Transfiguration Cathedral (Saint Petersburg)

Transfiguration Cathedral (official name: _ru. собор Преображения Господня всей гвардии, i.e., "The Cathedral of the Lord's Transfiguration of all the Guards") is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral belonging to the Diocese of St. Petersburg. It is located on Transfiguration Square ( _ru. Преображенской площади), just off Liteyny Prospekt near the Chernyshevskaya metro station. Unlike most Russian places of worship, this archictural monument has never been closed for worship.cite web |url=http://www.encspb.ru/ru/article.php?kod=2804010365 |title= Спасо-Преображенский собор (Transfiguration Cathedral) |accessdate=2008-03-04 |format= |work= Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia |language= Russian] The church has provided both Transfiguration Square and a nearby lane, which was formerly known as Church Lane, ( _ru. Церковный переулок) and is now known as Radishchev Lane ( _ru. переулок Радищева) with their names.

History

The cathedral was ordered to be built by empress Elizabeth of Russia and was built from 1743 to 1754, and was designed by architect Mikhail Zemtsov. The cathedral was built in the place of an old barracks, that of the grenadier division of the Preobrazhensky regiment in honor of the Empress's ascension onto the throne with the help of some of the soldiers and officers of that regiment. The cornerstone was laid on June 9, 1743. After the death of Mikhail Zemtsov, Pietro Trezzini headed construction. Trezzini slightly changed the project, changing the style to Baroque. The cathedral was blessed by archbishop Sylvester OldStyleDate|16|August|1754|5 in the presence of the empress, on the eve of the holy day of the Transfiguration of Christ. The iconostasis and the altar canopy were completed by Kobilinsky woodcutters from Moscow from the drawings of architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The figures were painted by M. L. Kolokolnikov.

On the November 12, 1796, during the reign of the emperor Paul I, the regimental Transfiguration Cathedral received the honorary title "of all the Guards."

On August 8 (August 20, New Style), 1825, a fire started and the first Transfiguration Cathedral burned down, although all of the essential sacred objects were saved. All that remained of the cathedral were the walls.

Between 1825 and 1829 it was rebuilt by the architect Vasily Stasov in the Empire style, just as it can be seen today. The rebuilt cathedral was dedicated by Metropolitan Serafim on the August 5 (August 17, New Style), 1829. The main altar was dedicated in honor of the holy day of the Transfiguration of Christ, the right (southern) side chapel in honor of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, and the left (northern) side chapel in honor of the martyrs Pope Clement I and Pyotr Aleksandriysky, both of whose feast day is marked on November 25 (Old Style).

Starting in 1871 a parish charitable society was active at the cathedral, maintaining an almshouse, a children's shelter, a cafeteria, a school for children of soldiers, and free living quarters. Starting in 1912 a Brotherhood of Sobriety and Chastity operated out of the cathedral. On the holy day of the Transfiguration of Christ (popular name - the Apple Savior), falling on the 6th of August (Old Style), a fruit bazaar has traditionally been held there.

After the 1917 October Revolution the cathedral remained open for worship. In 1918 it became a parish church, and the banners, ordnance, and war trophies being kept there were removed and transferred to the Artillery Museum; since 1950 those relics have been part of the Hermitage collection. Also during the 1920s many valuable icons were removed.

From 1922 to 1926 (under Antonin Granovsky's Union of Church Regeneration) and from 1935 to the spring of 1944 the cathedral was in the hands of the Renovationists; and from 1939, after the closing of the Church of the Savior on the Sennaya, it was the main Renovationist church in Leningrad. During the Siege of Leningrad an air-raid shelter capable of holding 500 people was constructed in its basement, where first aid was given to the wounded.

A restoration of the facades and the interior was carried out between 1946 and 1948.

Fence

From 1832-1833 under Stasov's direction a fence was built around the cathedral commemorating the victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, the basis of which was formed by the barrels of Turkish cannons taken from Turkish fortresses in Izmail, Varna, Tul'chi, Isakchi, and Silistra, and from the battle at Kulevchi. Preserved on the barrels is the engraved coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire, and on some of the barrels can be seen the names given to the cannons: "The Wrath of Allah", "Sacred Crescent", "Spewing Thunder", "I Give Only Death." Trophy cannons shooting 18- and 24-pound balls were set aside as a gift to the cathedral by the order of Emperor Nicholas I.

The fence consists of 102 bronze cannon barrels, set on thirty-four granite bases, three barrels per base. They are set with the muzzles facing downwards to signify that they will never again be used in combat. All of the middle barrels are decorated with double-headed eagles with crowns. All the groups of barrels are linked by massive decorative chains. The two sides of the main gate are decorated with shields with bronze depictions of the medals presented for the war. Also, around the cathedral stand twelve cannons and two Unicorn (long-barreled) cannons, which are the property of the Preobrazhensky regiment.

In 1886 a chapel was built in the fence by the architect Ivan Blazheyevich Slupsky. In 1916, construction of a burial-vault for the burial of officers fallen in World War I was planned by the architect Sergei Osipovich Ovsyannikov, but the project was never realized.

Relics and Holy Objects

By the north wall of the church in the left side-chapel is a hinged icon with depictions of the Transfiguration of Christ, the martyr Pantaleon, and the emperor Saint Constantine. The icon was given to the regiment's field hospital in 1900 by the commander of the regiment at the time, the general-major Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich. On a lectern (bookstand) in the right kliros of the church is an icon of the Image of Edessa, brought there in 1938 from the Trinity Church on Stremyannaya Street. It was painted by the famous Moscow icon-painter Simon Ushakov for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and was the favorite icon of Peter the Great: it was with him at the founding of Saint Petersburg, at the Battle of Poltava, on his deathbed and at his funeral. On the lectern in the left kliros is another celebrated icon, that of the Mother Mary, Joy of All Sinners. It is a copy of a miracle-working icon from the Church of Christ's Transfiguration on Bolshaya Ordynka Street, made in 1711 by the order of the sister of Peter the Great, the tsarevna Natalya Alekseyevna to commemorate the saving of the Russian army during the Prutskiy campaign in the Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1711. It was brought to the Transfiguration Cathedral in 1932 from the closed Church of Christ's Resurrection on Shalyernaya Street.

In the cathedral are kept the regimental relics and war trophies, and on the walls are bronze plaques with the names of officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment fallen in battle. Under glass in separate cases are the Preobrazhensky uniforms of Alexander I, Nicholas I, and Alexander II, as well as a saber that Alexander II was wearing during an attempt on his life on March 13, 1881 (March 1, O.S.), which still has some of his blood on it.

References