Nizhny Novgorod, the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky. Nizhny Novgorod: attractions, photo

The birthplace of the great Russian commander was the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built here only in 1868-1881. The second name is Novoyarmarichny. The Cathedral was consecrated in a solemn atmosphere on July 20, 1881. The ceremony was attended by the Russian Emperor Alexander III with his wife and Tsarevich Nicholas.

Fascinating glory in centuries and deserved canonization

Russia is rich in geniuses in any field. But there are nuggets of a very high standard, combining several divine virtues. Their glory does not fade in the centuries. This can be confirmed by the 2008 TV show "The Name of Russia", in which Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263), who lived more than 750 years ago, won.

By his diligence the Christian faith spread in the northern lands among the Pomors. And even on the territory of the Golden Horde, they built an Orthodox church. Not to mention that he did not allow the Russian lands to enslave either the Teutonic or the Livonian knights, as a result of whose victories - if this happened - Orthodoxy in these territories would have disappeared altogether. He was canonized because of his services to the church and the state, and not because he was a prince of Novgorod. A subtle politician, commander of God, he became revered in Russia already under Vladimir. At the Moscow Cathedral in 1547 his general church glorification took place. Metropolitan was Makarios. The canonical version estimates the Novgorod prince as the golden legend of medieval Russia. He glorified in the centuries Nizhny Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a worthy monument to this great man.

History of creation

The temple has its own story full of happy and tragic pages. It began with a visit to the Novgorod fair, with which the city was famous from time immemorial, the Emperor Alexander II. Local merchants, in order to perpetuate this event, appealed to the archbishop with a request for the construction of a second city church. In 1822 a small copy of St. Isaac's Cathedral was built here - Spassky Old Cathedral. The architect Auguste Montferrand built the original in the Northern capital: "I want to fly a white seagull in the morning, and not breathe over your miracle, Montferrand." A copy of this miracle adorned Nizhny Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, or Novoyarmarichny (following the Spassky Old Fair), its architecture did not disgrace the city.

Erection of the temple

The construction was approved in 1856 by Nizhny Novgorod bishop Antony and Governor A. N. Muraviev. The collection of donations began, which lasted until 1866, that is, 10 years. And the collected amount of 454,667 rubles 28 kopecks was not enough, because the original project, proposed by the architect RI Kilevain, had to be altered. Since the proposed building was not strong enough. The second project did not fit. The government adopted a third, whose author remained unknown. But inaccuracies and mistakes made in it were corrected by LV Dahl, the author of the second plan. He led the erection of the temple, which in 1881, 17 years after the symbolic laying of the first stone (1864), decorated Nizhny Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral has three altars: the Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and, in fact, St. Alexander Nevsky.

Located in the heart of the city

There is a cathedral in the heart of the city, at the address: st. Arrow, 3a. This street (on it in 1868 was the re-laying of a stone) is one of the oldest. It was considered noble, was sung in some works. For example, it is referred to as Gorky Street in the song "On the Volga wide, on the Arrow far". That is, the main street of the city since the 18th century was not renamed by the Soviet authorities. A cathedral of Alexander Nevsky suffered, it was a warehouse with all the ensuing consequences. Not spared, despite the name, although the cult of the Grand Duke was actively planted, especially before the 1941 war. The words uttered by Nikolai Cherkasov in the finale of the eponymous film by Sergei Eisenstein: "Whoever comes to us with the sword will come, he will perish from the sword" - sounded like a spell.

The peculiarity of the temple

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is very beautiful. It is a building of five tents. All of them are octagonal, and the central one rises to 72.5 meters. The attached photo shows that different architectural styles are successfully combined in a unique decoration of the facade. In our times, after the reconstruction, the third largest bell in Russia is installed on the bell tower of the cathedral, its weight is 60 tons, the height coincides with the diameter and is equal to 4 meters. Impressive. The cathedral originally had a winter church, which was heated, and therefore worked year-round. And the temple itself - only during fairs. Since he did not have permanent parishioners. They were merchants coming to the fair. The church of Makarii of Zheltovodsky and Unzhensky was located on the choirs of a large church, in the west facing porch.

Sights of the commercial capital of Russia

Since 2009 the words "Orthodox Cathedral" have been added to the full title "Cathedral of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky". Of course, it refers to the sights of Nizhny Novgorod along with such world-famous pearls as the Ensemble of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin and Zapochain. On the territory of this settlement there is a good half of all memorable places in the city. And they are all included in the Unified State Register of Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia. Monasteries and theaters, churches and monuments - Nizhny Novgorod has something to be proud of. During its almost 800-year history, the city has accumulated many priceless objects, popular with tourists from all over the world.

Number of cathedrals

The cathedral of Alexander Nevsky is still in Simferopol, Slaviansk and Paris. The project of the cathedral in the French capital was approved by Napoleon III, who supposedly owns the phrase: "Strange, original, but very beautiful." It was erected in 1861 for a large Russian colony, permanently residing in Paris, numbering at least 1,000 people. The Russians were very devout, and they needed a spacious church. In 1983, this cathedral was ranked among the historical monuments of France. Very good is the Simferopol Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky (his photo is impressive). Built on the order of Catherine II, destroyed on the night of September 27, 1930, now it is being restored.

Returned to the church fold

In 1994, the cathedral was another cathedral of Alexander Nevsky. Izhevsk, the capital of Udmurtia, in 1990 rebuilt and restored to believers the beautiful temple of the Udmurt and Izhevsk dioceses. Located in the heart of the city, the cathedral did not escape closure and looting in the 1930s. Then in the building for many years worked the cinema "Colossus". Bishop Palladium took an active part in the reconstruction and return to a new life of the beautiful and so necessary to the Orthodox believers of the church. It seems, in addition to the cathedral of Paris, not a single temple to the glory of Alexander Nevsky did not escape the sad fate of being plundered, and even blown up. Nor did the militant atheists stop the popular love of a tender place, nor beauty. The Izhevsk cathedral, built in the style of Russian classicism, representing its standard (square base, cubic form, pylons and arches), was erected in 1823. An example was the St. Andrew's Church in Kronstadt. The author of both cathedrals was the brilliant Andrei Zakharov.

Northern Temple

Another victim of people who decided to live on the principle "we will destroy to the ground", was the next Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Petrozavodsk "distinguished itself" by the fact that five domes were demolished from the most beautiful church here and turned the "transformed" building into a museum of local lore. Now it is also a cathedral and refers to architectural monuments. Perhaps, he was spared because he was built (1826-1832) on the donations of the workers and masters of the Alexander plant and was conceived initially as a factory church. A decent beautiful temple had three thrones, and in 1888 a school was opened here. Since 2000, restoration and restoration work has begun. In 2010, a monument to Alexander Nevsky was opened near the temple . Now the cathedral is an ornament and a landmark of Petrozavodsk.

Sacrifice of Atheism

The most sad fate befell the army council of Alexander Nevsky. Krasnodar authorities surprising beauty of the main temple of the city first stripped the domes, and in 1932 in general blew. Such blind hatred arose, perhaps because the foundation of the unique cathedral was an equal, absolutely symmetrical cross: try, place here a museum of atheism, all the same people will start walking to the cross.

In 2003, the governor A. Tkachev decided to restore the cathedral. The beginning of the work was consecrated by Alexius II, and the ending - by Metropolitan Kirill. Believers returned to the temple in 2006.