Church of All Saints (Volgograd)

Church of All Saints (Volgograd)

 

Address: Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd

 

Description of the Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints is a Russian Orthodox church- monument that was recently constructed and dedicated to fallen Orthodox soldiers who died on Mamayev Kurgan. Church of All Saints is located just two hundred meters from the monument "The Motherland Calls!" and mass graves of thousands of soldiers that fell here in 1942- 43. At the time of construction of Mamayev Kurgan War memorial USSR was officially an atheist country so no religious buildings were allowed, however after the collapse of the Communist regime and its main ideology it became clear that many Russians want to commemorate the memory of their fallen soldiers in Christian churches as well as non- religious ones. The idea for construction of the Church of All Saints was blessed by Patriarch Alexy in 1995, but construction began years later. The foundation for the church was laid down in May 2002 near mass graves of fallen Soviet soldiers. Funds for its construction were gathered largely from private donations. Church of All Saints was completed in 2005.
 
Its five domes reach a height of 38 meters and visible from most parts of Volgograd. In a traditional Orthodox architecture five domes represent Jesus Christ and four authors of Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Its helmet domes were build from titanium alloys and brought here from Ural mountains and its shape was modeled after helmets of medieval Russian warriors.