Assumption Cathedral (Yaroslavl)

Assumption Cathedral (Yaroslavl)

 

 

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Description of Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl

Assumption Cathedral is a medieval Russian Orthodox Church that was constructed in the early 1210's shortly after Yaroslavl was found. It stands on a picturesque hill overlooking Volga Embankment. For centuries Assumption Cathedral served as the main Christian temple in the city and its distinct symbol. Orthodox church was closed and later demolished by the orders of the Bolsheviks (Communists) in 1937 during their drive to eradicate religion from Yaroslavl and all of Soviet Union. and reconstructed only after fall of Soviet Union. Assumption Cathedral obviously served as a symbol of Christianity in the city and thus was demolished as a strike against people's personal beliefs. Building of a new Assumption Cathedral of Yaroslavl started in 2004 and was completed in 2010. It was consecrated on September 12, 2010 by a Russian Patriarch Kirill.

 

Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl in the 18-20th centuries. was the Orthodox cathedral of the Rostov-Yaroslavl diocese. It was located on the Volga and Kotorosl spit.

The Assumption Cathedral is the first stone church in Yaroslavl. Its construction was started in 1215 by order of the Prince of Rostov Konstantin Vsevolodovich on the territory of the Kremlin. The temple was solemnly consecrated in 1219 as the main temple of the city and named according to tradition in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Unlike other churches of North-Eastern Russia, it was built of bricks, while white stone carving was widely used in the decoration of the facades, gilded copper adorned the doors, and multi-colored majolica tiles covered the floor.

The ensemble of this six-pillar cathedral with a high bell tower was exactly repeated in the early 18th century. near Yaroslavl in the Great.

In 1501 a fire broke out and the vaults of the church collapsed. During the clearing of the rubble, the relics of the princes of Yaroslavl in the 13th century were found. - Konstantin and Vasily Vsevolodovich. Then they became one of the main cathedral relics. By 1516, the temple was rebuilt, most likely on the site of the previous one. It was a small temple, standing on a basement with a side-chapel "on the floor" in the eastern part. Its closest analogue can be considered the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin.

After 1605, an illustrated synodic began to be compiled in the Assumption Cathedral. During the Time of Troubles, in 1612, Dmitry Pozharsky was blessed here by Metropolitan Kirill for the liberation campaign.

By decree of the tsar in 1642, it was ordered to dismantle the Assumption Cathedral due to its dilapidation and erect a new stone one in another place. By decree, only the cellar under the church was preserved, where the "green and lead treasury" was located. But since this room was damp, a state chamber was built on the basis of the walls of the upper tier of the former cathedral. In 1646, a one-story cathedral with five domes with a high 55-meter bell tower was erected and consecrated.

In the second half of the 17th century. In Yaroslavl, government construction was underway, in 1659 a royal decree was issued on the construction of a new cathedral church, since the former was not large in size and suffered from a fire that occurred on July 10, 1658, when numerous Yaroslavl buildings burned down. The cathedral looked like a six-pillar building with five domes with stone porches from the north, west and south, which were typical for many temples of Yaroslavl in the 17th century. Together with the temple, an octagonal hipped-roof bell tower was laid.

In the fire of 1670, the temple was badly damaged, after a few years it was rebuilt. The building had a cubic Byzantine shape and five massive chapters. The interior of the Assumption Cathedral was painted in 1671-1674, the painting was preserved without renewal until 1825.

In the next two hundred years, the temple underwent several reconstructions, the most significant took place after 1788, when the cathedral received the status of a cathedral due to the transfer of the center of the diocese to Yaroslavl. In the 1720s. the western porch was added to the cathedral; at the end of the 18th century. the porch was remade, in 1832-1833. added a warm church to the south wall.

In 1832-1836. designed by architect A.I. Melnikov, a new bell tower was erected instead of the old one, the cathedral domes were covered with gold in 1844, and at the end of the 19th century. expanded the western porch.

At the end of the 19th century. the cathedral had two thrones: St. Prince Vladimir and the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Archbishops Simeon, Paul and Leonidas were buried under the vaults of the cathedral.

In 1918, the Assumption Cathedral was damaged during the anti-Bolshevik uprising. Partial restoration of the temple was carried out in the fall of 1924. In 1922, the temple was given for the needs of the labor exchange, from 1930 to 1937. a grain warehouse was located here. August 26, 1937 the cathedral was blown up, and in its place the city park of culture was laid out.

On October 26, 2004, a new Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God was laid. The new cathedral is not like its predecessor. The area occupied by the temple is 2 thousand square meters. m, the cathedral's capacity is more than 4000 people, the height is 50 m to the base of the cross, the bell tower is 70 m high. In the basement there is a hall of church cathedrals, a refectory, a museum and the bishop's chambers.

On August 27, 2010, Archbishop Kirill of Yaroslavl and Rostov held the first divine service in the new cathedral, even though not all construction work was completed. The cathedral was consecrated by Patriarch Kirill on September 12, 2010.