The Spassky Old Fair Cathedral, known for its beauty and perfection of architecture, is executed in the manner used by architects of the late period of classicism, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. There is a fair nearby. Until the fall of 2009, it belonged to the city diocese.
Background
Earlier, at the place where the Spassky Old Fair Cathedral is located today, there was a fair. In 1816, she moved from Makariev to the territory where she is now.
Then the left bank of the Oka River was chosen as a field for the construction of structures in which trade will be conducted in the future. The project of the area for the sale of various goods, not far from which the Spassky Staroyarmarki Cathedral grew in the future, was compiled by Betenkur. Also, architect O. Montferron pored over the work, who had a hand in the construction of St. Isaac’s Church, which became the decoration of St. Petersburg. The Spassky Old Fair Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod began to function in 1822.
Changes
The fair had the opportunity to come in just one month for the whole year. Therefore, it was irrational to connect such a short-term event and the year-round functioning Spassky Old Fair Cathedral. Therefore, in order to benefit from great economic benefits, he was assigned to the church in the Kremlin. It is from there that the necessary utensils, images of saints and other things that make up the interior appeared in the Spassky Old Fair Cathedral. This cathedral cannot be correlated with any throne, therefore it was nicknamed Spassky.
The iconostasis adorning the Spassky Old Fair Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod was painted by the creator Torricelli from Italy, using canons adopted in Europe. This caused some confusion. Many merchants recognized only Orthodox traditions and did not want to pray here. In the images that adorn the Spassky Old Fair Cathedral, the saints have open areas of the body, which in the Orthodox tradition to open is considered simply indecent.
There were even cases when, for prayer, the faces of the saints were brought by the visitors themselves. Since the situation itself is ridiculous, they decided to replace the iconostasis. The architect V. Stasov took up this task. This place got its original name when they built another church dedicated to Alexander Nevsky.
Need update
The cathedral stood behind the main house in which the fair took place. Its location is crossed by the main axis, around which the whole plan of the local trading point is concentrated. Bulk soil was located under the building. This was not the best way reflected in the durability of the building, so there was a negative effect of groundwater and floods that could make the temple’s position insufficiently resistant, it settled and its walls were covered with cracks.
Further negligence in this matter could be simply dangerous, so at the end of the 19th century the authorities took up a major reconstruction. R. Kilevain became the designer of this operation, and P. Boytsov became the direct supervisor. After the work was completed, the building was consecrated in July 1888.
However, after 11 years, in 1899, another problem appeared. The cathedral could even be crushed by the bell tower that stood nearby, as a result of which destruction would have come. So in 1906, it was necessary to replace the building next to it with the same new one that was built by architects P. Michurin and P. Malinovsky.
Break in spiritual activity
After the moment when the revolutionary struggle ended, warehouses were placed here. Most of the temples of the city suffered a similar fate. The administration building was residential, and its premises were used as apartments.
In the spring of 1989, the Council for Religious Affairs decided to transfer the item to the Gorky Administration with the aim of carrying out restoration work. As a result, the building was used as a cathedral. The update process went very fast. When they were not finished, worship was already held here on weekends.
Relics
Today, the temple can rightfully be called the oldest building that can be met at the city fair.
The altar in the aisle is the place where the relics of M. Zheltovodsky, who was the metropolitan, are kept; his holiness was recognized in Russia. There are also the remains of N. Arzamassky, a chapel was organized over his burial in 2002, which served as the tomb.
Tribute to the memory
In the fall of 2009, at the presentation of the monument dedicated to the residents of the city who participated in eliminating the consequences of the devastating Chernobyl tragedy, Kirill himself, the illustrious patriarch of Russia, was present. The construction is a statue of an angel of 2 meters in height, which stands on a hill raised another 3 m. Massive granite slabs are located around. Here you can see the words taken from the Scriptures.
There are also the names and surnames of the people who died. You can see this amazing composition if you go out to the alley through which you can get into the temple itself. This is the point where there is a mortgage element of the building, which a decade ago was covered by Metropolitan N. Kutepov. The design was made with funds supplied from the diocese of the city. The memorial to the Novgorod liquidators of the events in Chernobyl was completed in the autumn of 2009.
An extremely beautiful place is the Spassky Old Fair Cathedral. Address: Fair passage, 10. This is a place where not only the soul receives enlightenment and answers to internal questions, but also the gaze is saturated with the beauty that exists here.