The Peter and Paul Cathedral (Belarusian: Petrapaўlauskі Sabor) is the cathedral church of the
Gomel diocese of the
Belarusian Orthodox Church
The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; be, Беларуская праваслаўная царква, russian: Белорусская православная церковь) is the official name of the Belarusian Exarchate ( be, Беларуск ...
.
Located in the park of
Gomel, part of the
Gomel Palace and Park Ensemble.
Story
The cathedral was founded by Archpriest John Grigorovich on October 18, 1809 in the possession of
Nikolai Rumyantsev, was built in 1809-1819 in the style of
classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
(architect - J. Clark). It is located on a high cape above
Sozh and is visible from afar. The construction was finally completed in 1824.
After the
revolution of 1917, the closure and destruction of churches began, their conversion into institutions of a different category. In 1935 the Peter and Paul Cathedral was closed. Divine services in the cathedral resumed in the 1940s, during the period of
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
. In the 1960s, the cathedral was closed and desecrated a second time: later a
planetarium
A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
A dominant feature of most planetarium ...
was equipped in it.
In the late 1980s, the cathedral was restored, after which services were regularly held in it.
On July 11, 2008, a solemn rite of presenting the icon of
St. Seraphim of Sarov with a particle of relics took place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
References
{{coord, 52.4241, 31.0174, type:landmark_region:BY, display=title
Buildings and structures in Gomel Region
Cathedrals in Belarus
Buildings and structures completed in 1824