Russian Orthodox Church of St. Simeon Divnogorets in Germany, Dresden resort
Rating: 7,8/10 (502 votes)  One of the remarkable sights of Dresden is the Orthodox church of St. Simeon Divnogorts. Its peculiar architecture in Russian-Byzantine differs from the surrounding buildings, and always attracts the attention of tourists. The appearance of the Orthodox Church in Germany is associated with the period 1813-1814. At this time, the residence of Prince Repnin was located in Dresden – Volkonsky, Russian general – governor of Saxony. The first Orthodox church was located in one of the halls of Bruhl's palace, but it was soon closed. Thereafter, the Russian community of 358 members established a parish church with a private house on Sidonienstrasse. In 1862 she was consecrated in honor of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. Her church choir consisted of four singers of the Dresden opera. At various times, many prominent Russian figures were members of the Dresden Orthodox community: for example, I.S.Turgenev and M.A. Bakunin. In 1863 in this churches the baptism of P.A. Stolypin who was born in the city took place. In 1870 Fyodor Dostoyevsky's daughter Lyuba was baptized here. In 1872, a Russian citizen AF Volner donated a plot of land for the construction of his own church building. The project of the temple with drawings of external and internal decorations was made free of charge by the architect G.Yu. von Boss. The total construction cost was estimated at 520 thousand Reichsmarks. About a quarter of the amount was collected from donations, the rest was contributed by State Councilor Semyon Semyonovich Vikulin. So on June 5, 1874, the opening of the church and its consecration in honor of St. Simeon Divnogorets took place. On May 24 (June 5), 1874, Archpriest Mikhail Raevsky, in collaboration with the Russian clergy abroad, consecrated the church in honor of St. Simeon Divnogorets. Today the Church of St. Simeon Divnogorets in Dresden is an elegant structure in the Russian-Byzantine style. At the base of the temple lies an elongated quadrangle through which a gallery passes. This gallery is a transverse knee equilateral Greek cross. The main building of the church with five chapters rises above the middle cross. Above the western part of the church of St. Simeon There is a 40-meter bell tower in Divnogorets. The walls of the temple are decorated with various ornaments and architectural details - arches, kokoshniks and pilasters. The main building material is the hewn Thuringian sandstone. Two commemorative plaques are installed on the walls of the church. One of them is dedicated to the date of its foundation. And the second was installed in honor of the visit to the temple by Emperor Alexander I. On February 13, 1945, the temple miraculously survived the bombing. Despite significant damage, divine services were performed in it. The restoration took place in 1948-1952 and during the 1960s. Today, the church has about 1000 parishioners – Greeks, Russians, Bulgarians, as well as representatives of other nationalities.  We also recommend reading Church of the Frauenkirche in Germany, spa Dresden Topic: Russian Orthodox Church of St. Simeon Divnogorets in Germany, Dresden resort. |
