The Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration (Спасо-Преображенский собор) is the main church of

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...

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 ...

. It has been the seat of the Tambov Eparchy of 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 ...

almost since its inception. The original wooden church honoring the

Feast of the Transfiguration The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian communities in honor of the transfiguration of Jesus. The origins of the feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of three basilicas on Mount Tabor.'' ...

was built in 1636 — the same year when the town of Tambov was founded. The

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on th ...

was established in 1682 as part of a string of new bishoprics that were meant to promote Christianity in the sparsely populated

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

region formerly known as the

Wild Field : This article can be expanded from the in the Russian Wikipedia Wild Field (Russian: Дикое поле) is a 2008 Russian film directed by Mikheil Kalatozishvili from a well-known 1990s script by the late Pyotr Lutsik and Aleksey Samor ...

. The first bishops decided to replace the wooden church with a bigger stone building patterned after a new Baroque cathedral in

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...

. Construction works started in 1694 at the instigation of Bishop Pitirim and, due to a lack of funds, took 90 years to complete. The five-domed cathedral — the first brick church in the city — was decorated in the late

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 ...

style and was consecrated in 1783. The church contained the tombs of St. Pitirim and other local bishops. It boasted several precious icons, some of them painted by Pitirim. Between 1929 and 1991, the church was closed to worship and used as a regional museum. The free-standing Neoclassical

belltower 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 ...

was constructed in the 1810s. It was pulled down by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in 1931, only to be rebuilt 80 years later. At 42.5 meters, it used to be the tallest building in the

Governorate of Tambov Tambov Governorate was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and later the Russian SFSR, centred around the city of Tambov. The governorate was located between 51°14' and 55°6' north and between 38°9' and 43°38' east ...

. The statue of Bishop Pitirim in front of the campanile was designed by Alexander Rukavishnikov, a well-known sculptor from Moscow. It was unveiled in 2014.

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Transfiguration Cathedral (Tambov) Tambov Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Russia

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 denomination ...

Churches completed in 1783 Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance Cultural heritage monuments in Tambov Oblast