St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St. Vladimir's Cathedral () is an Orthodox church in
Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
which was built in the aftermath of the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
as a memorial to the heroes of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855).


History

It was the admiral
Mikhail Lazarev Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (; ) was a Russian fleet commander and explorer. Education and early career Lazarev was born in Vladimir city, a scion of the old Russian nobility from the Vladimir province. In 1800, he enrolled in Russ ...
who came up with the idea to build a cathedral consecrated to
Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych (; Christian name: ''Basil''; 15 July 1015), given the epithet "the Great", was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 978 until his death in 1015. The Eastern Orthodox ...
in Sevastopol rather than in
Chersonesos Taurica Chersonesus, contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson (), was an Greeks in pre-Roman Crimea, ancient Greek Greek colonization, colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlers from He ...
as was initially intended. The church contains the tombs of Lazarev and three of his disciples – Vladimir Kornilov,
Vladimir Istomin Vladimir Ivanovich Istomin (; – ) was a Russian rear admiral (1853) and hero of the Siege of Sevastopol. Biography In 1827, Vladimir Istomin graduated from the Naval College. That same year, he then took part in the Battle of Navarino and ...
and
Pavel Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (, ; – ) was a Russian admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy known for his victory in the Battle of Sinop and his leadership in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) during the Crimean War. He joined the Imper ...
– who died during the siege. The architecture of the church is
Neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a Revivalism (architecture), revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine architecture, ...
. The original design was submitted by
Konstantin Thon Konstantin Andreyevich Thon or Ton (; October 26, 1794 – January 25, 1881) was a Russian architect who was one of the most notable architects during the reign Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand ...
for the Chersonesus Cathedral. It was reworked by a local architect, Aleksey Avdeyev. The lower church was consecrated in 1881, and the upper church was finished seven years later. The building rises to a height of 32.5 meters. A team of Swiss and Italian artists decorated the marble-clad interior. The names of the heroes of the 1850s siege are inscribed on the walls. The tombs of the admirals were destroyed by the Soviets in 1931. The church sustained further damage in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Archbishop Joachim (Levitsky) was supposedly martyred by
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
inside St Vladimir's Cathedral in April 1920 (or perhaps as late as 1921) by being
crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...
upside-down on the
royal doors The royal doors, holy doors, or beautiful gates are the central doors of the iconostasis in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The sanctuary (sometimes called the ''Altar'', which contains the Holy Table) is separated from the nav ...
of the
iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () 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 that can be placed anywhere withi ...
. The cathedral's
archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogo ...
, Aleksei Nazarevsky, was also allegedly murdered along with him, although the details of when either man died, yet alone how, are not clear. Sevastopol was under the occupation of the
White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...
of
Pyotr Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (, ; ; 25 April 1928), also known by his nickname the Black Baron, was a Russian military officer of Baltic German origin in the Imperial Russian Army. During the final phase of the Russian Civil War, he was c ...
until November 1920, and the last definite information about Levitsky is his departure for the city in 1918.


Gallery

File:St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol 01.jpg, Nakhimov's tomb File:St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol 02.jpg, File:St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol 07.JPG, File:St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol 04.JPG, File:St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol 05.JPG, File:Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol 1.jpg, File:Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol 5.jpg,


See also

* Brotherhood Cemetery * Chersonesus Cathedral * Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian Empire


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol Byzantine Revival architecture in Ukraine Churches in Crimea Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Ukraine 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Military monuments and memorials Church buildings with domes Crimean War Buildings and structures in Sevastopol Tourist attractions in Crimea Cultural heritage monuments in Sevastopol Tourist attractions in Sevastopol