be long and complex. At the end of the eighties, it was possible to reconstruct the facade of the building, and, despite the fact that it still housed an archive, install domes and crosses destroyed in the thirties on the roof. The appearance of the building began to resemble in many ways what it was like on the eve of the 1917 disaster.
Only in September 2006, when all the formalities were settled, did ancient Tula regain its shrine. After many decades, the Assumption Cathedral again became the property of the church. In January of the following year, the diocesan bishop, Metropolitan Alexy, consecrated his lower warm church, and in May the upper church was also consecrated. This event is considered to be the day of completion of restoration work and the beginning of a new era in the life of the cathedral.
Temple today
Today, this magnificent monument of temple architecture of the early 20th century is visited daily by parishioners of the temple and numerous tourists, who are received in large numbers by hospitable Tula. The Assumption Cathedral attracts them not only for its amazing architecture, but by the significance that it acquired in the spiritual life of the region.
Among its shrines are particles of the relics of many saints who glorified the Lord with their lives and deaths. Here you can also venerate the image of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has gained fame through many miracles revealed through prayers before it, as well as many other holy images for which the Assumption Cathedral in Tula is famous. The schedule of services held in it can be seen on the doors of the temple and on its Internet sites.
Temple opening hours
IN weekdays The Divine Liturgy is celebrated at 8:00, and evening services begin at 17:00. On holidays and weekends the schedule changes slightly. Early mass is celebrated at 7:00, and late mass at 10:00. Evening services begin in the same way as on ordinary days - at 17:00. Additional information for everyone who wants to visit the Assumption Cathedral (Tula) - address: st. Mendeleeva, 13 (liter L).
Holy Assumption Cathedral in Tula
Abbot
Dean of the churches of the city of Tula, Archpriest Sergius Rezukhin
The main altar of the temple, other chapels
Throne in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Schedule of services
Worship services are held daily
Main events of the year
Patronal holidays
Bishop's services
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
“In terms of its architecture, it is not of artistic interest...” - this is exactly how the Assumption Church was assessed, for example, in a guide to Tula, published in 1973. In that book, only three lines are given to her. Where did this assessment come from, and what actually is the architectural and artistic value of the temple?
In Soviet times, the state ideology of the era of Nicholas I in general and the Uvarov triad in particular were considered unambiguously “reactionary.” Most Soviet art historians, for purely ideological reasons, refused to recognize churches built in the Russian and Byzantine styles as architectural monuments.
When talking about these styles, Soviet art criticism added the derogatory prefixes “pseudo-” and “false-” to the words “Russian” and “Byzantine”. This “scientific” assessment was very convenient for many. It’s not a monument, which means it doesn’t need to be protected and can be demolished. The Assumption Church avoided this fate only because it became a repository of archival documents.
In V. Uklein’s book “Tula - the Stone Chronicle” (1984) we read: “Its architecture reeks of official coldness, ossified dogma, scholastic rigidity and academic boredom. You won’t see any number of motifs from ancient Russian architecture in the decoration of church facades. There are columns with “intercepts” and “bumpy” capitals, “hanging” weights above the main western portal, whole rows of flies, and an arch with a keeled end.
In the words of the famous art critic V.V. Stasov, there is “a whole pound of Russian” and, we say, not a spool of warmth, spontaneity, enchanting compositional freedom, picturesqueness and unobtrusive beauty characteristic of truly ancient Russian art.
But the church of the former nunnery also conceals something extremely valuable, especially for local builders. Not a single Tula building can even remotely compare with the Assumption Church in the excellent quality of the brick and the virtuosity of the brickwork.”
In the opinion of modern experts in the field of art history and architecture, churches built in the Russian and Byzantine styles in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries are a successful attempt to revive national architecture in new historical conditions, taking into account the requirements of the time. And was it possible at the end of the 19th century to apply spatial compositional solutions to buildings that were three to five hundred years old? (Are buildings in the style of Russian classicism really an exact copy of the ancient Greek Acropolis?) So they took mainly decorative elements from ancient Russian architecture.
Temples in the Byzantine and Russian style are much more Russian than the masterpieces of Baroque and Classicism built in our country in the 18th - early XIX century.
The architectural temples of the former Assumption Convent, located next to the Tula Kremlin, are visually known to every Tula resident. The first one is white, with columns, in a classic style. The second one is made of red brick, in Russian style. Two churches and a small brick house near them are all that remains of the Tula Assumption Convent.
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The Assumption Church was built in the Russian style. Interestingly, her original, unrealized project has been preserved. It is close to the built temple, but provides slightly different decorative and plastic elements.
Thus, when the project was approved and during the construction process, Gothic decorative elements were abandoned - for example, pointed window frames on drums. They also did not make a horizontal three-part division of the facades with windows - in the case of such a division, the building would seem to be three-story.
The walls of the upper church were painted in 1909. There is an inscription on the wall of the upper church: “In 1909, through the diligence of the abbess, Abbess Magdalene, and with the help of benefactors, this cathedral church was decorated with wall paintings and ornaments.” This painting, according to P.P. Lozinsky, - copies from the frescoes of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, painted in 1885-1890. Viktor Vasnetsov.
Since the mid-19th century, Russian architects increasingly turned to cultural heritage Byzantium and Ancient Rus'. This was explained by the search for a national style in architecture. The ideological basis for such searches was the famous triad of Count Uvarov: “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.”
Let us turn to the assessments given to the Assumption Church by Tula architects.
Honored Architect of Russia V.V. Kulikov in 1987 in the newspaper “Kommunar” notes the saturation of the facades of the temple with elements of white stone and profiled brick, high level construction work, “a very successful acoustic solution and interior lighting due to windows and a stream of light penetrating through the central drum, which creates the impression of a visual increase in space.” He also classifies the temple as pseudo-Russian architecture.
Or you can look at the Assumption Church “biasedly” - from the position of the need to preserve Russian national culture. The churches built in the Russian and Byzantine style in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, in my opinion, are a successful attempt to revive national architecture in new historical conditions, taking into account the requirements of the time. And was it possible at the end of the 19th century to apply spatial compositional solutions to buildings that were three to five hundred years old? (Are buildings in the style of Russian classicism really an exact copy of the ancient Greek Acropolis?) So they took mainly decorative elements from ancient Russian architecture. Temples in the Byzantine and Russian style are much more Russian than the masterpieces of Baroque and Classicism built in our country in the 18th - early 19th centuries.
HISTORY OF THE PARISH
Women's monastery: from intention to implementation
The temples of the former Assumption Convent, located next to the Tula Kremlin, are visually known to every Tula resident. The first one is white, with columns, in a classic style. The second one is made of red brick, in the Russian style. Two churches and a small brick house near them are all that remains of the Tula Assumption Convent.
The idea of founding a convent in Tula belonged to Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible. The scribe book for the city of Tula for the years 1587-1589 states that “according to the Sovereign Tsarev and the Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia, the Tula scribes Ivan Olekseevich Zherebtsov and the deacon Ivan Meshaev ordered the Old settlement, which is the mouth of the river (i.e., opposite the mouth of the river) Tulitsy, died out for a new nunnery" area 70 by 30 fathoms (translated into the metric system -150 by 64 m). The old settlement is the site where the Tula Arms Factory is located today.
However, construction did not begin in the near future. And in 1598 Tsar Fedor died. Then there was no time for the construction of monasteries: the Time of Troubles, the interregnum. The monastery arose much later - under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
In the scribal book of Prince Vadbolsky (1685), when describing the “wooden city” in Tula (the territory between the Kremlin and modern Sovetskaya Street), the “maiden monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the building of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, all great and small and White” is mentioned Russia of the Autocrat".
An exact indication of when exactly the Assumption Monastery was built has not been found. However, in the “Extract from the built Tula books” of the steward Trofim Khrushchov, who built the Tula settlement, this monastery is mentioned several times in 1649.
Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne in 1645. If the monastery already existed in 1649, it means that it was founded between these two dates.
Main monastery church
The time of construction of the first, main church of the monastery is not precisely established. From documents of the 18th century it is clear that it was a stone two-story building. On the upper floor there was a throne in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a chapel in the name of St. Alexander of Svirsky, on the lower floor there was a throne in honor of the Burning Bush icon of the Mother of God and a chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Over time, the building became dilapidated and began to sink into the ground; in the spring and on rainy days, the first floor was flooded with water. The church was dismantled in 1791-1792. They built a new one, stone, one-story - with money allocated from the treasury of Catherine II, under the care of the Tula civil governor Andrei Ivanovich Lopukhin.
The main altar was consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the southern chapel was dedicated to the Burning Bush icon, and the northern chapel to Alexander Svirsky.
In 1857, the temple, which had already fallen into a rather dilapidated state, was expanded, which did not benefit it: the deterioration accelerated.
In 1899, they began to dismantle this church; by 1902, a new two-story building was erected in its place, which has survived to this day.
The cathedral that has survived to this day
The lower warm church with one altar in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene and the great martyr and healer Panteleimon was consecrated on October 24, 1902; the upper one, with the main altar of the Assumption, was consecrated on June 28, 1904, and the chapels of the upper church - in the name of the Burning Bush icon and in the name of St. Alexander of Svirsky - respectively, on July 11, 1910 and July 3, 1911.
In the State Archive Tula region the “Case of the construction of a stone temple at the Tula Assumption” is stored convent", begun on January 26, 1899, completed on October 3, 1907. "The Case ..." contains reports and petitions of the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Magdalene, addressed to Archbishop Pitirim of Tula and Belevsky and to the spiritual consistory, as well as corresponding resolutions. As with any construction, financial, supply, and ethical issues arose.
From the report of Mother Superior Magdalene dated February 23, 1899 (this was the time of preparation for the construction of a new church): “The decree of the Holy Synod of July 17, 1866 depicts that with the permission<...>The bishop can organize circles on pillars to collect voluntary donations in churches, as well as in chapels.
Taking into account that the construction of a new church in the monastery that I am undertaking requires very significant funds, of which there are insufficient quantities available, and hoping to attract such lovers of the splendor of the house of God who are embarrassed to openly give their small donations to participate in donations for the construction of the temple, I most humbly I ask Your Eminence to allow me to set up a circle on the monastery fence near the Holy Gates to collect voluntary donations for the construction of the temple<...>.
I take it upon my responsibility to monitor the integrity and inviolability of the mug and the offerings collected in it, for which I undertake to remove this mug every evening, before the onset of nighttime, and at the end of each month to pour out the donations contained in it and timely enter them into the receipt and expenditure books " As can be seen from further documents, the circle fee turned out to be quite significant.
A report from Mother Superior Magdalene dated April 1899 states that the ditch for the foundation of the new church will pass through the old graves, “five in number.” And then - about the attitude towards the “father's coffins”, which took place in the 19th century and, unfortunately, was lost in the 20th century.
The abbess writes to Archbishop Pitirim: “Although these graves contain the remains of long-dead dead, nevertheless, it may happen that when they are dug up, the bones and parts of the coffins may not yet be completely decayed; why do I take the liberty to humbly ask Your Eminence:
A) allow me to excavate the graves located on the site of the foundation of the future church;
b) put the mortal remains collected in them into a common coffin and, after a memorial service has been performed over them, bury them in the middle of the future church;
c) the existing monuments at some graves should be placed in the wall ground floor of the new temple so that the inscription about the rank of those buried was visible from inside the temple.”
And here is a brief “financial report” - excerpts from the report of Abbess Magdalena dated September 6, 1907: “Funds specially collected for this item were used for the construction of the new temple, 57 thousand, donations from the Tula merchant Dimitry Yakovlevich Vanykin 25 thousand, received during construction from various benefactors 32 thousand, collected through subscription lists, collection circles, for the funeral reading of the psalter and for the designated places for graves in the monastery fence 19 thousand.”
Tula benefactors did a lot for the new temple. Thus, its marble iconostasis was a donation from Nadezhda Ugrenovich. Two silver crosses and sacred vessels were donated to the temple by people who wished to remain anonymous. Lyubov Ivanovna Trukhina (née Lomova) donated a chandelier hung in the center of the temple.
Prepared using materials from Natalia Kirilenko’s book “Temples of the City of Tula” (Tula, 2010).
ADDITIONALLY
The temples of the former Assumption Convent, located next to the Tula Kremlin, are visually known to every Tula resident. The first one is white, with columns, in a classic style. The second one is made of red brick, in Russian style. Two churches and a small brick house near them are all that remains of the Tula Assumption Convent.
The idea of founding a convent in Tula belonged to Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible. The scribe book for the city of Tula for the years 1587-1589 states that “according to the Sovereign Tsarev and the Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia, the Tula scribes Ivan Olekseevich Zherebtsov and the deacon Ivan Meshaev ordered the Old Settlement, which is the mouth of the river (i.e., opposite the mouth of the river. - N.K.) Tulitsy, died out for a new nunnery” plot of 70 by 30 fathoms. Converted to the metric system -150 by 64 m. The old settlement is the site where the Tula Arms Factory is located today.
However, construction did not begin in the near future. And in 1598 Tsar Fedor died. Then there was no time for the construction of monasteries: the Time of Troubles, the interregnum. The monastery arose much later - under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
In the scribal book of Prince Vadbolsky (1685), when describing the “wooden city” in Tula (the territory between the Kremlin and modern Sovetskaya Street - N.K.), the “monastery of the maidens of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the building of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, all great and small and White Russia of the Autocrat.”
An exact indication of when exactly the Assumption Monastery was built has not been found. However, in the “Extract from the built Tula books” of the steward Trofim Khrushchov, who built the Tula settlement, this monastery is mentioned several times in 1649.
Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne in 1645. If the monastery already existed in 1649, it means that it was founded between these two dates.
The time of construction of the first, main church of the monastery is not precisely established. From documents of the 18th century it is clear that it was a stone two-story building. On the upper floor there was a throne in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a chapel in the name of St. Alexander of Svirsky, on the lower floor there was a throne in honor of the Burning Bush icon of the Mother of God and a chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Over time, the building became dilapidated and began to sink into the ground; in the spring and on rainy days, the first floor was flooded with water. The church was dismantled in 1791-1792. They built a new one - stone, one-story - with money allocated from the treasury of Catherine II, under the care of the Tula civil governor Andrei Ivanovich Lopukhin. The main altar was consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the southern chapel was dedicated to the Burning Bush icon, and the northern chapel to Alexander Svirsky.
In 1857, the temple, which had already fallen into a rather dilapidated state, was expanded, which did not benefit it: the deterioration accelerated.
In 1899, they began to dismantle this church; by 1902, a new two-story building was erected in its place, which has survived to this day.
The lower warm church with one altar in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene and the Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer was consecrated on October 24, 1902. The upper one, with the main altar of the Assumption - June 28, 1904, and the aisles of the upper church - in the name of the Burning Bush icon and in the name of Alexander Svirsky - July 11, 1910 and July 3, 1911, respectively.
The State Archive of the Tula Region contains the “Case on the construction of a stone church at the Tula Assumption Convent”, begun on January 26, 1899, completed on October 3, 1907. “Case...” contains reports and petitions of the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Magdalene, addressed to the Archbishop of Tula and Belevsky Pitirim and the spiritual consistory, as well as the corresponding resolutions. As with any construction, financial, supply, and ethical issues arose.
From the report of Abbess Magdalene dated February 23, 1899 (this was the time of preparation for the construction of a new temple): “The decree of the Holy Synod of July 17, 1866 depicts that with the permission<...>The bishop can organize circles on pillars to collect voluntary donations in churches, as well as in chapels.
Taking into account that the construction of a new church in the monastery that I am undertaking requires very significant funds, of which there are insufficient quantities available, and hoping to attract such lovers of the splendor of the house of God who are embarrassed to openly give their small donations to participate in donations for the construction of the temple, I most humbly I ask Your Eminence to allow me to set up a circle on the monastery fence near the holy gates to collect voluntary donations for the construction of the temple<...>. I take it upon my responsibility to monitor the integrity and inviolability of the mug and the offerings collected in it, for which I undertake to remove this mug every evening, before the onset of nighttime, and at the end of each month to pour out the donations contained in it and timely enter them into the receipt and expenditure books " As can be seen from further documents, the circle fee turned out to be quite significant.
A report from Mother Superior Magdalene dated April 1899 states that the ditch for the foundation of the new church will pass through the old graves, “five in number.” And then - about the attitude towards the “father's coffins”, which took place in the 19th century and, unfortunately, was lost in the 20th century. The abbess writes to Archbishop Pitirim: “Although these graves contain the remains of long-dead dead, nevertheless, it may happen that when they are dug up, the bones and parts of the coffins may not yet be completely decayed; why do I take the liberty to humbly ask Your Eminence to a) allow me to excavate the graves located on the site of the foundation of the future church; b) put the mortal remains collected in them into a common coffin and, after a memorial service has been performed over them, bury them in the middle of the future church; and c) the monuments on some graves should be placed in the wall of the lower floor of the new church so that the inscription about the rank of those buried would be visible from inside the church.”
And here is a brief “financial report” - excerpts from the report of Abbess Magdalena dated September 6, 1907: “Funds specially collected for this item were used for the construction of the new temple, 57 thousand, donations from the Tula merchant Dimitry Yakovlevich Vanykin 25 thousand, received during construction from various benefactors 32 thousand, collected through subscription lists, collection circles, for the funeral reading of the psalter and for the designated places for graves in the monastery fence 19 thousand.”
Tula benefactors did a lot for the new temple. Thus, its marble iconostasis was a donation from Nadezhda Ugrenovich. Two silver crosses and sacred vessels were donated to the temple by people who wished to remain anonymous. Lyubov Ivanovna Trukhina (née Lomova) donated a chandelier hung in the center of the temple.
The Assumption Church was built in the Russian style. Interestingly, her original, unrealized project has been preserved. It is close to the built temple, but provides slightly different decorative and plastic elements.
Thus, when the project was approved and during the construction process, Gothic decorative elements were abandoned - for example, pointed window frames on drums. They also did not make a horizontal three-part division of the facades with windows - in the case of such a division, the building would seem to be three-story.
The walls of the upper church were painted in 1909. There is an inscription on the wall of the upper church: “In 1909, through the diligence of the abbess, Abbess Magdalene, and with the help of benefactors, this cathedral church was decorated with wall paintings and ornaments.” This painting, according to P.P. Lozinsky, - copies from the frescoes of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, painted in 1885-1890. Viktor Vasnetsov.
“In terms of its architecture, it is not of artistic interest...” - this is exactly how the Assumption Church was assessed, for example, in a guide to Tula, published in 1973. In that book, only three lines are given to her. Let's try to figure out where this assessment came from, and what the architectural and artistic value of the temple actually is.
Since the mid-19th century, Russian architects increasingly turned to the cultural heritage of Byzantium and Ancient Rus'. This was explained by the search for a national style in architecture. The ideological basis for such searches was the famous triad of Count Uvarov: “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.”
In Soviet times, the state ideology of the era of Nicholas I in general and the Uvarov triad in particular were considered unambiguously “reactionary.” Most Soviet art historians, for purely ideological reasons, refused to recognize churches built in the Russian and Byzantine styles as architectural monuments. When talking about these styles, Soviet art criticism added the derogatory prefixes “pseudo-” and “false-” to the words “Russian” and “Byzantine”. This “scientific” assessment was very convenient for many. It’s not a monument, which means it doesn’t need to be protected and can be demolished. And they demolished them - in dozens, hundreds. The Assumption Church avoided this fate only because it became a repository of archival documents. But more on that later.
Let us turn to the assessments given to the Assumption Church by Tula architects.
In V. Uklein’s book “Tula - the Stone Chronicle” (1984) we read: “Its architecture reeks of official coldness, ossified dogma, scholastic rigidity and academic boredom. You won’t see any number of motifs from ancient Russian architecture in the decoration of church facades. There are columns with “intercepts” and “bumpy” capitals, “hanging” weights above the main western portal, whole rows of flies, and an arch with a keeled end. In the words of the famous art critic V.V. Stasov, there is “a whole pound of Russian” and, we say, not a spool of warmth, spontaneity, enchanting compositional freedom, picturesqueness and unobtrusive beauty characteristic of truly ancient Russian art. But the church of the former nunnery also conceals something extremely valuable, especially for local builders. Not a single Tula building can even remotely compare with the Assumption Church in the excellent quality of the brick and the virtuosity of the brickwork.”
Honored Architect of Russia V.V. Kulikov in 1987 in the newspaper “Kommunar” notes the saturation of the facades of the temple with elements of white stone and profiled brick, the high level of construction work, “a very successful acoustic solution and interior lighting due to windows and the flow of light penetrating through the central drum, which creates the impression of a visual increase in space.” He also classifies the temple as pseudo-Russian architecture.
Let us, dear readers, look at the Assumption Church with an open mind. Do you feel “cold, dogma and boredom” from it? Or maybe you just see a beautiful, ancient, skillfully built building?
Or you can look at the Assumption Church “biasedly” - from the position of the need to preserve Russian national culture. The churches built in the Russian and Byzantine style in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, in my opinion, are a successful attempt to revive national architecture in new historical conditions, taking into account the requirements of the time. And was it possible at the end of the 19th century to apply spatial compositional solutions to buildings that were three to five hundred years old? (Are buildings in the style of Russian classicism really an exact copy of the ancient Greek Acropolis?) So they took mainly decorative elements from ancient Russian architecture. Temples in the Byzantine and Russian style are much more Russian than the masterpieces of Baroque and Classicism built in our country in the 18th - early 19th centuries.
Holy Assumption Cathedral (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.
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The Holy Assumption Cathedral is the largest church in Omsk. It is included in the catalog of world temple culture and is considered a unique monument of Russian architecture.
The first stone for the foundation of the future temple was laid by Nicholas II, who was not yet an emperor, but only a crown prince. When Omsk becomes the capital of White Russia, the Holy Assumption Cathedral will be the main temple for the White Guard movement.
During the construction of the Holy Dormition Church, the design of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was taken as a basis. The architect Virrich did not make an exact copy of the capital's church, but creatively reworked the original version of the project. The result was a unique building.
After the revolution, the Holy Assumption Cathedral in Omsk suffered a sad fate. At first the temple was supposed to be converted into Opera theatre, but the acoustics turned out to be insufficient, and the building was blown up in 1935, and the church bells were sent for melting down. On the cleared site, the Pioneer Garden was laid out, where the city Christmas tree was held annually. Only in 2005 did the Omsk authorities decide to restore the sanctuary. The temple was recreated as an exact copy of the destroyed one. The consecration of the Holy Dormition Cathedral took place in 2007, and in the same year new bells rang.
In 2009, a shrine containing the relics of Archbishop Sylvester, who was shot in Omsk shortly before the destruction of the temple, was installed in the cathedral. Anyone can venerate the relics of the martyr.
After the consecration of the temple, the area around it was renamed Cathedral. Now all the main city holidays take place here.
If possible, take a walk around the temple in the evening. When darkness falls, the building is illuminated with the help of a large number of lamps, making the Holy Assumption Cathedral look especially majestic.
Address: Omsk, Internationalnaya, 12.