Trinity Cathedral Trinity-Sergius Lavra description and photos - Russia - Golden Ring: Sergiev Posad (Topic)

Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra description and photos - Russia - Golden Ring: Sergiev Posad. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The very first building that has survived to this day was the Trinity Cathedral. It was built after a vision that happened to the successor of Sergius of Radonezh - hegumen Nikon. In 1422, on the site of the wooden church of the same name, Serbian monks, who were sheltered by the monastery after the battle on the Kosovo field, began the construction of a white-stone church. The construction lasted three years, and the next two years - its painting.

Now the Trinity Cathedral is a monument of early Moscow architecture and a continuation of the Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of the XIV-XV centuries. This is a modest small building that has formed the entire ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra around it. The quadrangle of the temple is like a cube with walls slightly inclined inward, thus creating a sense of perspective. Outside, the slope starts from the very base, and inside - from the arches of the portals, which improves visibility. The plane of the facades is divided into three parts, ending in keeled vaults - zakomaras. A tall drum of light, perched on a four-edged base above the quadrangle, culminates in a gleaming gilded helmet-shaped dome with a cross. The multi-tiered roof of the cathedral is also covered with gold. The light drum is displaced from the center towards the apses in order to visually balance the structure. In addition, a large number of high window openings fill the iconostasis with light. The three apses of the cathedral are equal in height. The central part of the altar is slightly stronger than the others.

Later, in 1548, the Nikon Church was added to the Trinity Cathedral on its southern side, as if recalling the connection between the abbot and his teacher. A year earlier, the abbot of the monastery, the Monk Nikon, was canonized, and a temple was erected over his tomb. It was made in the Pskov style, which became widespread among Moscow architects of the 16th century. In 1559, on the same side of the temple, another extension appeared - a tent over the coffin of Bishop Serapion. Thanks to all the outbuildings, the cathedral began to look multi-tiered.

The interior decoration of the Trinity Cathedral was performed by the great Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev, invited by the Monk Nikon, and also by Daniel Cherny. Unfortunately, the frescoes from that time have not survived. But the iconostasis came in its original form with some changes. The main church icon "Holy Trinity" is now in the Tretyakov Gallery, and its copy is in the five-tiered iconostasis of the Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, along with other masterpieces of Russian painting by the letters of St. Andrei Rublev. The artist founded a workshop of icon painters at the monastery, in which many Russian masters of icon painting received lessons.

Trinity Cathedral receives daily pilgrims and tourists from all over the world who come to venerate the holy relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, resting here in a silver shrine.

Trinity Cathedral, being the first stone church of the Trinity Sergius Lavra, keeping its main shrine, became the central building of the entire monastery. Here two main roads of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra converge, diverging in different directions and determining the layout. The annexes, which eventually surrounded the Trinity Cathedral, created an integral architectural ensemble of the temple, and the churches under construction on the territory of the monastery complemented its picture. While restoring the Lavra in 1938, the architect I.V. Trofimov noted that the proportions of the so-called "golden section" are observed here. This is observed both in the height of buildings and in the ratio of volumes. And the distance of buildings from each other is determined by the height of the Trinity Cathedral. For example, the Church of the Holy Spirit is located at a distance of two temple heights, and the Assumption Cathedral - three.

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Topic: Trinity Cathedral Trinity-Sergius Lavra description and photos - Russia - Golden Ring: Sergiev Posad.