The Military Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection (russian: Воскресенский войсковой собор) was built between 1706 and 1719 as the first stone church in the Lower

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

region. It was the main Christian shrine of the

Don Cossack Host Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...

in the 18th century.М. Астапенко. История донского казачества. Донской издательский дом, 1999. Стр. 240. It is situated in the

stanitsa A stanitsa ( rus, станица, p=stɐˈnʲitsə; uk, станиця, stanytsya) is a village inside a Cossack host ( uk, військо, viys’ko; russian: казачье войско, kazach’ye voysko, sometimes translated as "Cossack Arm ...

Starocherkasskaya Starocherkasskaya (russian: Старочерка́сская), formerly Cherkassk (), is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') in Aksaysky District of Rostov Oblast, Russia, with origins dating from the late 16th century. It is located on the righ ...

(the former city of Cherkassk),

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

History

In 1650, during the siege of

Azov Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak, is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population: History Early settlements in the vicinity The mo ...

, the defending Cossacks vowed to build a wooden cathedral on the square where the cossack leaders held assemblies. Because of frequent fires in Cherkassk (the former name of the town), the cathedral burned twice. The stone cathedral had been being built from 1706 to 1719. It was constructed in contrary with

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

's decree banning the construction of stone buildings anywhere except for

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. However, in view of political necessity, Peter himself contributed to construction works, helping with money and gifting utensils, and is said to have personally taken a symbolic part in the process of construction, putting a few bricks on the plaster (this fact is stated on the commemorative inscription made, however, already in the 19th century). It is also believed that the main construction works were carried out by architects from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, who were specially sent by the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

. Moreover, it is known (and this information is confirmed by present-day studies of foundation of the cathedral) that the temple was built on a swamp: "''Quenched the quagmire with booth and oak forest.''"

Description

Resurrection Cathedral has a height of 49 metres. It was built in the

Cossack Baroque Ukrainian Baroque, or Cossack Baroque or Mazepa Baroque ( uk, Українське бароко або Козацьке бароко), is an architectural style that was widespread in the Ukrainian lands in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was th ...

style by an unknown architect.Н. Мининков. Донское казачество в эпоху позднего средневековья. Изд-во Ростовского университета, 1998. Стр. 452. Near the temple there was also constructed a 48-meter high

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 ...

. The interior of the cathedral is striking in its decoration, which appears to be in contrast with the austere exterior. The unique five-tiered gilded iconostasis with the size of 19x23 meter contains 149 icons from the 18th century, which were painted by Moscow iconographer Egor Ivanov Grek. In front of medium-sized doors of the cathedral there is hanging a copper five-tiered

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

, which weighs more than 550 kg. It is believed that it was brought in 1643 from the Azov Baptist Church by

Ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comman ...

Iosif Petrov. In large semi-circular windows surrounding the Cathedral gallery (the south side of it) used to stand cannons aimed at steppe. When Cherkassk was the capital of Don Cossacks, the storerooms of the cathedral were used to keep the regalia of Cossacks. Near the entrance to the cathedral one can see walled massive chains, in which was allegedly chained

Stepan Razin Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, ; 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 16 ...

before he had been sent to be executed. Close to the chains, in the gallery, there is also kept ashes of Ataman Kirill Yakovlev, who treacherously betrayed his godson Stepan to government forces. Near the cathedral there is a two-tiered bell tower with the height of 45.8 meters. It is the only building of its kind in South Russia. Currently the bell tower is transferred to Starocherkassk Don monastery. Starocherkassk Army Ressurection Cathedral 12 (4146896545).jpg,

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

Ансамбль войскового Воскресенского собора - собор.JPG, General view of the cathedral compound STCHK Kolokolnya.jpg, Separately standing bell tower is traditional for Russian architecture of the 17th century.

References

Sources

Шадрина А. В. Когда Старочеркасский воскресенский храм стал собором
// Донской временник. Год 2016-й / Дон. гос. публ. б-ка. Ростов-на-Дону, 2015. Вып. 24. С. 98-101.
Кирьянова С. А. Иконописец Егор Грек и иконостас Воскресенского собора Старочеркасска
// Донской временник. Год 2016-й / Дон. гос. публ. б-ка. Ростов-на-Дону, 2015. Вып. 24. С. 102-106. {{coord, 47.2369, 40.0432, type:landmark_region:RU, display=title Churches in Rostov Oblast Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Russia Churches completed in 1719 Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Rostov Oblast