Kholmogory (Russian : Холмогоры ) is a historical
village and the administrative center of the Kholmogory raion of the
Archangel Oblast, in Russia. It is located on the left bank of the
Northern Dvina, on the M8 motorway, 75 km southeast of Arcángel and
90 km north of the Monastery of San Troitski Antonievo-Siski. The
name is derived from the Finnish Kalmomäki, which means "hill of
corpses" (cemetery ). According to the census Russian of 2002, its
population was 4,592 inhabitants.
Kholmogory area was first
inhabited by the Finn - Ugrians Savolotshij Thsuuds (savolokis ),
also called Yems or Karelians in the ancient chronicles of Novgorod.
The first Slavic population in the region were the pomors of Vologda
after 1220. Already in the fourteenth century, the village (whose
name happened to be pronounced Kholmogory) was an important center
of trade for the Republic of Novgorod in northern Russia. Its
commercial importance even grew in 1554 when the Muscovy Company
converted Kholmogory into its center for fur operations. The Swedes
besieged the wooden fort during the Tumultuous Period (1613), but
they had to withdraw (although later the Russians announced this,
there is no record in the Swedish military sources). During the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was a place of exile,
including ex-agent Ana Leopóldovna and her children.
In 1682
the cathedral of Kholmogory was consecrated, with six pillars, the
largest in the region. It was destroyed by the Soviets in the 1930s.
Despite this, many old sawmills and mills in the area are still
preserved. Lomonosov, one of the surrounding villages is the
birthplace of the great Russian geographer and writer Mikhail
Lomonosov and the sculptor Fedot Shubin. As a local artistic
tradition we should highlight the engraving of mammoth tusks and
walruses. The bone engraving factory Lomonosov preserves the
medieval tradition of this folk art.
The Kholmogorsk
cathedral ensemble is located in the village of the same name and in
the region of the Arkhangelsk region. It consists of the
Transfiguration Cathedral, the bell tower and the Bishops' chambers.
The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1685-1691 by
Archbishop Athanasius. The foundation was laid in May 1685. Fyodor
and Ivan Stafurov supervised the construction work of the "stone and
bell works of the apprentice". The cathedral was built like other
northern churches of the late 17th century; it received a severe
medieval image. The building was crowned with 5 powerful heads. Its
height was 42 meters. The architects of those years no longer used
pet coat; Kholmogory Cathedral had a developed cornice with a
4-pitched roof. The decorative design of the facades is
distinguished by simplicity and modesty: promising portals, stripes
of curb and croutons, a peculiar pattern of the platband. Be that as
it may, structurally the building of the cathedral has retained many
archaic elements that go back to the Assumption Cathedral of
Fioravanti: the cross vaults are on the same level, the inter-altar
double arches and compartments are practically equal to each other.
The temple was painted by local archpriest Fyodor and deacon
Fyodor. After Tsar Peter Alekseevich visited the cathedral in 1693,
the iconostasis was replaced with a five-tiered one. The cornice
with the temple-created chronicle was located between the second and
third tiers of the iconostasis. Through the efforts of His Grace
Athanasius, a diocesan archive was formed at the church, and a
telescope was installed on the bell tower. The cathedral was the
first observatory in the Russian North.
Later, the cathedral
served as the burial vault of bishops, and directly opposite the
Braunschweig family was imprisoned. After 1920, the monument was
destroyed and practically destroyed. Of the five drums, only three
managed to survive, and then they were beheaded. The entire height
of the temple was overtaken by a crack, clearly visible in the
photographs, which threatened its complete destruction.
In
the second half of the 20th century, instead of restoration, the
Transfiguration Cathedral was mothballed for an indefinite period,
the walls were fastened with metal ties, although the bell tower was
restored. Today the cathedral is open as a parish church, but the
local population does not have enough funds for restoration work.
Services are held in two smaller churches of a later construction
located near the cathedral: the Twelve Apostles and the Descent of
the Holy Spirit.
To the west of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky
Cathedral there is a low tent-roofed bell tower-clock-bell, built in
1683-1685 (in other sources - in 1681-1683). It was with her that
the construction of the entire Bishops' court began, and she
appeared before the cathedral, which violated all church canons.
The structure of the bell tower is traditional: an octagon on a
quadrangle, a tent completes the structure. Thanks to its rich
decor, it seems to withstand the austere appearance of the
cathedral. The bell facades, like the cathedral ones, were painted
with "patterned pink colors." There was a clock on the bell tower,
which had 2 wooden circles with arrows “on the osmerik from north to
south”: on the south - there were Latin numbers, on the north -
Russian.
The bell tower has 14 bells. A large one (weighing
178 pounds) was poured during the reign of Catherine II, the other
(110 pounds) was originally from Amsterdam. In the Soviet years,
these bells were melted down, but part of the found bell was used to
cast new ones.
The bishops' chambers were built in 1688-1691.
In the line of the Holy Gates, from the eastern direction of the
chambers, there was the archbishop's house church (1692-1695). A
dining room and a cross chambers with "grass" vaults and tiled
stoves were attached to it at the level of the second floor.
Once, the Bishops' Chambers looked very elegant: a high roof with
chimneys, luxurious window frames, each of which is decorated with
kokoshniks with 3 “peaks”. The front porch led to the second floor.
In these chambers in 1693, Peter the Great was received by
Archbishop Athanasius.