Where is the St. Volodymyr's Cathedral (Tauric Chersonesos)?

The ancient city of Tauric Chersonese is a historical and archaeological reserve of national importance. It is located on the territory of Sevastopol and is the place where Orthodoxy has spread to all of Russia. The adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir took place in the cathedral, the ruins of which were found by archaeologists at excavations in Chersonese (Korsun).

Excavations

Archaeological research in the Ahtiar Bay began as early as the time of Prince Potemkin, who first brought a Russian squadron into it. By his decree, the Sevastopol fortress was immediately built, which he called Ahtiar. The ruins on the peninsula aroused keen interest both among historians and romantics, as well as in practical builders. Some examined the ancient ruins, the second dismantled the stone walls for new buildings.

In 1799 Pavel Sumarokov wrote: "... marble, stones, poles, cornices were brought from it. Sevastopol is lent to everyone by the last pebble of ancient Chersonesus ... In Ahhershir, Ahtiar fossilized all his ornaments. " Travelers, statesmen, writers lamented the destruction of the ancient city, which was perhaps the first example of the pressure of public opinion on state structures. In 1805, Emperor Alexander I issued a decree, in which he ordered to protect the antiquities of Tauris from spoiling. This did not stop all the thefts completely, but significantly reduced their scale.

Collect and systematize the antiquities of Chersonesos began in 1803. At the initiative of the Marquis de Traverse, a small museum was opened under the auspices of the state, where artifacts from all over the world, including from the Black Sea region, flocked. Later, in 1839, the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities was created, whose members actively searched for traces of Orthodox churches throughout the Black Sea region.

The activities of the members of the society in the archaeological research of ancient Tavrida attracted the attention of the servants of the church, and in 1850, Tsar Nicholas I agreed to restore the ancient temples. As a result, a monastery was opened on the territory of the site of the ancient settlement. Reconciling the manuscripts, the monks conducted unhurried excavations, and the discoveries were done by enthusiastic people. One of them was Count Uvarov, his works were the largest ancient basilica with a perfectly preserved mosaic. Further work was prevented by the Russian-Turkish and Crimean wars that began one after another.

Bookmark the Cathedral

In the period of the first defense of the city of Sevastopol (1854-1855) the monastery was occupied by French troops, having established their fighting positions here. By the time of liberation, all the buildings were destroyed as a result of shelling. Inspection of the rest of Chersonesos after all military operations showed that the destruction is not as great as expected.

Restoration of the monastery took place only after the Crimean War, the abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite Eugene. His worries were built two churches, a refectory, a hotel, a parish corps, farm buildings. Archimandrite managed to interest the royal family in the further development of the monastery.

In 1861, Emperor Alexander II transferred to the monastery a part of the relics of the holy Prince Vladimir, made a major donation for the casting of the bell and arrived on the laying of the first stone in the building of the future Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonese Tavrichesky). The construction was started on the site of the old basilica, discovered by Count Uvarov, where, according to the assumptions, the baptism of Saint Rus was made.

Building

The Vladimir Cathedral in Tauric Chersonesos was erected according to the project of the architect D. I. Grimm. He chose a strict Byzantine style for the temple as a symbol of the continuity of two cultures and one religion. Construction progressed rather slowly. Money for the cathedral was collected by subscription throughout Russia for thirty years. The work began in 1861, and they lasted until 1892.

The walls of the cathedral were erected around the ruins of an ancient temple. All the floor space was covered with valuable dark gray Carrara marble, hiding beneath it an ancient basement. In the place where the font was found, in which, according to tradition, the Russian prince was baptized, they trimmed with inserts of white stone, placing it in the form of an Orthodox cross. Before the font was installed an analog, intended for the laying of the relics of St. Blessed Prince Vladimir. The font and the anal were protected by a carved lattice of white marble.

By the time of the completion of the works, the Cathedral of Vladimir (Chersonesus of Taurus) was one of the largest churches in Russia, and in importance for the spiritual life it surpassed many shrines.

Lower Temple

After the construction was completed many years passed before the work on the interior of the Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonesus Tavrichesky) began. The history of the final stage of temple building began only on the eve of the 900th anniversary of the celebration of the Baptism of Rus. By the beginning of the celebrations the wall painting was not finished, for this reason in 1888 only the lower church dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was consecrated, where all the works were finished and a carved wooden iconostasis by the famous carver V. Koretsky was installed.

The crown of the work of stone-cutters was a monument to Prince Vladimir, made of marble and installed in the lower church. The masters did not spare the forces and the remains of the Carrara marble were decorated with the ruins of an ancient temple located in the lower church.

Works in the Cathedral

The central church was entrusted to the care of architect N. Chagin. Picturesque works were performed by a team of artists, among them A. Korzukhin, Prokofiev, Makin, etc. The interior was decorated with works of 19th-century artists - F.N. Rissa, T.A. Neff, Levitan, etc. The icons of the cathedral were written by E. Sorokin, N. Maikov, and others.

The stones were finished by the Italian masters of the brothers Baskarini and J. Skeppi. They laid out the mosaic floor in the cathedral, assembled the iconostasis and arranged the marble balustrade along the salt and made many other works on the stone. For the decoration did not spare the forces and means, the marble used Carrara, laying it on a special technology of mosaic styling of multi-colored parts. According to eyewitnesses, the beauty was extraordinary.

The consecration of the upper church took place in 1891, but the final completion of all interior finishing was completed only three years later - in 1894. The right limit of the cathedral was consecrated in honor of Alexander Nevsky in 1892, the left - in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called. A large number of pilgrims rushed to the new Vladimir Cathedral in Tauric Chersonesos. The relics of St. Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles arrived at the time of the laying of the cornerstone in the foundation of the altar, later 115 Saints were transferred to the temple.

By the time all the works were completed, the Vladimir Cathedral was an imposing structure. He shot up to a height of 36 meters, its external volume was 20.5 cubic meters. Meter, the area occupied about 1.7 square meters, the diameter of the main dome was 1.5 meters, the height of the cross - almost 3 meters. To the cathedral for joint prayer could fit up to 1 thousand parishioners.

After the revolution

The struggle against religion after 1917 destroyed many ancient temples and monasteries. The fate of the St. Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos was also not simple. In 1923 the monastery ceased its activities, and the premises were handed over to the city administration. The authorities decided to arrange a branch of the Chersonesus Museum in the cathedral. Adapting the temple for new tasks, it housed part of the exposition devoted to church architecture from antiquity to the Middle Ages, in the lower part of the museum a depository for museum funds was created.

The Great Patriotic War that had begun placed Chersonesus and Sevastopol in the center of military operations. Already on June 22, German troops bombarded strategic facilities. The museum exposition was hastily taken to the Caucasus. In 1942, during the street battles, which were held with the support of enemy artillery, the dome of the Vladimir Cathedral was badly damaged. Part of the exhibition museum workers did not have time to evacuate, the occupation began. The Germans planned to remove the remains of the exposition and even packed them in boxes for transportation, but the plans were not realized.

During the retreat, the invaders committed an act of vandalism - they mined and blew up the cathedral. The dome collapsed, destroying completely all the floors, the priceless frescos suffered badly, the construction seams broke up. The degree of destruction was very high, and for a long time the question of restoring the cultural object was decided. His fate was decided only in 1961: the commission came to the conclusion that the church is not subject to restoration, and it must be finally disassembled. In defense advocate MAI KN Afanasyev - he proposed to conserve the object and create a museum in it. Debates and sluggish work continued until the 1980s.

Time of Troubles

At the beginning of perestroika, the discussions intensified, but an important date was approaching - the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus, and it was decided to begin an active restoration of the shrine. The project was carried out by the Ukrainian Institute "Ukrproektrestavratsiya", the head of the group was EI Osadchy. According to the idea and the plan, the cathedral was to be fully restored with the possibility of holding church services therein.

By the date of the holiday nothing has changed, but the project was approved. Construction and restoration work was commissioned by one of the first commercial building structures - the cooperative "Chersonese", but the plan failed - the disintegration of the USSR began. The temple went to Ukraine, and the decision of the Cabinet, timed to the 2000 anniversary of the Nativity of Christ, among other things, it was decided to allocate funds for the restoration of the Cathedral of Vladimir in Chersonesos.

Elevation

The services in the church were renewed in 1992, the first donation from individuals came from the family of the second president of Ukraine L. Kuchma in 1988, he also took personal supervision of all works. The active phase began in the second half of 2000. During the restoration work, modern technologies were used, which helped to eliminate the main problem of the temple - the unstable roof roof. This time the arches were cast out of reinforced concrete. The roof of the wing with copper tiles, repeating the Byzantine traditions of decoration.

After the restoration, a solemn erection of the cross over the dome of the main church took place. The ceremony and consecration of the cross was conducted by Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine His Beatitude Vladimir. The celebrations were attended by the first persons of two states - L.D. Kuchma and V. V.Putin. The consecration of the restored cathedral of St. Vladimir was performed in 2004.

Bell

For the first time since the 77-year break, the Easter service in the cathedral was completed in May 2005. The event was marked by the voice of a large coastal bell. He also has his own story. He was cast from the captured heavy weapons of the times of the Russian-Turkish war in 1776 and installed in a monastery.

During the Crimean War, the French who captured the monastery, except for the stolen goods, took the bell to Paris. Many years later he was found on the belfry of the Notre Dame Cathedral. In 1913, as a sign of good relations between the nations, the bell was returned to Russia, where it was installed on the belfry of the Vladimir Cathedral in Tauric Chersonesos.

While the monastery operated, it served not only the parishioners of the church, but was also an acoustic beacon for ships in the sea. Hearing his ringing, the sailors realized that they were next to a dangerous coast full of sharp stones. In 1925, when the monastery was closed, all bells were removed, and one of them was installed on special supports near the shore, where it still sounded in inclement weather. Later it turned out that this is the same bell, poured in the 18th century.

On his body there are traces of two wars, in the sixties the language was removed, and the bell lost its powerful saving voice. To hear its sound it was possible only with the help of pebbles, which the local children did. On the side of the bell and now you can distinguish an old inscription made by Old Russian script.

A sign on one of the supporting pylons briefly tells his story from the creation to the return from Paris. On the Easter holiday, not only the monastery, the cathedral, but also the bell, which ushered in the beginning of a new life, revived.

Reviews

Reviews of the Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonese Tavrichesky), the site of the ancient settlement and all the reserve are only positive. Tourists talk about the extraordinary beauty of the area, the abundance of historical and archaeological monuments, many of which are perfectly preserved. The cathedral impresses the imagination with the severity of the external architecture and the refinement of the inner rich finish.

Visitors who enter the church service talk about the inner spiritual atmosphere of involvement in history, a sense of connection with generations of ancestors. There are no negative reviews, some indicated only a large number of visitors during the high holiday season, who wished to see the reserve and the Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonese Tavrichesky). Photos of ancient ruins and a temple are decorated with albums of many tourists.

Helpful information

The temple and the reserve can be visited at any time of the year. In the Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonese Tavrichesky) the schedule of the services is as follows:

• Evening service starts at 17:00 (Mon, Tue, Thu).
• Morning liturgy at 07:30 (Wed, Fri.).
• Saturday service: the liturgy starts at 08:00, the all-night vigil at 16:00.
• Sunday Liturgy: early at 06:00, late at 09:00, evening worship begins at 5:00 pm.

Where specifically should you look for the Vladimir Cathedral in Tauric Chersonesos? The address of the shrine is: Ancient street, building 1.

To get to the destination, you need to drive to the peninsula of Chersonese within the boundaries of Sevastopol. It can be done by taxi, the cost of the trip from the center to the reserve will be from 150 to 200 rubles.

How to get to the Vladimir Cathedral (Chersonese Tavrichesky) by public transport? Option two:

• From the railway station on trolleybus №№ 6 or 10 to the stop "Ulitsa Dmitriya Ulyanov".
• On fixed-route taxis Nos. 112, 107, 110 or 109 to the stop "Dmitri Ulyanov Street".

From the stop you need to go to the sea side to the intersection with the street "Ancient", where there is a reserve with a monastery and a temple. You can find additional information about the Vladimir Cathedral in Tauric Chersonesos. Telephone for communication is on the official site of the object.