- Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk
The Cathedral of the Assumption, dominating the city of
Smolensk from the lofty Cathedral Hill, has been the principal church of theSmolensk bishopric for 800 years.Monomakh Cathedral
The first brick church on the spot was started by
Vladimir Monomakh in 1101. The large 6-pillared edifice, quite similar to Monomakh's cathedral inVladimir , took several decades to complete. It was finally consecrated during the reign of Vladimir's grandson Rostislav of Smolensk in 1150. In the course of the following 500 years, the cathedral survived numerous wars and fires. Especially serious was the damage inflicted during the greatSiege of Smolensk (1609-11) .According to the official
legend , the remaining defenders of the city locked themselves in the temple and then set fire to thegunpowder in the ammunition depot in the temple’s basement onJune 3 ,1611 . The explosion that followed caused the roof of the temple to collapse, killing all the people inside, who preferred death to being taken prisoner by the Poles. It is unclear, though, what happened in reality except that theammunition depot in the basement really did explode. It was not unusual inmedieval Russia , when a city was overrun for civilians to seek asylum in temples, so it is likely it was not defenders but civilians who died in that explosion. What caused the explosion will probably forever remain an open question: it could have been aMasada -stylesuicide but it might well have been an accident.The old cathedral survived the explosion, however. On
September 9 ,1627 , the bishopLew Rzewuski pleadedLew Sapieha to preclude "the 500-year-old church" from being converted into a Roman Catholic temple, which would violate the terms of Smolensk's surrender to the Poles in 1611. In a 1636 engraving, the cathedral is represented as being covered with a temporary wooden roof.After Smolensk was recaptured by the tsars and recognized as belonging to Russia in the 1667 peace treaty, the Russian voivode Prince
Repnin was commissioned to inspect the cathedral and to prepare a list of urgent repairs. In 1673 the archbishop ofSmolensk was authorized to restore the roof and the domes without damaging its olden walls. Their ancient bricks, however, proved too dilapidated to put to good use. The old cathedral was completely demolished betweenMay 5 andJuly 13 ,1674 .New Cathedral
The current 6-pillared 5-domed edifice was constructed over a period of almost 100 years due to flaws in the original design and its implementation — at one point one of the walls collapsed — but it was eventually completed in 1772. The building’s
baroque design is impressive, especially looking up from the base of a wall. Viewed from certain locations it often looks as if it is suspended in the air because it is situated on hill surrounded by trees, concealing the base of the building.One of the most breathtaking views is inside the temple, namely the decorative wall that separates the
altar from the front area of the temple, which stands almost the height of the temple. On it there areicon s and the rest is covered in intricategold -covered wooden decorations including figures of cherubim and columns entwined with vine branches.According to local legend, when Napoleon Bonaparte entered the temple after Smolensk had fallen to the French army in 1812, he looked up at the altar wall and proclaimed that if any one of his soldiers dared to steal anything from it he would personally kill that man. The cathedral sustained enormous damage during the WWII fighting, when the 11th-century miraculous icon of
Theotokos of Smolensk perished in a great fire.External links
* [http://admin.smolensk.ru/history/kep/Smolensk/monuments/churches/church.htm Pictures of the exterior and the interior of the temple]
* [http://www.russiancity.ru/books/b50c.htm Russian article about Monomakh's Cathedral]
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