St. Nicholas Cathedral (russian: Свято-Николаевский собор) in

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, is the primatial

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...

and the seat of Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada of the

General information and history

The original parish church was founded in 1930 as the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas. In 1949 the Synod of Bishops authorized the parish to be the church's National War Memorial Shrine and a national campaign to build a monumental Orthodox church in the capital of the United States was begun. The property upon which the cathedral is built was purchased in 1951. The substructure (basement) was completed in 1954 and was used for church services until the superstructure was completed in late 1962. A bell tower commemorating the millennium of Christianity in Russia was dedicated in 1988.

Architecture and iconography

The cathedral architecture is based on the 12th century St. Demetrius Cathedral of

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

, Russia. Beginning in 1991, dedicated

iconographer Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

s from Moscow led by Alexander Maskalionov painted

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 throughout the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

in the traditional style. This work was completed in 1994.

Location

The cathedral is at 3500 Massachusetts Ave NW at the corner of Edmund Street, in the District of Columbia. The 31,32,and 36 buses stop nearby, whereas the 37, N2, N3, N4, and N6 buses stop directly outside the cathedral at the Massachusetts Avenue-Edmunds St. intersection. There is no direct Metro access to the cathedral, but there are several stops within walking distance, such as Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, and Van Ness-UDC.

References

External links

Saint Nicholas Cathedral
official site (English and Russian)
Parish listing
(

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, D.C. Churches in Washington, D.C. Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the United States Eastern Orthodoxy in Washington, D.C. Churches completed in 1962 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Orthodox Church in America cathedrals Christian organizations established in 1930 Russian-American culture in Washington, D.C. Church buildings with domes Cathedrals in Washington, D.C.