St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral description and photos - USA: New York (Topic)

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral description and photos - USA: New York. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Photo and Description

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral lifts its onion domes on Manhattan's 97th Street - compared to other quiet, tree-lined cathedrals. The real Russian church looks somewhat unusual in New York.

Orthodoxy in America has more than two centuries of history: back in 1794, the monks of the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery established the first Orthodox mission on Kodiak Island to preach the Gospel among the inhabitants Alaska. The chair of the Aleutian diocese was located in San Francisco, then in New York. The first Orthodox parish was founded here in 1870. At the end of the 19th century, when the flow of immigrants from Russia to the United States increased, the local small house church ceased to accommodate believers, and in 1899, a specially established committee bought a plot of land in Manhattan for a new church (it cost 72 thousand Russian rubles then).

The project of the cathedral, capable of accommodating 900 worshipers, was developed by the New York architect John Bergesen. In 1900, fundraising for construction began, the cost of which was estimated at 57 thousand dollars or 114 thousand rubles. Emperor Nicholas II gave the highest permission for fundraising, and he also made the first contribution - five thousand gold rubles. Father John of Kronstadt, revered by the people, donated 200 rubles and on the first page of a book specially established for this he wrote: “Bless, Lord, this book and the work for which these donations are requested.”

In Russia, for the construction of a temple for a distant New York parishioners gave away their rings, bracelets, necklaces. However, it was not possible to collect the required amount. Then in 1901, on the day of the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord, a collection of donations was announced in all the churches of Russia. Funding for the project was secured.

The cathedral's cornerstone was laid with a procession along Second Avenue. The houses were decorated with American and Russian flags. Among the thousands of believers were sailors and officers of the battleship Retvizan laid down in Philadelphia, who contributed to the construction. Now in the cathedral there is an altar cross from the battleship, saved by the team before the Japanese captured the ship in Port Arthur.

In 1902, the first divine service was held in the erected temple. In 1905, the cathedral became a cathedral and assumed the mission of the spiritual center of Orthodoxy in North America.

The building of the cathedral is made in the style of baroque Moscow churches of the 17th century. The load-bearing walls are red brick with carved limestone trim; the temple is decorated with five onion domes. Inside, the walls and high vaulted ceilings are covered with colorful frescoes. The altar fence is generously decorated with gold: the cathedral has many wealthy donors.

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Topic: St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral description and photos - USA: New York.