The Cathedral of St. Catherine ( uk, Свято-Катериненський собор, russian: Свято-Екатерининский собор) is a religious building belonging to the Orthodox faith which is situated within the fortress of Kherson,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It was built in 1781–1786, one of the earliest churches in

New Russia Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. ...

. It is a domed

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

structure with a Tuscan portico and heavily rusticated walls. The church was dedicated to

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, ...

, the patron saint of the reigning empress.

Construction

The church was built by order of General Ivan Gannibal in the aftermath of the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

and Russia's annexation of New Russia. It was intended as a memorial to the war of conquest and is full of symbolism illustrating Russia's claims to the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

heritage. The architect is thought to have been

Ivan Starov Ivan Yegorovich Starov (russian: Ива́н Его́рович Старо́в) (23 February 1745 – 17 April 1808) was a Russian architect from St. Petersburg who devised the master plans for Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, ...

(who worked extensively for Prince Grigory Potemkin); but the actual construction was supervised by the little-known Ivan Sitnikov. On December 6, 1788, by order of Potemkin bodies of soldiers killed during the Siege of Ochakov were buried in the church's cemetery. The earliest description of the church is found in the diary of

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...

. In 1790, Prince Potemkin asked Starov to remodel the dome in imitation of his own palace in

Saint 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 ...

. The belfry was added in 1800 but was dismantled within several years, after an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

. After Potemkin's death he was buried in the cathedral, as was Prince Charles Frederick Henry of Württemberg, Maria Feodorovna's brother. The cathedral's

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s were patterned after the Hermitage paintings by the 17th century Spanish artists such as Murillo.

Vladimir Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (russian: Влади́мир Луки́ч Боровико́вский, ukr, Володи́мир Лýкич Боровикóвський, ; July 24 O.S. (August 4, N.S.) 1757, Mirgorod – April 6 O.S. (April 18, N. ...

may have had a hand in their creation. The walls contain the copies of six life size figures of the apostles and saints executed by Gavrila Zamorayev 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 millio ...

(1758-1823).

20th century–present

After the Russian Revolution, the church was turned into a museum of atheism. Most icons were lost, only a few ended up in the collection of a local art museum. The church was reopened by the invading Germans in 1941, only to be shut down in 1962 during Nikita Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign. The building was used as a facility for log storage. The Neoclassical belfry, dating from about 1806, was torn down. It was not until 1991 that the

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

reclaimed the grounds. On October 26, 2022, Vladimir Saldo, collaborator and Russian-appointed acting "governor" of Kherson Oblast under the Russian occupation of 2022, announced that Prince Grigory Potemkin's remains were taken from his tomb and transported to Russia.

Gallery

File:Potemkin-grave.jpg File:Kherson-28102009(097).jpg File:Kherson-28102009(098).jpg File:Kherson-28102009(099).jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catherines Cathedral, Kherson Buildings and structures in Kherson Oblast Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Ukraine Kherson Churches completed in 1786 18th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Tourist attractions in Kherson Oblast Church buildings with domes 18th-century churches in Ukraine Neoclassical church buildings in Ukraine