St. Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt: history, photo

We suggest you get acquainted with one of the most famous Russian churches with a very interesting history. St. Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt is a disembodied dream of Peter I. This king saw the Russian capital "like Amsterdam". Its center was supposed to be on the Vasilievsky Island.

The plan of Peter the Great

From 1716 to 1718, in terms of building the city, it was already determined the place where the St. Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt was to be located. He was supposed to erect opposite the building of twelve boards. The future life of this cathedral was thus seen as the center of the changes of the era of Peter, which was distinguished by religious tolerance. Therefore, the St. Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt was called upon to unite not only the inhabitants of our country: Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans, but also foreigners into a single, acting without borders, a Christian commonwealth. By building his secular power demonstrated unity with the Christian Europe of the Russian state.

However, the efforts of the government and the nobility to lay this cathedral under Peter I were in vain. Before the first stone was laid in its foundation, thirty years had passed.

Vasilievsky Island until 1719

On Vasilievsky Island until 1719, there were virtually no buildings, except the Menshikov Chambers with a wooden church with them, as well as the French settlement, which was inhabited by foreign craftsmen. Already after 1719 wooden and stone buildings began to be built according to the plan approved by Peter I.

Beginning of the island building

The construction of facilities intended for the most important places (colleges) began in 1722. Here, in the square in front of them, the place was determined for the future church.

Catherine I, the wife of Peter, who succeeded after his death the throne, fully shared the intentions of the deceased spouse. On Vasilievsky Island by this time have already been designated blocks of future avenues and streets. Given the need to build a church for those who lived on the island, it was decided to change the place of future construction. It was provided for at the corner of the 6th line and Bolshoy Prospekt, where the stone church will eventually have to be. But first they began to build a wooden, temporary one.

The First Church

The laying of the building in 1728 was completed. The construction was completed in 1731. It was a one-storey modest church, the windows of which overlooked Bolshoy Prospekt. The author of the project is unknown, but we can assume that it was J. Trezzini.

In 1732, on October 8, Feofan Prokopovich consecrated a new church in the name of Andrew the First-Called. Three priests were enrolled in the parish. The inhabitants of Vasilievsky Island in November 1733 were attributed to the St. Andrew Church by a decree of spiritual government. It was visited by many famous persons of St. Petersburg, even the royal place was equipped. At the solemn divine service, held on July 30, 1745, Trediakovsky and Lomonosov took the oath in it. This church was under the auspices of the emperor's family. Anna Ioannovna loved to visit her. She donated funds for utensils and church vestments. A small cemetery was located next to the church. Here, according to legend, BF Dolgoruky, a senator, one of Peter's associates, was buried.

Construction of a new stone church

The parishioners in 1740 turned to Anna Ioannovna and asked her to build a stone church nearby. The commission of rebuilding the city on April 5, 1740 allowed the construction of a new stone building, now heated (in the old one it was very cold). Already in the same year, on April 21, a plan was presented. The author of this project is also unknown, but the architect O. P. Trezzini on May 29 reported to the Spiritual Board that the building would be under his control.

The Holy Synod of June 2, 1740 allowed construction, saying that the decision on the name will be taken after the construction. For the erection of the church, after a while, various materials, nails and lime, which were left after the repair of houses in St. Petersburg, where the Persian ambassador lived along with his retinue, were given.

In 1760, on October 17, the newly built stone church with stove heating was consecrated in the name of the Three Saints. St. Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt is located next to this building, in one fence, to the right of it. The new church was a two-story stone building, rectangular in plan, on the slab of the basement. The drum is small, octagonal, the ceiling is made of cross stone vaults. Taken from the house church of A. Menshikov, the iconostasis stood in its place until 1827, after which it was replaced by a new one, which was donated from the house church of Titov, Major-General. In the workshop of FA Verkhovtsev, a well-known jeweler, a puddle silver vestment designed for the main throne was made in 1861. Images of Calvary with three crosses adorned him.

10 bells were placed on the two-tiered bell tower of the new cathedral. They were famous for their beautiful ringing. Polyelein and Voskresensky are the largest of them. The cathedral was also famous for its carved wooden iconostasis in the Baroque style. Unfortunately, the artist who painted the icons of rescuers (Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom), also remained unknown.

Ceremonial laying of the stone St. Andrew's Church

A great misfortune occurred in 1763, on July 4. The wooden St. Andrew's Church caught fire from lightning. She could not be defended from the fire. The synod was allowed on October 6 to build the stone Kronstadt St. Andrew's Cathedral instead of the burned wooden building. The detailed history of the erection of this building with a bell tower and five chapters, unfortunately, is unknown. In 1764, on July 18, there was a solemn laying of the cathedral (below is his photo).

Andreevsky Cathedral of Kronstadt looks like this today. AI Petrov, a historian of St. Petersburg, asserts in his book entitled "The Story of St. Petersburg" that Alexei Ivanov was the author of the project. However, this fact is not confirmed. The history of the rebuilding and construction of the cathedral is not sufficiently studied, but it is known that in 1766, on August 8, the dome collapsed inside the church during the works. The architect AF Vist, the author of the project, was arrested. It turned out that the collapse was not caused by the author's mistake, but by the poor quality of the materials from which the cathedral was made. In the secular and ecclesiastical literature, the exact date for the completion of its construction is not indicated, but on the building in 1950 there was a commemorative plaque, according to which it was built in 1764-1780 (architect - Vist).

Flood

After the flood in 1824, the dungeon of the cathedral was flooded with water. The clergy ordered to fall asleep in order to avoid a possible flood in the future and close the former entrance to it with a hollow vault.

Stone chapels

On March 10, 1848, it was decided to attach stone chapels to the cathedral from two sides. Funds for them were collected from the parishioners. The architect of the project is H. Grebenka. The chapel on the right was in the name of the Assumption of Our Lady, and on the left - in the name of N. Mirlikiy. They were laid in 1848, on July 31, and consecrated in two years on October 15. In the nineteenth century it looked as shown in the following photo, St. Andrew's Cathedral (Kronstadt).

The church is becoming more and more grand

At the expense of the merchants-parishioners AI Timenkov and VA Frolov in 1850, five chapters of the cathedral and the bell tower were gilded and covered with new iron. Interior decoration was changed in 1858. It was then that the painting of the vaults and walls was repainted, the iconostasis was redone, and the ornamentation on the arches and vaults was gilded. The iconostasis was made of three-tiered, carved, gilded. Fourteen images in the second and third tiers were written by the artist Shishkin. Iconographer Poshekhonov wrote two in the first tier.

Together with the cathedral for living the parable was built in the courtyard of a stone house. It was until 1826 small, two-story. On ecclesiastical money in 1826 he was built on the third floor.

Fire in 1897

In 1897, on July 24, at about ten o'clock in the evening, a strong enough glow appeared on the island. The fact is that the St. Andrew's Cathedral (Kronstadt) was on fire. Crowds rushed to the crowds of people, there from the different sides raced fire crews. Gilded domes during the next repair. In the upper part, for an unknown reason, the woods around the domes and the cathedral burned. Through the efforts of the brave and firefighters, they were dismantled, but a part of the roof was damaged.

The fate of St. Andrew's Cathedral in the Soviet years

In 1918, on January 23, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars was proclaimed, according to which the church was separated from the state. It was pointed out that no religious and ecclesiastical societies can own property. All property was declared as public property. The church lost its influence on the hearts and minds of the younger generation, carried out for centuries, because according to this decree the school was separated from the church.

After a number of regions of the country (most of all - the Volga region) was covered by an unprecedented drought, which put millions on the brink of starvation, the Soviet government issued a decree on February 23, 1922. All church values were to be removed from the temples in order to be used by the state to buy bread abroad.

All the values of St. Andrew's Cathedral in March 1922 were confiscated. Moreover, some of the priests who resisted this were arrested and convicted.

The most active parishioners at the beginning of 1938 were arrested by the NKVD, after which they were taken to the Levashov Wasteland. Here they were shot. Kronstadt St. Andrew's Cathedral, a photo of which is presented in this article, was closed on May 16, 1938. The parishioners managed to slaughter the iconostasis with plywood and boards. Thanks to this, this relic has survived to this day, which Kronstadt is rightfully proud of. St. Andrew's Cathedral, where the museum collection was now stored, was rented for many years by the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography. Three-story house, which until 1974 inhabited the descendants of priests, was resettled.

Return of the Church

The Church of the Three Saints was returned on July 15, 1991. It was transferred to the community of St. Andrew's Cathedral for unlimited use. Restoration work began in 1994, and today the St. Andrew's Cathedral (Kronstadt) has been restored. Crosses for the bell tower and domes were made, roofing was replaced, and cosmetic repairs were made. The metal vestments were purchased for the altar and the throne, as well as icons and numerous church utensils.

Address and schedule of services

Today the church is active. Anyone can visit St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt. Address: Vasilievsky Island, 6th line, house 11. Working hours: daily from 9 am to 7 pm. Any day you can come to the service in St. Andrew's Cathedral (Kronstadt). The schedule of the services is as follows: the liturgy is held at 10 o'clock, confession at 9:30, and at 17:00 there is evening worship.