Lossi platz 10
Tel. 644 3484
Trolley: 3, 4
Open: 8am- 7pm
daily
www.orthodox.ee
St. George's Cathedral Alexander Nevski Cathedral (est.
Aleksander Nevski katedraal, Russian: Собор Александра Невского) -
Orthodox cathedral in Tallinn, metropolitan cathedral of the
autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church.
The cathedral was
erected in the years 1893-1900 on the initiative of the Estonian
governor Sergei Shakhovsky and the parish priest of the Orthodox
parish of the Transfiguration in Tallinn Konstantin Tizik. It was
supposed to be a symbol of Russian rule in Estonia, contribute to
the dissemination of Orthodoxy and, in the long run, the
Russification of Estonians. It was consecrated in 1900 by the
Archbishop of Riga and Mitawa, Agatangel, assisted by protojere Jan
Siergiew (John Kronstadt).
The authorities of independent
Estonia considered demolition of the temple, but finally, after
protests by the Orthodox inhabitants of the country, they agreed to
its further functioning, but in 1936 they handed it over to an
ethnic Estonian parish. The cathedral was closed in 1941 after Nazi
Germany invaded Estonia and remained closed for four years. In the
Soviet period, however, it was never taken from the parish, although
there was a concept of its reconstruction into a planetarium. Since
1990, it has been the metropolitan cathedral of the Estonian
Orthodox Church, an autonomous Church within the structure of the
Moscow Patriarchate.
The initiators of the construction of the cathedral were the Estonian
governor Sergei Shakhovskoj and the parish priest of the Transfiguration
parish in Tallinn, Fr. Konstantin Tizik. They pointed out that the
Transfiguration Cathedral existing in the city, rebuilt in the 18th
century from a Lutheran church, became insufficient for the needs of the
growing group of Orthodox Russians permanently residing in the city.
They also drew attention to the external appearance of this sacral
building, which differed greatly from the Russian Orthodox tradition,
despite the reconstruction. The initiative was part of the campaign to
strengthen Orthodoxy in the Baltic provinces, which in turn was supposed
to promote the Russification of Latvians and Estonians. The erection of
the cathedral, along with the opening of the female Piuchtick Monastery
of the Dormition of the Mother of God, was the most important Russian
initiative in this campaign.
In 1887, the Holy Governing Synod
approved the plan to build a new cathedral in the city and donated
60,000 for this purpose. rubles. The Estonian governor, who wanted to
build a magnificent and impressive Orthodox church, considered this sum
insufficient for the implementation of his plans and, with the consent
of Tsar Alexander III, started a nationwide fundraising campaign for the
construction of the building. As a result, by mid-September 1899,
434,623 rubles and 29 kopecks had been collected. However, Sergei
Shakhovskoy did not even live to see the beginning of the construction
of the cathedral.
The patron of the temple was chosen in 1888.
St. Alexander Nevski, to celebrate the rescue of Tsar Alexander III and
his family from the disaster of the royal train in Borki on October 17
this year. The Toompea hill, which is key in the planning of Tallinn and
significant for the Estonian national mythology, was chosen as the place
for the construction of the temple, specifically the square in front of
the governor's palace (originally the Toompea castle, in independent
Estonia it is the parliament building). The author of the project of the
building was academician Mikhail Preobrazhensky. On August 30, 1893, the
archbishop of Riga and Mitawa, Arseniusz, consecrated the construction
site, two years later the foundations began to be poured. On August 20,
1895, the cornerstone was consecrated. On November 2, 1897, founded by
the merchant Ivan Gordeyev, iron, gilded crosses were placed on the
domes of the still unfinished church. A year later, in the summer, a
gift from another Russian merchant, Pyotr Abrosimov, financed the
gilding of five domes of the cathedral. The bells for the temple were
cast at Vasily Orlov's workshop in St. Petersburg, and hung in the
cathedral on June 7, 1898.
Initially, the builders of the
cathedral envisaged inserting a marble iconostasis into it, but in the
end it was decided to use a wooden and gilded one as it was cheaper, and
at the same time more stylistically suited to the whole. The appearance
of the iconostasis was also designed by Mikhail Preobrazhensky, and it
was made by S. Abrosimov. The iconostasis was placed inside the
cathedral in 1899, and the icons for it were created in the workshop of
Aleksander Nowskolcew. Academician Novoskoltsev personally wrote the
images in the lower row of the iconostasis.
In March 1900, work
on the interior decoration was completed and on April 30 of that year,
the bishop of Riga and Mitawa, Agatangel, assisted by the
proto-presbyter Jan Siergiejew consecrated the finished temple. On May 2
of the same year, Bishop Agatangel consecrated the side altar of St.
Sergius of Radonezh, while on July 15, the consecration of the altar of
St. Vladimir. The cathedral was the temple of the ethnic Russian parish
(with services in Church Slavonic), the older cathedral of the
Transfiguration was given to the Estonian Orthodox parish.
In
1917, the Metropolitan of Petrograd, Beniamin, assisted by the Bishop of
Lusk, Artemius, performed a Alexander Nevsky, the first episcopal
chirotony in the history of a clergyman of Estonian nationality - Plato
(Kulbusch). The bishop's gold given to Plato (murdered in 1919 and
canonized as one of the new Russian martyrs), treated as a relic, is
kept in the cathedral.
In the interwar period, episcopal chirotons of successive Estonian
Orthodox hierarchs – Alexander (Paulus), Jan (Bulin) and Mikołaj
(Leisman) were held in the cathedral.
After Estonia gained
independence, a project to adapt the cathedral and the entire Toompea
Hill into the Pantheon of Estonian Independence appeared, and thus
remove the temple-symbol of the Russification of the country. In October
1928, the Estonian parliament passed a law on the demolition of the
cathedral, which was to take effect by May 1, 1929. This decision met
with protests from the Orthodox population, as well as from some of the
clergy and faithful of the majority Lutheran Church in Estonia, and from
left-wing opposition parties. Ultimately, the temple was not destroyed.
Only the gold was removed from the domes of the cathedral.
In the
years 1923–1936, the council was still administered by the Russian
parish, which was subordinate to the Eparchy of Narew, which grouped
pastoral institutions for Orthodox Russians. In 1936, the building was
taken over by the ethnic Estonian parish; at the same time, the council
became the cathedral of the autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church led by
Metropolitan Alexander. Services were held in Estonian. The Russian
parish was given a much smaller church of Saints Simeon and Anna in
Tallinn in return.
The Russian parish began to function again in the 1940 Council, after
the annexation of Estonia by the USSR and the reincorporation of the
Estonian Orthodox Church into the jurisdiction of the Moscow
Patriarchate.
After the occupation of Estonia by the Third Reich
as a result of aggression against the USSR, the council was closed in
1941. The German occupation authorities considered its complete
destruction. The reopening of the church in March 1945 was led by the
Archbishop of Narew, Paweł. In 1947, the faithful were deprived of the
cellars of the temple, where the lower church of St. Andrzej, after
which they were adapted to a shelter, and then a book storehouse. In the
1960s, there was a project of rebuilding the entire cathedral into a
planetarium, which was successfully opposed by Alexy, the bishop of
Tallinn and Estonia.
In 1990, the episcopal chirotony of
Archimandrite Cornelius (Jakobs) was held in the cathedral, who then
took the office of the bishop of Tallinn.
In Estonia after 1991
In 1991, the conciliar parish regained the premises of the lower
Orthodox church. Eight years later, at the request of the parishioners,
the building received the status of a stauropegial council - it is
directly subordinated to the patriarchs of Moscow and all Ruthenia, and
not to the Tallinn eparchy, although it remains the cathedral of its
superiors.
The council was visited twice by the Patriarchs of
Moscow and All Rus - Alexy II in 2003 and Kirill in 2013. On May 29,
2018, an extraordinary council of clergy and laity of the Estonian
Orthodox Church was held in the temple, which elected a new head of the
Church after the death of Metropolitan Cornelius in March of the same
year.
On September 20, 1995, the cathedral was registered on the
list of cultural monuments of Estonia (est. Kultuurimälestiste riiklik
register) under the number 1102
The cathedral represents the Byzantine-Russian style. Its layout
imitates Byzantine cross-dome temples, it has three apses and five
bulbous domes. The second source of inspiration for the creator of the
building's design were Moscow Orthodox churches from the 17th century.
The total height of the building is 58 meters. At the same time, 1,500
people can participate in a service in the cathedral.
Externally,
the building is decorated with a mosaic by A. Frolov. Above the main
entrance to the temple there is an image of the Mother of God based on
the icon of the Sign, and above it the Image of Christ the Savior Not
Made by Human Hand. Above the side entrance on the south side there is a
figure of the patron saint of the cathedral, and above it - St. Sergius
of Radonezh and St. Vladimir. Above the northern entrance, there is a
figure of St. Nicholas, and above it St. Izydor Jurjewski and St.
Gabriel-Vsevolod Pskowski. The total area of the mosaics exceeds 40
square meters and it is one of the largest such compositions in Estonia.
The cathedral has three altars - the main one - St. Alexander Nevsky,
right (south) St. Sergius of Radonezh and the left (northern) St.
Vladimir the Great. In front of the main altar there is a double-row
iconostasis. In its first row, there are successive icons of Gabriel
Pskov, Archangel Gabriel, Mother of God with Child, Christ the Savior,
Archangel Michael and Alexander Nevsky. In the second row, there are the
figures of the Apostles grouped in two on six icons, and above the royal
gates there is a composition of Deesis (Christ Enthroned).
Similar structures in front of the two side altars are single-row. In
the iconostasis in front of the southern altar, from the left, there are
icons of St. Nicanor, Mother of God, Christ the Savior and St. Philip.
Above the tsar's gates there is a composition of the Last Supper. In
front of the northern altar, there is an iconostasis with images of St.
Laurence, Mother of God, Christ the Savior and St. Stephen. The Last
Supper was also placed above the tsar's gates. In front of the right
cleros, icons of St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Izydor Jurjewski. In
front of the left cliros there are icons of St. Olga and St. Vladimir.
Altar room
In the altar room, behind the altar, there is the
composition Communion of the Apostles by Mikhail Vasiliev, based on the
11th-century mosaic on the same subject, located in the Cathedral of the
Divine Wisdom in Kiev. It is not a faithful copy of the Kiev prototype,
the artist solved it differently, e.g. character setting and expression.
Above the upper place of the cathedral, the icon of the Resurrection of
the Lord was hung.
In the windows of the altar room there are
stained glass windows designed by Aleksander Nowskolcew and made by Emil
Steinke. They represent Christ the Saviour, the Mother of God and John
the Baptist.
In front of the cathedral's columns, on the right, there are kiots
with images of St. Catherine and St. Santa. On the left side, also in
the kiot, there is a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which
has been venerated with special reverence since the sanctuary was
consecrated). On the same side there is an icon of a group of saints
whose memorial falls on October 17 (old style), i.e. Saints Hosea,
Andrew of Crete and Saints Cosmas and Damian, shown together with the
patron saints of members of the tsar's family - Saints Alexander Nevsky,
Nicholas of Myra, George the Victorious, Mary Magdalene, Olga of Kiev,
the martyr Alexandra and St. Michael. In front of the iconostasis in the
altar of St. Vladimir the Great, on the left, there is a copy of the
Icon of the Mother of God "Quickly Fulfilling Requests". In turn, in
front of the iconostasis in the altar of St. Sergius of Radonezh, there
is an image of St. Seraphim of Sarov and a copy of the Pskov Icon of the
Mother of God.
After the canonization of Tsar Nicholas II and his
family, their icon was also placed in the cathedral. In 2010, to a
smaller icon depicting St. A piece of his relics was delivered to
Alexander Nevsky. In 2012, the cathedral was equipped with an icon of
the Cathedral of the Saints of the Estonian Land written by Leonid
Sokolov. In the cathedral there is also a separate icon of one of the
saints belonging to this cathedral - St. Sergius of Rakvere with a piece
of his relics. In addition to the icons made over the years especially
for the temple on the Toompea Hill, its equipment also includes icons
from the Orthodox Church of Saints Simeon and Anna in Tallinn and from
the Transfiguration Cathedral in Narva, destroyed in 1944.
The frescoes inside the cathedral were designed by the architect
Mikhail Preobrazhensky and painted by G. Prokofiev. Only the figures of
the Evangelists placed on the sails supporting the largest dome are the
works of Aleksander Błaznow.
Other items of equipment
In front
of the iconostases of the side altars, there are two bronze and gilded
panikadiła (chandeliers) modeled on the one that Peter the Great funded
for the court church in the Moscow Kremlin.
On one of the
analogies, there is a cross-reliquary exposed for worship with particles
of the relics of various saints and a fragment of a stone from the
Lord's Sepulchre.
On both sides of the main entrance to the
cathedral, there are marble commemorative plaques reminding about the
erection and consecration of the cathedral. Over time, more plaques were
hung in this part of the temple, e.g. commemorating fallen soldiers and
sailors. A separate plaque commemorates the visit of Tsar Nicholas II
with his wife Alexandra and daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia
in 1912. At the panikhidnik and Golgotha there are memorial plaques for
many years serving in the Tallinn bishops' cathedral, Paul and Isidore.
In the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevski there are eleven bells[7].
The largest of them weighs sixteen tons. At the time of suspension, it
was the largest church bell in the Baltic provinces of the Russian
Empire, and after the annexation of Estonia to the USSR - the largest
church bell in this country. All the bells bear the Church Slavonic
inscription "Bell of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Rewel" (cs.
kolokoł Aleksandro-Niewskago Riewielskogo sobora). Four of them
additionally bear inscriptions and images:
the first - with
images of Christ the Savior and Alexander Nevsky, an inscription
indicating the founders of the governors, Sergei Shakhovsky and his
successor, Evstafiy Skalon, together with members of the construction
committees they headed, as well as the persons of tsars Alexander III
and Nicholas II, during whose reign work on the cathedral was started
and completed, and, in addition, a passage in Church Slavonic from the
Gospel of John: “I also have other sheep that are not of this fold. And
these I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and there will be
one flock, one shepherd”;
the second - the image of the Annunciation
to the Mother of God and the image of St. Nicholas and the inscription
"Announce great joy to the earth, praise, heavens, the glory of God". It
also mentions the names of the bishops of Riga, Arsenius and Agatangel,
i.e. the hierarchs who blessed the foundation stone for the construction
of the cathedral and the finished temple;
the third - images of St.
Sergius of Radonezh and the image of the Ascension of the Lord and the
inscription: "Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord, who will stand
in His holy place? A man with clean hands and a pure heart”;
fourth -
with the image of St. Vladimir the Great.