How many ancient temples has the city of Belgorod preserved? Transfiguration Cathedral, Ioasafovsky, Smolensky, Uspensko-Nikolaevsky - all of these architectural monuments will be discussed in our article.
White city at Seversky Donets
Obviously, this toponym comes from the phrase "white city". However, why the village on the Seversky Donets began to be called that way is not exactly known. According to one interpretation, the fortress, which existed here in the 17th century, was built of local white stone. In another, the name comes from the color of the chalk hill on which the city is located.
Belgorod was founded in 1596 on the site of the ancient settlement of Romny culture. Soon, the first temples began to be built here. Belgorod Cathedrals are beautiful and ancient, and we will discuss them further.
The oldest temples of the city
Belogorye is considered to be an important center of Orthodoxy in Russia. At least two dozen temples now includes the city of Belgorod. Transfiguration Cathedral is the largest of them. But Uspensko-Nikolaevsky is the oldest. It was built at the beginning of the 18th century.
We list all the ancient temples that Belgorod is rich in:
- Transfiguration Cathedral.
- Assumption-Nikolaevsky.
- Smolensky.
- Joasaphovsky.
- St. Michael's.
- Holy Cross Church.
- Polish church of the beginning of the XIX century.
Next, we will talk about the most famous temple buildings of the city.
Belgorod: Transfiguration Cathedral
The Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1813. It is he who is considered the main temple of the dioceses of Belgorod and Stary Oskol. The construction of this cathedral in 1807-1813 on the site of an old wooden church is a merit of the parishioners who donated money, as well as the architect Vasiliev, who developed the building project.
116 years after the start of construction of the Transfiguration Church, it will become a cathedral. However, in 1930 the temple was closed. Only after 12 years, during the occupation of the city, the building was again allowed to use for worship.
Since 1973, the cathedral building housed the Museum of the History of the Belgorod Territory. The process of returning the church to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church began only in 1990. A year later, the Transfiguration Cathedral became the place of storage of the relics of St. Joasaph. The relic was personally transferred inside the church by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.
What are the architectural features of the main temple in the city of Belgorod? The Transfiguration Cathedral is built in the style of provincial Russian classicism. However, the internal arrangement of the temple, made in the style of the New-Russian splendor of the 10-11 centuries, is completely incompatible with the external design of the building.
Belgorod: Smolensky Cathedral
This temple was erected at the beginning of the XVIII century, after the icon of the Smolensk Blessed Virgin Mary showed the world a sign. The legend says that on the night of October 2, the sentry Methodius was the Smolensk Mother of God, who was at the gates of the city. The man saw a flash of bright light that lit a wax candle. The miracle of the Virgin was decided to be honored by the construction of a chapel. And two years later, in 1705, a church made of wood was erected in the same place. Later, in place of the wooden church, a stone was laid.
The first floor was consecrated in 1747, and after 16 years, the second floor of the building was also consecrated. During World War II, the Smolensky Cathedral was half destroyed. Only in the 80s of the last century it was restored. Then it served as an organ hall, and the parishioners' premises were returned only in 1991.
What is the architecture of this ancient temple located in the city of Belgorod? Smolensky Cathedral is distinguished by its massive and vertically elongated bulk of two floors. The building is made in an elongated form and is located in the direction from south to north. It is worth noting that on the western side of the cathedral there is a refectory of small size and a bell tower consisting of 4 tiers. The described voluminous composition of the cathedral is a distinctive feature of architectural structures on the territory of Sloboda Ukraine, built in the late XVII - early XVIII centuries.
St. Nicholas the Joasaph Cathedral
St. Nicholas Cemetery Chapel was erected on the territory of the New City Cemetery in 1799 thanks to donations from parishioners. The dining room was added to the main building in 1837, and 30 years later, at the expense of parishioners, the altar and the main cathedral were expanded.
In 1990, the cathedral was renamed to St. Nicholas Joasaphovsky.
The building material is brick, the architectural style of the cathedral is early classicism. The main temple building is complemented by a long one-story refectory topped with a gable roof. The refectory facade is decorated with a 4-column portico. At a distance of 10 meters from the temple is a bell tower, which is a monument of architecture in the late Baroque and Classicism styles.
Assumption-Nicholas Cathedral
The building of this cathedral is considered the oldest in Belgorod. The church is distinguished by the presence of three thrones: in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God, St. Nicholas and John the Baptist. The year of the erection of the latter is the 1851st.
The cathedral was built in 1703. Interestingly, a donation of 100 rubles for the construction of the temple was made by Peter I. As a result of a strong fire that occurred in 1789, the iconostasis was destroyed in the church, and the building itself was very damaged.
The restoration of the iconostasis took place only at the beginning of the last century, and a little later, representatives of the Soviet government banned the use of the premises for worship. The new purpose of the building in Soviet times was the premises of prisoners.
During the Second World War, the territory near the walls of the temple served as the site of the execution of fascists by the townspeople. It is also worth noting that the cellars of the cathedral were one of the most reliable shelters from bombing. So the temple saved the lives of many Belgorod residents.
In the early 90s, the Assumption-Nikolaev Cathedral was declared a historical and architectural monument, and a little later they began to build the Marfo-Mariinsky Nunnery here. The cathedral, transferred to the holy monastery, is now located within the monastery.
Finally...
Located near the border with Ukraine, the "white city" can be safely called one of the most important centers of Orthodoxy in Russia. Many beautiful temples were built here: Preobrazhensky Cathedral, Smolensky, Uspensko-Nikolaevsky, Joasaphovsky Cathedral. Belgorod carefully preserves all these priceless architectural monuments and honors the Orthodox traditions of the region.