Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Собор Александра Невского) at Strelka
construction began on 17 July 1868 on a site of the traditional
Nizhny Novgorod Fair by the orders of Grand Duke Vladimir
Alexandrovich. Layout and overall appearance of Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral was designed by an architect R.J. Kileveyn. Most of
finances were donated by rich traders of Nizhny Novgorod. Frescoes
and icons were painted or written in Russian Orthodox tradition by a
famous painter from Moscow, F.A. Sokolov. Several icons were donate
by the Saint Macarius Monastery. On July 20th, 1881 Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral was consecrated and dedicated to famous Russian medieval
political and military leader. It is ranked third highest among all
Russian Orthodox churches.
Unfortunately in 1930 Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral was closed by the decision of the Soviet
authorities. Many historic icons, church utensils and other items
were stolen. Other items were simply burned on a square before a
church. Residents of Nizhny Novgorod managed to save several icons
and hid them under danger of persecution and even death. Miraculous
icon of Our Lady of the Holy Cross was preserved and today it is
stored in Vysokovsk Church. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral itself was
used as a warehouse and even a residential apartment. Only in the
1980's authorities of Nizhny Novgorod began large scale restoration
work that returned church its original appearance. Today Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral is returned to its rightful owners, Christians of
the town.
In 1856, the fair merchants expressed a desire to build a second
Orthodox fair church in memory of Emperor Alexander II's visit to the
fair and applied for the construction of a new cathedral to Bishop
Anthony of Nizhny Novgorod, who, in turn, to Governor Alexander
Muravyov. On donations (454 thousand 667 rubles 28 kopecks), collected
over 10 years by 1866, construction began.
On September 8, 1864,
a symbolic laying of a stone in the foundation of the future temple took
place. By 1864, the project of the provincial architect Robert Kilevane
was ready. It had to be reworked due to insufficient strength; after
that, it turned out that there was not enough funding for such a
project. The new project, proposed by the young architect Lev Dal, was
also not approved.
On November 18, 1865, the project of the
church was approved by the government. Its authorship has not yet been
established with certainty. In 1866, Lev Dal returned permanently to
Nizhny Novgorod from abroad and finalized the design of the cathedral.
Based on the analysis, it is based on the design of the Annunciation
Church of the Horse Guards Regiment in St. Petersburg by Konstantin Ton.
On September 15, 1867, a construction committee was established for
the construction of the temple (it lasted until 1889), and on August 11,
1868, the second laying of the cathedral on Strelka took place.
Construction began on August 18, 1868 and lasted 13 years. Interior work
continued until 1881. The height of the temple was 87 m.
In 1880
the construction of the temple was completed. On July 20, 1881, the main
altar of the temple - in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander
Nevsky - was solemnly consecrated in the presence of Emperor Alexander
III, his wife Maria Feodorovna and Tsarevich Nicholas. In addition to
the icons painted by the Moscow icon painter F. A. Sokolov, several
icons were delivered to the temple from the Makaryevsky Monastery, which
was liquidated after the fire. The temple was distinguished by the fact
that it did not have a permanent parish: its parishioners were merchants
who came to the fair. Therefore, the main building was open only during
the fair, and in winter it was not heated. Only the heated winter church
of Macarius Zheltovodsky and Unzhensky was constantly operating. The
temple was a meeting place for honored guests of the city - the royal
family, hierarchs of the Orthodox Church.
Soviet period
In
1929, the temple was closed, the valuables were confiscated, and in the
winter of 1930, by decision of the leadership of the Volga flotilla, the
iconostases and all the wooden decorations of the cathedral were used
for firewood to heat local houses. The parishioners managed to save
several icons, including the icon of the Mother of God and the
Life-Giving Cross, which were until recently in the Nizhny Novgorod Holy
Trinity Vysokovskaya Church. In the late 1920s, a project for the
reconstruction of the fair grounds was developed, which included the
demolition of the cathedral and the erection of a lighthouse with a
monument to Vladimir Lenin in its place. This project was not carried
out, but as a preparation for it, the tents were dismantled in the late
1930s. Later, a warehouse was placed in the basement of the cathedral
building, utility rooms were added for housing and offices.
During World War II, an anti-aircraft battery operated on the central
drum of the roof, protecting the city from German air raids.
Perestroika years and modernity
In 1983, the restoration of the
cathedral began, in which voluntary restorers took an active part. In
1989, the restoration of the tents of the temple began. In February
1991, the "Brotherhood in the name of the holy noble Grand Duke
Alexander Nevsky" was created, and in June 1992 the cathedral was
transferred to the control of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since 1992,
divine services began in the winter chapel of St. Macarius. On December
30, 1998, Metropolitan Nikolai of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas
consecrated the central Alexander Nevsky throne of the church. On April
24, 1999, the Mariinsky aisle was consecrated, and on May 18, the
Nikolsky aisle. By 2006, the cathedral was restored to its original form
and the painting of the inner vaults of the temple began to be restored.
On September 8, 2009, Archbishop George celebrated the Divine
Liturgy, and at the end of it he consecrated the new cathedral icon of
the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands - a list from the miraculous
image of the Most Merciful Savior of Borisoglebsk. September 12, 2009
the cathedral was given the status of a cathedral.
On July 1,
2010, Archbishop George consecrated the Icon of the Mother of God of
Kazan, the first of 187 icons of the Mother of God planned to be
installed in the cathedral. During the consecration, the icon was
installed in a large kiot near the left column. In August 2011, work was
completed on the Don Icon of the Mother of God, a list from an ancient
sample kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.
From November 4 to 6, 2011,
the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was exhibited in the cathedral.
During this time, about 170 thousand people bowed to her, including
Patriarch Kirill and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Many engineering and technical achievements of that time were used in
construction work. So, the large central tent had metal supporting
structures (made by the Arzamas craftsman P.I. Tsybyshev), which
required special calculations. Five church domes also had a metal frame,
and the crosses on them were electroplated gilded. The original solution
for the foundation of the cathedral was developed by Robert Kilevane on
the basis of geological research and his own considerations regarding
the impact of fluctuations in the groundwater level. Abandoning
conventional piles, he proposed using an oak wooden raft as the
foundation of the temple, which over time became stronger than concrete,
on which a solid masonry slab rested. This design ensured uniform
settlement and durability of the foundation, as the raft ended up in a
huge clay “bathtub” filled with water, formed under the weight of a
grandiose structure. This ruled out the impact on the wooden base of the
cathedral of the periodic lowering of the groundwater level, which, with
a piled structure, would soon lead to rotting of the piles.
The
cathedral was a centric monumental building with five octagonal tents,
the central of which rises to a height of 72.5 m. The facade decoration
combined elements of Russian and Romanesque architectural styles. The
plan of the cathedral was eclectic.
In the 1940s, a fire broke
out inside, destroying the original interior and the painting on the
ceiling and walls of the temple. After this incident, the remains of the
interior plaster were knocked down.
During the restoration work
in the 1990s, a new design of the iconostasis had to be developed, since
the secret of the old masters who installed the 23-meter iconostasis in
the 19th century could not be discovered. In October 2009, the painting
of the prayer room in the Avtozavodsk boarding school for children with
developmental problems was completed, which since the late 1990s has
been supported by the parish of the cathedral. In 2010, work began on
interior painting, the total area of which is 11,000 m².
Saint Alexander Nevsky;
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker;
Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene.
In the protruding western
vestibule, on the choirs of the large cathedral, there is the winter
church of Macarius Zheltovodsky and Unzhensky.
Installation of the bell in honor of the 400th anniversary of the
feat of the Nizhny Novgorod militia of Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry
Pozharsky was planned at the confluence of the Oka and Volga, 300 meters
from the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Until that time, the bell was
placed on a temporary belfry at the southern entrance to the cathedral.
The project of creating the bell was implemented with the blessing
of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. This is the third
largest bell in Russia (after the Tsar Bell in Moscow and the bell in
the Trinity-Sergius Lavra). Its height and diameter coincide and are
equal to 4 meters. Weight 60 tons. Made of bell bronze (80% copper and
20% tin). On the lower belt of the bell there is an inscription
perpetuating the names of all the trustees and benefactors who took part
in its creation.
The design and construction of the belfry was
carried out by the Stary Nizhny firm, the bell was cast on October 5,
2011 at the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg, the decoration and sound
were supervised by specialists from Moscow. Casting work was carried out
for several hours, three weeks were allotted for the cooling of the
bell.
Shrines of the Cathedral:
icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov with a
particle of relics;
icon of the blessed Matrona of Moscow with a
particle of relics;
the icon of the holy noble prince Alexander
Nevsky with a particle of relics;
icon of the Holy Great Martyr
Princess Elizabeth and nun Barbara with relics;
icon of St. Nicholas,
Archbishop of the World of Lycia, miracle worker;
since 2005, the
cathedral has been home to the first icon brought to Russia with
particles of the relics of the holy martyr Cyprian and the martyr
Justina