Odigitrievsky Cathedral: historical essay, description, schedule of services

Odigitrievsky Cathedral, which is located in the city of Ulan-Ude - is an amazing monument of Russian baroque, which recently turned 246 years old. To date, it has retained its original appearance, despite the fact that it is located in a rather dangerous seismic zone.

Building

In 1700, a little one-storied Bogoroditsa-Vladimir Church (such were usually at the cemeteries) and a separate belfry from the building were built a little further from the place where the Odigitrievsky Cathedral is today. It has not survived to this day, and its existence is reminiscent of two commemorative crosses.

Construction work on the construction of the Odigitrievsky Cathedral, which was to be the first stone building in Buryatia, began in 1741 and lasted about 44 years. The local and visiting merchants financed this business. In 1770, when the structure was completed, the bishops of Nerchinsk, Safroniy and Irkutsk consecrated the lower chapel of the church in honor of the Epiphany of the Lord. Later, in 1785, Bishop Michael was consecrated and the upper. The temple received its name in honor of the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, which is the patroness of travelers and honest merchants, and it was not chosen by chance.

The fact is that the Holy Hodegetria Cathedral (Ulan-Ude) was favorably located, namely on the routes between the European part of the Russian Empire and the road to China. Thus, in the XVIII century there was formed the largest fair of Transbaikalia, so for construction, repair and other needs, money was generously allocated by merchants seeking to receive God's favor for their commercial enterprises. There were so many interested people that from the middle of the XIX century the names of the donors for the temple were recorded in the Clearing List.

Further history

Beginning in 1818, the Odigitrievsky cathedral began to gradually deteriorate, as significant fissures began to form in connection with frequent earthquakes. Later, in 1862 and 1885, again there were strong shocks, worsening the situation, so the temple was constantly required repairs, which more or less regularly carried out on the money of benefactors.

In the second half of the XIX century charity organizations were opened at the cathedral. The oldest book in the library of the temple was the collection of prayers of 1700, which was printed in Moscow. At the same time, the church had a bell weighing just over 105 poods. The temple had many skillfully executed carved and gilded iconostases. By the end of the XIX century in the cathedral began to take classes in the parish school.

The history of the cathedral at the beginning of the last century

At the beginning of the XX century in the possession of the cathedral was 4364 square fathoms in Verkhneudinsk and even more than 50 acres in the suburbs. At that time, 1833 men and 1816 women belonged to the parish. When the First World War began, the parishioners of the Hodegetria Cathedral cared for the wounded.

With the advent of Soviet power, the life of believers changed dramatically. In 1929, the Odigitrievsky Cathedral (Ulan-Ude) ceased to exist in the form in which it was before. The building was confiscated and remodeled for storage, and the bells and crosses were removed. And in 1930, the last abbot of the temple of Gabriel Makushev, who was Bishop of Pribaikalsk, communists were shot.

After 7 years, the Holy Odigitrievsky Cathedral (Ulan-Ude) was turned into an Antireligious Museum. The purpose of creating the exposition was ridicule and discredit Orthodoxy on the wave of propaganda of atheism.

In the post-war years

After the Victory in the Great Patriotic War the building was transferred to the Museum of Local Lore in Buryatia, and in 1960 it was granted the status of a historical heritage site. This situation continued until the early 90's, when it was decided to transfer the Holy Hodigitrievsky Cathedral to the faithful. This long-awaited event occurred in 1992, when the church again became part of the RIC.

In 2001, major repairs of the premises were made, and new bells were raised to the bell-tower, among which 100-pood "Tsesarevich" deserves special mention. Much work was done by masters of iconography under the leadership of Maxim Krasikov.

Description

In general, the overall composition of the church is made in the architectural style of the Baroque. The components are lined from west to east. The complex consists of:

• The temple;
• Refectory;
• The bell tower.

All parts are merged into one continuous component, thus, a dense monolith is obtained. In the center of the building is a pillarless massif of the quadrangle, which is covered by a vault, a high dome and a flashlight from two tiers. On the west side there is a bell tower, which is made in the form of an octagon on a four-legged one. Each of the details has a semicircular shape, organically combining with the neighboring one. Above a pair of square tiers there is an octagon, and each of its faces has arched notches. This gives the belltower a more beautiful and pronounced appearance, and at the top is an onion-shaped dome with a cross.

In the implementation of the facades, the strong influence of Baroque techniques is very clearly seen, but it is clear that the temple also has the features of the classical Russian architectural style that the wooden church built in its place in 1700 had.

Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria

Talking about the main cathedral of Ulan-Ude, we can not say a few words about the shrine that gave it its name. It is believed that the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria was written by St. Luke. In Russia, she was supposedly in 1046, when the Byzantine emperor blessed his daughter Anna for her to become the wife of Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavovich. Since then, the icon has become a character of the tribal shrines of the upper classes and symbolize the proximity between Rus and Byzantium. Later, the holy image traveled from city to city more than once. At the end he was transported from Chernigov to Smolensk and was installed there in a newly-built church. After the occupation of the city by the Nazis, the icon was never found.

Address

The Holy Hodegetria Cathedral is located at Ulan-Ude, Lenin Street, 2. Thanks to the location of the church in the center of the city, it has excellent transport accessibility. True, you will not be able to reach the cathedral, since Lenin's street is pedestrian.

Odigitrievsky Cathedral Ulan-Ude: service schedule

The temple takes its parishioners daily. The Divine Liturgy begins at 8 in the morning, and the evening service at 4 pm. On Sundays and twelve holidays the service takes place at 07:00 and at 09:30.

In the candle store the rite of the baptism is held from 10 am to 10:30. Interviews are held from Wednesday to Friday at 6 pm. The icon shop serves every day from 07:00 to 20:00. Also it is possible to specify the interesting data by phone: + 7-301-222-08-31.

Now you know what is interesting about the main temple of Ulan-Ude, and certainly want to visit it, if you find yourself in the capital of Buryatia.