St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral

St. Nicholas Cathedral
Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicolas and Epiphany
St. Nicholas Cathedral
Location	Saint Petersburg
Country	Russia
Denomination	Russian Orthodox Church
History
Founded	1753
Dedication	Saint Nicholas
Consecrated	1762
Architecture
Status	Cathedral
Functional status	active
Heritage designation	Russian heritage object No 7810086000
Architect(s)	S.I. Chevakinsky
Style	Elizabethan baroque
Specifications
Capacity	5,000
Number of domes	5
Number of spires	1

St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral (official name—the Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas and Epiphany) is a large Orthodox church in the style of the Elizabeth Baroque, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It belongs to the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. As of 2011 Fr Bogdan Soiko serves as its rector.

History

The Cathedral was built in 1753–1762 by architect Savva Chevakinsky as a marine regimental church on the sea regimental court in place of a earlier wooden church. Freestanding four story bell tower with a tall gilded spire was built in in 1755–1758.

St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral consists of two separate churches. The lower Saint Nicholas Church is located on the first floor, while the upper Epiphany Church is on the second floor. The altar of the upper church was consecrated in the presence of the Empress Catherine II, who told the newly built church to be called a cathedral. The main shrine of the cathedral—a Greek icon of St. Nicholas made in the XVII century with a portion of his relics—is located in the lower church.

In 1908 the Tsushima obelisk was erected in the garden in front of the church in memory of those killed at Battle of Tsushima.

Architecture

St. Nicholas Cathedral belongs to the Elizabethan baroque architectural style. It has the shape of a cross and is decorated by Corinthian columns, stucco architraves, a wide entablement and is crowned by five gilded domes. The church can accommodate up to 5,000 people.

Recent past

In 2000 a chapel was consecrated in the lower tier of the bell tower.

In the upper church there are memorial plaques for the crew of the nuclear submarine K-278 Komsomolets and for other sunken Soviet submarines. Since 2000, the commemoration of submarine K-141 Kursk sailors is performed in cathedral.

External links

• www.nikolskiysobor.ru—official site (Russian)
• www.encspb.ru Собор свт. НИКОЛАЯ ЧУДОТВОРЦА (Морской Николо-Богоявленский) in Saint Petersburg encyclopedia (Russian)
• www.enlight.ru—St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral (Russian)
• www.virtualspb.com—panorama at Virtual Saint Petersburg (Russian)

References

• Isakova E.V., Soyko B.I., Shkarovsky M.V. (1998) (in Russian). Epiphany Naval Cathedral. Historical essay. Saint Petersburg: Almaz ltd.. 
• Isakova E.V., Shkarovsky M.V. (2003) (in Russian). Nikolsky Naval Cathedral and other marine churches of Saint Ptersburg. churches of Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg: Paritet. ISBN 5-93437-163-0. 
• Gusarov A.Yu. (2010) (in Russian). Monuments of military glory of Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg: Paritet. ISBN 978-5-93437-363-5. 

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  St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral in 1890s

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  St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral in 2011