The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints is the cathedral of the

Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh The Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh (russian: Суро́жская епа́рхия) is a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), covering the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Since 28 December 2018, the Diocese of Sourozh is part ...

. It holds the diocese's administrative meetings as well as weekly, seasonal and special services. Its building is the Victorian former church of a wealthy parish of its era that faces the north-east green of

Ennismore Gardens ''Ennismore'' is the second solo studio album by the English singer Colin Blunstone of rock band the Zombies. The name of the album comes from Ennismore Gardens, a square in Knightsbridge where Blunstone was living; the name being a variant spel ...

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, London, England. The main (western) façade is a very close copy of that of the

Basilica of San Zeno, Verona The Basilica di San Zeno (also known as ''San Zeno Maggiore'' or ''San Zenone'') is a minor basilica of Verona, northern Italy constructed between 967 and 1398 AD. Its fame rests partly on its Romanesque architecture and partly upon the traditio ...

, in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

since remodelling in 1891. Its interior is largely unchanged from that of its Anglican forebear church built, which was built in 1848–1849. The architect was

Lewis Vulliamy Lewis Vulliamy (15 March 1791 – 4 January 1871) was an English architect descended from the Vulliamy family of clockmakers. Life Lewis Vulliamy was the son of the clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy. He was born in Pall Mall, London on 15 March 179 ...

History

Anglican church

The building was erected as an

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

to All Saints. Architect

proposed to build a church in Lombard style instead of conventional

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. His full vision could not be realized for lack of finance.

Consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

of the church took place in July 1849. It became a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

spanning outside much of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

: in the west Kensington Palace and about 20 houses beyond and a more populous strip to the south. It is shown almost all as in the upper 3 of the 7 categories of wealth of Booth's poverty map at the end of the century. In 1860, architect R. L. Roumieu completed the construction of the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

from the draft designs of Vulliamy, at 36.5 meters. Since reconstruction in 1891–1892, the western façade has borne a very close resemblance to the Basilica of St Zeno of Verona. The first

interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

decoration was by

Thomas R. Spence Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. The current forms including

sgraffito ''Sgraffito'' (; plural: ''sgraffiti'') is a technique either of wall decor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface, or in pottery, by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive laye ...

and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows are by

Heywood Sumner George Heywood Maunoir Sumner (1853–1940) was originally an English painter, illustrator and craftsman, closely involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and the late-Victorian London art world. In his mid-forties he relocated to Cuckoo Hill, ...

. In 1924, a house for the church's priest was built on a very small square plot against the southern edge of its land: 66

, Church House.

Transfer

In 1955, the Anglican parish was merged in such a way that the Church of the Holy Trinity on

Prince Consort Road Prince Consort Road is a street in London, United Kingdom. It is named after Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. It is located between Queen's Gate to the west and Exhibition Road to the east, running parallel to Kensington Gore. Several ...

to the west became the parish church of the new parish. The church was let for the use of the Russian Orthodox faith, a trust having been set up in 1944. The building was consecrated as an Orthodox Church in December 1956 in honour of the

Dormition of the Mother of God The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...

Russian Orthodox church

In 1978 it was purchased by the Sourozh diocese, without funds from the Moscow Patriarchate. Over time, including the tenure of Metropolitan Anthony ( 2003), the parish gained multinational congregants. In 2006, a substantial part of the clergy and laity, headed by Bishop

Basil (Osborne) Alfred Herbert Ernest Osborne, formerly known as Basil Osborne (born 12 April 1938), is a former Eastern Orthodox Christian bishop. Osborne was formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Patriarchate of Moscow from 1991 to 2006 and a titular bishop under ...

, Administrator of the Diocese, decided to leave the

Moscow Patriarchate , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. In June 2007 the Parish Council of the Cathedral voted to place the Cathedral under the Episcopal Vicariate headed by Bishop Basil. This was challenged by the Moscow Patriarchate and in 2009 the High Court decided, on the wording of the 1944 Trust Deed of the Cathedral, that it should remain with the adherents of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Priors

* Metropolitan

Anthony (Bloom) Anthony of Sourozh (russian: Митрополит Антоний Сурожский, secular name Andrei Borisovich Bloom, russian: Андрей Борисович Блум and commonly known as Anthony Bloom; 19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003) ...

(1956–2002) * Archpriest John Lee (2002–2003) * Bishop

(2003–2006) * Archbishop

Innocent (Vasiliev) Innocence is a lack of Guilt (emotion), guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a Criminal law, legal context, innocence is to the lack of guilt (law), legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts ...

(2006–2007) * Archbishop Elisey (Ganaba) (2007-2017)

Gallery

File:Russian_Orthodox_Cathedral_of_the_Dormition.JPG File:Russian_Orthodox_Cathedral_of_the_Dormition_-_Lintel_-_"I_Am_The_Good_Shepherd".JPG File:Russian_Orthodox_Cathedral_of_the_Dormition_-_English_Plaque.JPG File:Russian_Orthodox_Cathedral_of_the_Dormition_-_Russian_Plaque.JPG

References

External links

* {{Churches in Westminster Grade II* listed churches in the City of Westminster Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the United Kingdom Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Europe Churches completed in 1849 19th-century Church of England church buildings Russian diaspora in the United Kingdom Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia 1849 establishments in England Cathedrals in London Knightsbridge Grade II* listed cathedrals Former Church of England church buildings