Cathedral of Our Lady is the main church in Bogolyubovo Monastery. It was constructed in 1855- 66. Much of the funds were provided by merchant's wife A.G. Alexeeva and her sons. Cathedral of Our Lady is the main church in the Bogolyubovo Monastery. It was founded on May 19, 1855 and consecrated on May 20, 1866. This Eastern Orthodox church was designed by famous Russian architect Konstantin Ton and Y.M. Nikiforov in the Russian- Byzantine architectural style. In essence it was a smaller version of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In addition to the main altar it has a smaller alters dedicated to Saint Simeon and Anna the Prophetess as well as apostles Peter and Paul. Central iconostasis of the cathedral that divided altar from the rest of the temple was made by Fyodor Grigoryevich Solntsev.
In addition to obvious architectural beauty Cathedral of Our Lady is distinguished by its near perfect acoustics as well as an effective air heating system that surpasses most of modern counterparts. Academic Fyodor Solntsev created the iconostasis of the church and interior frescoes were painted in the 1870 by several artists in a traditional medieval Orthodox style. It was updated in 1907- 08.
During atheistic campaigns against religion Cathedral of Our Lady along with most of churches in Bogolyubovo was closed. It was turned into a State Film and Photo Archive due to impressive heating system that required little maintenance. In fact this particular engineering feature might the reason why Cathedral of Our Lady was never torn down on the first place.
Cathedral of Our Lady was returned to its rightful owners, Russian Orthodox Church, after the collapse of Soviet Union. Reconstruction project that was started in 1985 continue to this date.
The largest building of the Holy Bogolyubsky
Monastery is the Cathedral of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother
of God. It was laid down on May 19, 1855. The solemn consecration
ceremony took place on May 20, 1866. A significant part of the funds
for the construction of the temple was donated by the Moscow
merchant A.G. Alekseeva and her sons.
The building was built
in the Russian-Byzantine style. The project was developed by the
architect Konstantin Andreevich Ton under the guidance of the
provincial architect Ya.M. Nikiforov. Ton's idea, according to some
modern experts, is his successful "part-time job", where he reused
his own drawings of the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This
is where the scale, scope, and quality of solutions come from. In
addition to its architectural merits, the cathedral was equipped
with such a perfect engineering system of air heating that at
present it is not possible to surpass its efficiency with modern
technologies and means for a reasonable price.
The cathedral
had chapels in honor of Saints Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the
Prophetess and the Apostles Peter and Paul.
The building of
the Bogolyubsky temple is cross-domed, with five chapters closely
adjacent to each other on faceted drums and pedestals. The central
dome stands out for its height and volume. The iconostasis of the
cathedral was created according to drawings by Academician Fyodor
Solntsev. Interior paintings in the academic style were made in the
1870s. In 1907-1908, the wall painting was renewed. A new carved
gilded iconostasis was installed in the main altar.
In the
Soviet period until the early 1980s, the cathedral was used as the
State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, which was the customer of
the initial design documentation for repair and restoration
activities. By this time, the temple was badly dilapidated. The work
was started, but with the departure of the archive they were
suspended for an indefinite period.
In 1985, at the request
of the archive for its technological needs, a version of a warm
1-storey enclosure inside the church with an area of about 800
square meters was developed. The rest of the overlying zone was
supposed to be left in the same state.
After the decision was
made to organize the Center for Prospective Problems of Architecture
on the basis of the ensemble of buildings of the Holy Bogolyubsky
Monastery, the Bogolyubsky Church was again redesigned for the needs
of a new customer, with the inclusion of large basement areas in the
activities.
But the redevelopment was never carried out. In
the early 1990s, the monastery was transferred to the Vladimir
Diocese. The restoration of the temple, begun in 1985, continues to
the present day. The facades have been completed, the chapters have
been repainted, and the restoration of frescoes on the huge surface
of the walls and arches is underway inside the cathedral. In terms
of visual perception and quality, the frescoes of the Cathedral of
the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God are in no way inferior
to those of the new build in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in
Moscow.