One of the oldest churches in our country is the Cathedral of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, or St. Andrew's Cathedral. St. Petersburg adorns this ancient temple, which is not only the greatest architectural value, but also a holy place especially revered by the parishioners, whose history goes back to Peter I.
The idea of building a cathedral
Until the beginning of the 18th century, the administrative center of St. Petersburg was Hare Island, but in the 1920s Peter I transferred it to Vasilyevsky and planned to build a cathedral in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called. Peter I considered him his patron and saw the future temple opposite the building of the Twelve Colleges. He also asked to create a large-scale project, according to which, the temple would resemble the outlines of the Roman basilica named after St. Peter and was at least 130 meters long. The Swedish architect Tessin remotely, without visiting Russia, made a drawing of the future temple, and a model was created on the site according to his drawings. However, the death of the emperor in 1725 suspended the implementation of the project, preventing him from seeing the St. Andrew Cathedral during his lifetime.
St. Petersburg in the person of its residents requested the construction of the temple, and parishioners even raised funds for it several times. But the first stone was laid only in 1732. Later, St. Andrew’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, familiar to us, grew out of it.
Construction history
After Peter's death, exactly in the place where he wanted to, at the intersection of Bolshoi Prospekt and the 6th line, in 1728 a plot was allocated for construction.
The wooden church, allegedly built according to the design of Trezzini, was dedicated to Andrew the First-Called in 1732. Anna Ioannovna donated money to the temple for arrangement, and from the dilapidated church in the Posad settlement, the iconostasis was transferred to a new place. The temple, it was decided to use, including for the celebrations of the gentlemen of the Order of St. Andrew.
Despite the cramped and scarce design, the royal family revered the church, attending divine services, and many prominent figures of that time, for example, Lomonosov and Trediakovsky, took the oath in the church as a professor of the Academy of Sciences.
The foundation of the first stone temple
The parish had a great influence in the religious life of the capital, but did not have the corresponding appearance, size, even heating. In 1740, the construction of a more suitable stone church began next to the old church. In 1745, it was built and in the same period received the status of a cathedral. The same great Trezzini came up with the project for the new church, and the iconostasis and other furniture were transferred from Prince Menshikov's house church.
In 1761, during a thunderstorm, an old wooden building burned down. The ministers barely managed to save the iconostasis, and after 3 years in its place, by decree of Elizaveta Petrovna, they began to build a new cathedral. Today it still stands on Vasilyevsky Island, although it did not acquire its final appearance until the end of the 18th century.
The new project was invented by the architect A. Vista. Construction began in 1746, and only 15 years later, St. Andrew's Cathedral in St. Petersburg was completed. The construction was long and difficult, it was followed by failures, in 1766 the dome collapsed, after which the architect was arrested and for a long time they investigated the circumstances of what happened. But on March 21, 1780, a new temple was consecrated, and he began to receive parishioners.
St. Andrew's Cathedral in St. Petersburg in the 19th century
At the behest of Emperor Paul I, the cathedral became the religious center of the Knights of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and was decorated with a bas-relief depicting this order.
In the future, the cathedral continued to be decorated and completed. In 1880, a chapel was built, and 4 years before that - a bell tower. There were 10 bells on it. The largest, Sunday, weighed 285 pounds and was specially cast at the Samghin plant in Moscow.
In addition, by the end of the century, chapels were added to the temple, and they also covered the dome with gilding for donations from merchants. The changes also affected the inside of the cathedral - added stucco molding and updated murals. Heating was installed in the temple, the altar was expanded and rebuilt, and the iconostasis was also increased.
In the second half of the 19th century, in addition to the main activity, the complex contained a shelter and helped the poor.
20th century in the history of St. Andrew's Cathedral
The 20th century has become a destructive century for many religious sites. The Bolshevik revolution and the 1917 revolution threatened the safety of many Russian churches and churches. St. Andrew's Cathedral was a little luckier, it was not destroyed, and its ministers managed to save part of the property and valuables from red robbery.
Many valuable items, such as vessels made of precious metals, the ancient Gospel, salaries of icons made of silver, vestments of 7 pounds of precious metals, made in 1861 by the famous jeweler Verkhovtsev, and many other things were seized by the Bolsheviks.
To implement the project of building boulevards, the chapel and the fence of the complex were demolished. The large bell was removed and melted 10 years after the revolution, but the religious life in the cathedral did not stop, it was occupied by a group of the so-called God-worshipers and Renovationists under the leadership of Archpriest Platonov. Services were conducted in the church, part of the iconostasis was restored by supporters, but in 1938 the clergy and the most active parishioners were arrested and executed or sentenced to long sentences. Soon the cathedral was abandoned, later it was used as a warehouse, for which the iconostasis was sewn up with plywood, and the crosses were removed. In fact, the building ceased to be called St. Andrew's Cathedral.
St. Petersburg, then Leningrad, suffered terrible upheavals during the Great Patriotic War and the blockade. They played a role in the history of the temple. The air defense systems installed in the building were designed to reflect enemy air strikes, from which the roof and facade were severely damaged, and the explosion of the aerial bomb knocked out all the windows. Also, the iconostasis and interior decoration suffered damage. But the temple still survived and retained part of its unique appearance.
After the war, the Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called in St. Petersburg was transferred to various state institutions. Over the years, it was owned by the Navy, the Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Ethnography. During the same period, it was repaired and restored, however, cultural and historical values were not particularly cared for, for example, a unique painting in the dome was painted with simple paint.
In the late 80s, Metropolitan Alexy, who later became the Patriarch of All Russia, began work on the return of the cathedral to the bosom of the church. Then he was denied due to the fact that the building housed a collection of the anthropological museum, which had nowhere to move. Despite this, Alexy handed over the necessary church utensils to the church, and in 1989 the first prayer service for many decades was held here.
Cathedral of St. Andrew
St. Petersburg - the northern capital of Russia - is proud of its architectural heritage. One of the unique values is the Cathedral of St. Andrew. We continue the story of his story.
In 1990, part of the cathedral, including the altar, was nevertheless transferred to the parish. For the next five years, he shared the room with the Kunstkamera. At the same time, divine services were held and human remains transferred to science were stored. When the museum completely took out its foundation, the church replaced the crosses on the cathedral and overhauled the roof.
In 1998, a significant event took place in the life of the complex - in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Order of St. Andrew, this highest award was again established by the president, and Alexy II became one of its first gentlemen, who laid the foundation for the return of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Church.
In the 2000s, the restoration of the chapel and the fence of the temple began, as well as a complete restoration with the money of the parishioners and the funds allocated by the state. Later, the relics of St. Andrew the First-Called were also transferred to the cathedral .
Architectural value
The Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called is a unique architectural monument, made in a mixed style with features of classicism and baroque, which is characterized by some complexity and plasticity of forms. The temple has five domes - one main and four small chapters, which are combined with a one-story refectory chapel.
The building itself is very elegant, which is promoted by a high dome and an elongated chapel. The look is supplemented by turrets around the dome, high windows with a semicircular shape and pilasters on the facade. This 45-meter temple has long been the dominant high-rise of Vasilyevsky Island; today it has been drowned somewhat by multi-story new buildings. Also, the cathedral is elegantly decorated with a soft pink color of the facade.
Collection of icons
The main pride and unique miracle of St. Andrew's Cathedral is its three-tier 17-meter-high carved iconostasis with gilding. He miraculously survived from the moment of construction, having gone through a revolution, war, blockade, destruction and the use of the church for other purposes.
The iconostasis has retained part of the icons that were transferred from the Menshikov estate during the construction of the temple. So, among them, the images of Nicholas the Wonderworker and Alexander Nevsky survived. But the most valuable icon is St. Andrew the First-Called with a particle of the relics of the saint. In total, there are 44 icons in the temple.
Interesting facts about St. Andrew's Cathedral (St. Petersburg)
The royal family loved to attend the cathedral; it even had a special place for the emperor.
According to legend, during the time when the cathedral was still a wooden church, there was a small cemetery with the graves of Prince Dolgoruky and Princess Dolgoruky, the bride of Peter II.
To decorate and improve the new building of the temple, money was taken not only from the treasury and donations, but also fines levied from gentlemen of various orders for not attending order celebrations.
One of the temple's values is a 115-pound vestment of silver, as well as the ancient gospel in a silver frame. These values were confiscated by the Bolsheviks after the revolution, but by good luck returned to the cathedral.
St. Petersburg is rightfully proud of it as a symbol of faith and selflessness, as well as the sacrifice of people who managed to save the temple for posterity.