Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Rigas Kristus piedzimsanas katedrale) description and photo - Latvia: Riga (Topic)

Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Rigas Kristus piedzimsanas katedrale) description and photos - Latvia: Riga. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Rigas Kristus piedzimsanas katedrale.

Photo and description

Nativity of Christ Cathedral is located in the center of Riga and is the largest Orthodox church in the city. The idea of building a new cathedral in the city originated in 1872. After a competition for the construction of a temple with a capacity of 2,000 people, at the end of 1875, the project of R.K. Fluga.

The foundation stone of the new cathedral was made by the Riga bishop Seraphim in May 1876. The construction was supervised by the architect N.V. Chagin. According to the project, the temple should be 5-domed, and the domes significantly exceeded the height of the buildings. Initially, the bell tower was not planned in this temple, however, closer to the end of construction, Emperor Alexander III presented the cathedral with 12 bells, cast at the factory of the Moscow merchant N.D. Finlandsky by the famous master of that time K. Verevkin. For the bells, a design was made for a belfry, built in the same style as the temple. The belfry fits perfectly into the original plan of the temple, combining with the cathedral in style and composition. The belfry was connected to the cathedral by a covered passage.

The decoration of the church inside consisted mainly of ornamental painting made in the "Byzantine style", supplemented by font compositions in the arches. The icons were painted at the Academy of Arts by such famous artists as F.S. Zhuravlev, K.B. Venig, A.I. Korzukhin, V.P. Vereshchagin. The utensils were ordered from the factories of I.A. Zheverzheeva, I.P. Khlebnikov, and others.

The construction of the temple was completed in 1883, the next year the Riga Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ was surrounded by an openwork fence and a square was laid out in the inner territory. The consecration of the cathedral took place on April 28, 1884. And three days later, on Saturday, all 12 bells rang over the city for the first time. Quite quickly, the temple turns into a generally recognized spiritual center, not only of the Latvian capital, but of the entire region. There is evidence that in the fall of 1894, John of Kronstadt served here, who is now canonized.

In 1918, the Riga municipality closed the church, and divine services were prohibited. When Archbishop John Pommer visited the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, at the invitation of the All-Latvian Cathedral of Orthodox parishes, he found the church in a catastrophic state. The glass was broken, there were no bells, the iconostases were cut and piled up, the painting was destroyed, the crucifix was thrown into the trash.

The difficult path to the restoration of the temple began. Archbishop John, in order in order to prevent further destruction of the cathedral, and, if possible, to collect and put in order what was left, he settled in the basement of the temple. Gradually, at the cost of a hard struggle, and with the help of residents of Riga and Russians, the restoration of the church began. Initially, permission from the authorities was required for each service. Everyday services conducted in Church Slavonic and Latvian began from Christmas 1922. By the middle of the 30s. the temple again becomes the spiritual center of Riga, the painting was renewed, a struggle was waged to return the former property of the cathedral. A new wave of destruction was brought by the Second World War, after which the cathedral was gradually rebuilt again, becoming the spiritual center of the city.

By order of the Council of Ministers on October 5, 1963, the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ was closed. Only the walls were left of the cathedral, everything else was either destroyed or taken apart. In 1962, the building of the former cathedral was turned into a planetarium.

Only in July 1991 the difficult path began towards the third resurrection and restoration of the cathedral. His Eminence Vladyka Alexander performed the first service under difficult conditions on January 6, 1992. From that time on, services began to be carried out regularly, and the same day after day, repair and restoration work was carried out. Now the temple is covered with magnificent painting, a new roof has been made, the domes are covered with copper, although there is still much to be done. The families of philanthropists Vladimir Ivanovich Malyshkov and Igor Vladimirovich Malyshkov donated a wonderful iconostasis.

Today "three times resurrected", as it is called by the people, Riga Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ occupies a worthy place in the cultural and spiritual life of the capital of Latvia. During his visit to Latvia in May 2006, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy held a divine service here.

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Topic: Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Rigas Kristus piedzimsanas katedrale) description and photo - Latvia: Riga.