Petrozavodsk and Karelian eparchy is an Orthodox church and administrative unit of the Republic of Karelia

The largest city of the Republic of Karelia is Petrozavodsk. As the name suggests, the city owes its origin to Great Peter. According to his decree of 1703, on the shore of Onega Lake, near the mouth of the Lososinka River, an arms factory is being built and Petrovskaya Sloboda for its workers. Here, next to the wooden palace of Peter I, which has been here many times, a church is being built.

Orthodox North

But Orthodoxy came to these parts much earlier - there is a record made in 1227 that the son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, the great prince Vladimir of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1191-1246) "sent to baptize all the karelians." Orthodoxy was not met with hostility, as it has long given its sprouts here because of its close neighborhood and friendship with the Novgorodians. The step was necessary because, firstly, the unified faith rallied the country, secondly, the Swedish state, for which Russia was always a tasty morsel, was gaining strength. But it was not until 1589 that the Karelian bishopric was created here (the outdated name of the region, governed by a separate bishop, in this case it was Sylvester) with the chair in Korela. Of course, the Novgorod diocese played a big role in this.

The birth of a diocese

Before the formation of the Karelian eparchy (1593), the Keksholm and Ladoga vicariate of the Novgorod diocese was engaged in the feeding of this region. G. Petrozavodsk in 1784 becomes the center of the Olonets governorship (province). By decree of May 15, 1787, published by Catherine II, the Olonets Vicariate joins the Archangel Diocese. The center of the newly formed structure is in Arkhangelsk. Constant transformations of church-administrative units were explained by the desire to strengthen the European north of Russia. Paul I made his own changes, Alexander I - his. Kings, succeeding each other on the Russian throne, often canceled the decisions of their predecessors. And in 1828 an independent Olonets diocese with a center in Petrozavodsk was formed.

Active Development

We can assume that from this moment the future Petrozavodsk and Karelian diocese began to be formalized. Monasteries and temples began to be actively erected, spiritual schools (including women's ones) and seminary opened. 20 years, until the revolution, was issued its own diocesan newspaper. According to data for 1904, the diocese consisted of 251 Orthodox and congregational parishes. There was even a spiritual and enlightening brotherhood here. But, as it was said in one feature film, "the hegemon came, and everything went to rubble." Those who refused to cooperate with the new authorities and support renovationism were shot and exiled to Siberia. Among the latter was Bishop Euphemius (Lapin), who, after exile, retained the title of Bishop of Olonets for another five years. Ten years between the supporters of new trends and the old faith, internecine battles were fought, and the temples of Petrozavodsk passed from hand to hand. In 1929 the boundaries of the diocese and the Karelian autonomy equaled. In 1937-1938, all indiscriminately were repressed - supporters of Renovationism (their center was in the Holy Cross Cathedral), and supporters of the patriarchate from the Catherine's Church.

Ardent Atheism

Temples began to burn and close. The motivation was one for the whole of Soviet Russia - the lack of believers and clergy. Perhaps it was so - the people were frightened, the ministers of the cult were shot, at best they were exiled. In the years of occupation, the services were conducted by Finnish Orthodox priests. After the liberation of the city by the Red Army in Petrozavodsk there was only one priest. He began to send services. The present Petrozavodsk and Karelian eparchy in 1944 was given for temporary use to Archbishop Gregory of Pskov and Porkhov. Later significant changes in the life of the diocese were not observed, the temples were practically not opened, parishes were not formed, the only significant change was the change in the title of bishop, he became known as Petrozavodsk and Olonets. Previously it was vice versa. And in 1962 the administration of this church-administrative unit in general passed to the Metropolitan of Leningrad. This went on until 1986.

New life

In the nineties, a revival of the church began all over Russia, and in 1990 the Petrozavodsk and Karelian diocese again became independent. On August 14 of the same year, the archimandrite of the Holy Exaltation Church, Manuil, became the head of the Petrozavodsk eparchy with the title Bishop of Petrozavodsk and Karelian.

During the revival of this diocese, temples and monasteries were actively built, parishes were opened, their number reached 7 (existing monasteries) and 63 parishes. The diocesan center is in Petrozavodsk. In this city there are many beautiful churches, and not only Orthodox (there are about 12 of them), here there are religious buildings of all religions and confessions. Very beautiful is the Church standing on the shore of Logmoser in the name of the Stretching of the Lord. This is one of the oldest stone churches in Petrozavodsk. The memory of the former cathedral - the Svyatodukhiv five-domed church with a height of 56.5 m, mercilessly demolished in 1936 - has been preserved.

The main cathedral of the diocese

The cathedral, or, as the Orthodox people say, the cathedral, is in Petrozavodsk. This is an architectural monument - the Cathedral in the name of Alexander Nevsky. At the very beginning it was a factory church, built with the money of the workers of the Alexandrovsky plant, and it was called Alexandro-Nevskaya. According to the project Postnikova it was built in 1826-1832 by engineer Pietro Carlo Maderni. She had three chapels. Its fate is similar to the stories of thousands of Orthodox churches - in the years of unbelief they were defiled, robbed, and closed. In 1991 the cathedral was returned to the Diocese of Petrozavodsk. Modified and restored under the direction of architect VG Kopnin in 2000, the temple was consecrated by Alexy II.

The last structural change and the death of the abbot

The next reorganization took place in 2013. The Petrozavodsk and Karelian diocese is deprived of the Kostomuksha and Kemsk church-administrative unit. On May 29, the Holy Synod decides on the formation of the Karelian metropolis, the head of which is Bishop Manuil (Pavlov Vitaly Vladimirovich).

The Metropolia has its own official website and its own media (the newspaper Logos and two others). In addition, printed publications and websites have all the major parishes of the diocese. It should be noted that on the night of March 6 to March 7, Bishop Manuel died at the age of 65 after a serious illness. His special services include the treaty with the Finnish Orthodox Archbishop John about the non-infringement by the Finnish priests of the canonical rules. Manuel gave John an antimince with his own signature. The friendly efforts of the two Orthodox churches greatly reduced the influence of Lutheranism in the territory of the Republic of Karelia.