The Transfiguration Church ( ro, Biserica Schimbarea la Față) is a Moldovan Orthodox church located in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

History

Originally named after SS. Constantine and

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, the church was part of the now disappeared Michael the Brave " gymnasium" for boys, built between 1898 and 1902 by the architect Mihail Seroținski. The church was not built at the same time as other buildings of the gymnasium. Its construction completely relied on the initiative of the protector of the establishment, the public figure and philanthropist Constantin A. Namestnik. He sought by any means to achieve the construction of the monument, to such a point that he engaged his responsibility for the good progress of the works on his own fortune. Construction began in 1899 under the authority of Seroținski. The church was consecrated on 19 May 1902. During the

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the

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was raging between

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and

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. After the success of Yuri Gagarin in 1961 a great propaganda campaign was initiated across the

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and many planetaria began to appear. Churches, useless as the gospel was generally forbidden, were sometimes transformed into planetaria because of their domes. This was the fate of the Transfiguration Church from 1962 until a fire ravaged it in 1990. The devices for the planetarium were too expensive to make the rebuilding profitable and the attraction closed for good on 24 October 1991. The wrecked building was eventually handed back to the Orthodox Church. After several refurbishment works during the post-Soviet years, the church is now completely renovated and open to the public.

Gallery

File:Schimbarea la Faţă a Mântuitorului (Alta data).jpg File:Schimbarea la Faţă a Măntuitorului - Side2.jpg File:Schimbarea la Faţă a Măntuitorului - Side.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schimbarea la Fata a Mantuitorului Religious buildings and structures in Moldova 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Churches completed in 1902 Buildings and structures in Chișinău Christianity in Chișinău