112 km from Nizhny Novgorod is an ancient city with rich historical and cultural traditions. Arzamas received the status of the city in 1578. The visiting card of this settlement, which is located on the shore of Tsha, a tributary of the Oka, is the Resurrection Cathedral.
Arzamas is proud of this perfect creation, dominating the whole city. The beautiful temple is located on a hill and is the central object of the ensemble of Cathedral Square.
The background of the temple
There are more than 20 Voskresensky cathedrals in Russia alone; they are also in other countries, including Japan. Therefore, when describing the central temple of Arzamas, its territorial affiliation will be indicated in brackets. So, the Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas) was erected in honor of the great victory of the Russian people over the united army of Europe under the leadership of Napoleon in 1812. Previously, in this square, which has repeatedly changed its name, it was Red, Bazaar, them. Lenin during the years of Soviet power, was a wooden-earthen Kremlin. The city itself was built at the direction of Ivan the Terrible, in connection with his third trip to Kazan - the road ran through these lands.
Founder of the city Ivan the Terrible
By his decree, to the south-east of the current cathedral, and the then Kremlin, the St. Nicholas Monastery was created (1570), which still exists today, also included in the ensemble of Cathedral Square. The steep Nikolsky Congress, located between the temple and the monastery, is captured in the picture of V. Perov “The Three”. Once here, at the descent, there was the Cathedral Garden (now new buildings here), there were at the lower descent and the Nastasyinsky Gate.
According to legend, Ivan the Terrible gave the main entrance to the city from Moscow the name of his beloved wife Anastasia, who was about to give birth. The ensemble of the square also included the warm (heated) Cathedral of the Life-Giving Spring located to the north.
Former and current facilities of the Cathedral Square ensemble
Another monastery, male, was located east of the "heart" of Arzamas - Cathedral Square. The Vvedensky cloister is famous for the fact that its rector John founded the Sarov Deserts in 1706 . Now there is no monastery. However, another interesting building is surrounded by the main pearl of the city, which is the Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas). This is a magistrate building, erected in the middle of the XVIII century. It is notable for the fact that it remains the only structure of a typical civil architecture in Russia. It should be noted that the life of Patriarch Kirill is connected with the Resurrection Cathedral - his grandfather and father lived near Arzamas.
The authority of Patriarch Sergius
Also, the Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas) is inextricably linked with the life of another Patriarch - Sergius. His grandfather, Ivan Dmitrievich Stragorodsky, served for 32 years as a senior priest in the Resurrection Cathedral.
And when in 1943 Sergius was elected to the patriarchal throne, the first thing he asked for was the opening of the Resurrection Church in Arzamas for worship. One of the very few surviving Volga Cathedral opened in the same year.
Metamorphoses of a religious building
At the beginning of the 20th century, the entire ancient city was like a single monastic ensemble - it had more than 40 religious buildings. Scientists from St. Petersburg came to defend the unique, the only beauty in Europe. But the militant atheists who came to power in 1917 destroyed 38 objects, leaving two that survived to our lives - the Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas) itself and the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spassky Monastery, the oldest in the entire district. Residents of the city with their indignation did not allow them to explode. During the years of unbelief in the Resurrection Church there was a hostel for political prisoners, later the Museum of Atheism and Religion was opened in it - on the principle of the Kazan Cathedral in Leningrad.
One of a kind beauty
It should be noted that outwardly the Cathedral in Arzamas resembles the famous Kazan Cathedral of St. Petersburg. This is explained by the fact that the author of the project, Mikhail Petrovich Korinfsky, in his youth was a pupil of the great Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin, the author of the project of the Kazan Cathedral. Laid down in 1814, the Resurrection Cathedral was executed in the style of Russian classicism by a talented architect - Arzamaz M.P. Corinthian (1788-1851).
This temple was built for 28 years. The Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas) is so beautiful and perfect that the connoisseur of Russian architecture, the architect-restorer N. N. Pomerantsev, could not find his equal either in Moscow or in other cities of Russia. Only two cathedrals in St. Petersburg can be compared with the work of the famous Russian architect V.P. Stasov - the Trinity-Izmailovsky and Transfiguration Cathedrals.
Symbol of the greatness of Russia
The project to build a new church to replace the dilapidated Church of the Resurrection of Christ, to which Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich donated a cross-reliquary in 1598, was considered to be very ambitious - several brick factories, which were called “cathedral”, were built. The construction of the temple was a great event and overgrown with legends and sayings.
Strictness and symmetry and, at the same time, the grandeur, solemnity and monumentality of the temple, were called to symbolize the greatness and power of Russia. This was seen by the author of the project and the creator of the architect M.P. Corinthian Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas). The photo attached below demonstrates that dreams and aspirations have been fully realized.
Temple architecture
The structure on the stylobate is resting - a high stepped base, which is a Greek cross laid on a square. The length and width, equal to each other, reach 64 meters. The building is decorated with five spherical domes, the largest of which, the central one, has 12 windows. Four porticoes, located on four sides, and high pediments, resting on 13-meter columns (48 pieces), form a kind of necklace in a circle around the building.
On the gables are large murals on biblical subjects. 24 windows, none of which are direct - each has a slope to isolate the interior of the room from the street - make it spacious, light, full of light. The floor laid out with wooden beams, the general calm, sustained in light brown tones, the color of the interior - all have a prayer mood.
Temple painting
It should be noted that in this city, through the efforts of the artist-teacher A.V. Stupin, the Arzamas School of Painting was created, the students of which were V. Perov, architect M.P. Korinfsky, O.S. Serebryakov. The latter, with his son Alexander and other step-artists from 1834 to 1837, painted with ink on the raw plaster of the walls and arches of the temple, which Arzamas is so proud of. The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is famous for its 14 huge canvases, which depict the life of Jesus Christ. The figures are made in human height. The masterpieces of world Western painting were taken as samples. In the main dome between the windows are the figures of 12 apostles, just below - 4 evangelists.
Iconostasis and thrones of the cathedral
The carved, beautiful iconostasis of the work of the Lomakin brothers, Klim and Vasily, has survived to this day. The royal gates are decorated with icons of the Mother of God and Christ, executed in human growth by the talented painter Alekseev (Stupin’s son-in-law), who is known for painting St. Isaac’s Cathedral. In honor of the Resurrection of Christ, the Central throne was consecrated. The right chapel is consecrated in honor of Alexander Nevsky and Mitrofan Voronezh.
Left - in honor of the holy martyr John the Warrior. In the left and right in the semicircular niches of the porticoes there are two additional aisles with single-tier iconostases - in honor of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (right), in honor of All Saints (left). Thrones were consecrated as they were built.
Main feast day and shrines of the cathedral
Each Orthodox church in Russia has a major patronal feast. Since 1887, it has had the Resurrection Cathedral (Arzamas). The history of this holiday is rooted in 335, when Queen Elena consecrated the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. This day is called "Resurrection Resolving." In each parish of Arzamas, it was customary to have two churches - warm and cold heated by stoves, which was the Resurrection Cathedral.
Services were held in it, starting from Easter and ending with the Intercession. When the cathedral was a Museum of atheism, things from the destroyed religious buildings were demolished. So from the Elias Church was brought the Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, which was acquired in the XVII century (its manufacture dates back to about the XVI century). The oldest shrine of the temple is the "Sovereign Tribute" - an
icon of the Resurrection of Christ (descent into hell) of the XVI century. It was donated by Ivan the Terrible. There are several shrines here, about which you can write more than one article. You can see them and learn the wonderful history of the temple by visiting the Resurrection Cathedral, whose address is: pl. Soborna, 19, Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Russia, 607720.