russian: Успенский собор
sv, Uspenskijkatedralen , native_name_lang = , image = File:Catedral Uspenski, Helsinki, Finlandia, 2012-08-14, DD 03.JPG , coordinates = , location =

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, country =

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, denomination =

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

, previous denomination = , churchmanship = , membership = , attendance = , website = , former name = , bull date = , founded date = , founder = , dedication =

Dormition The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...

of Virgin Mary , dedicated date = , consecrated date = , cult = , relics = , events = , past bishop = , people = , status = , functional status = Active , heritage designation = , designated date = , architect =

Aleksey Gornostayev Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (russian: link=no, Алексей Максимович Горностаев; February 18, 1808 – December 18, 1862) was a Russian architect, notable as a pioneer in Russian Revival, the builder of Valaam Monastery h ...

, architectural type =

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 ...

, style =

Russian Revival architecture The Russian Revival style (historiographical names are: ''Russian style'', russian: русский стиль, ''Pseudo-Russian style'', russian: псевдорусский стиль, ''Neo-Russian style'', russian: нео-русский стил ...

, groundbreaking = , completed date = , construction cost = , closed date = , demolished date = , capacity = , parish = , diocese =

Uspenski Cathedral ( fi, Uspenskin katedraali, sv, Uspenskijkatedralen, russian: Успенский собор, ''Uspenskij sobor'') is an

cathedral in

, and main cathedral of the

Orthodox Church of Finland The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Const ...

, dedicated to the

of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

(the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

). Its name comes from the

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...

word ''uspenie'', which denotes the

Description

After Helsinki was made into the capital of Finland in 1812,

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

decreed in 1814 that 15 percent of the salt import tax were to be collected into a fund for two churches, one Lutheran and one Orthodox. Helsinki's Orthodox Church, considered to have formed in 1827 with the construction of the

Holy Trinity Church, Helsinki sv, Heliga Treenighetskyrkanrussian: Храм Пресвятой Троицы , native_name_lang = , image = Pyhän Kolminaisuuden kirkko, Helsinki.jpg , coordinates = , location = Helsinki , co ...

, was in need of a larger church than before for a growing Orthodox parish. The construction of Uspenski Cathedral was largely funded by parishioners and private donors. The cathedral designed by the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

architect

(1808–1862). The cathedral was built after his death in 1862–1868 and the work was led by architect Ivan Varnek. It was inaugurated on 25 October 1868. Used in construction of the cathedral, 700 000 bricks were brought over in

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s from the

Bomarsund Fortress The Battle of Bomarsund, in August 1854, took place during the Åland War, which was part of the Crimean War, when an Anglo- French expeditionary force attacked a Russian fortress. It was the only major action of the war to take place at Boma ...

that had been demolished in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. The iconostasis is painted by Pavel S. Šiltsov. From the wish of Alexander II the church was dedicated to the

Dormition of the Mother of God The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...

, ''uspenie''. The crypt chapel of the cathedral is named after the holy

Alexander Hotovitzky Saint Alexander Hotovitzky (or Hotovitsky) (1872-1937) was a Russian Orthodox hieromartyr. He was ordained to the priesthood while working in the United States in the 1890s. He was ordered back to Europe in 1914, where we worked as a vicar in Be ...

, who served as vicar of the Orthodox parish of Helsinki 1914–1917, died a martyr death in the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

and was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1994. The cathedral is set upon a hillside on the

Katajanokka Katajanokka ( sv, Skatudden) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, with around 4000 inhabitants in 2005. The district is located adjacent to the immediate downtown area, though in the first major town plan for Helsinki from the mid-18th cent ...

peninsula overlooking the city. On the back of the cathedral, there is a plaque commemorating Russian

Emperor Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

, who was the sovereign of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

during the cathedral's construction. Main cathedral of the

Finnish Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Consta ...

in the diocese of Helsinki, Uspenski Cathedral is claimed to be the largest orthodox church in Western Europe. Annually, about half a million tourists visit the church. Admission to the cathedral is free of charge. In winter, the cathedral is closed on Mondays.

Icon theft

The cathedral has several valuable

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. The icon of St. Nicolas – The Wonder Maker was stolen on 16 August 2007 between midday and 1 p.m. in broad daylight while hundreds of tourists were visiting the cathedral. The icon is from the 19th century and is of a rare variant. Originally it was given to the Orthodox Cathedral of Vyborg, from where it was moved to Helsinki during the Second World War. No further details of its origin are known. The icon, in size, had been placed in a ''kiota'' (a glass covered protection frame) and weighed a couple of kilograms. It was on display on a

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

. The search for the icon continues in Finland as well as abroad. Another icon, Theotokos of Kozeltshan was stolen in June 2010, but it was later recovered in February 2011 from a hiding spot in the ground. Two robbers had broken into the church twice through a window and on the second time in August they had been caught. Although they didn't admit to having committed the first robbery, DNA testing through a blood stain left during the first robbery confirmed it. Nevertheless, the robbers still kept on denying having done it. But in February the next year, one of the jailed robbers had a change of heart and admitted to it all and revealed the location of the icon. It had spent 8 months in the ground but luckily had remained nearly immaculate.

Gallery

References

External links

Panorama picture of the Uspenski Cathedral (Helsinki)

Helsingin ortodoksinen seurakunta (home page of the Uspenski Cathedral parish, in Finnish language)
{{Authority control Churches completed in 1868 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Katajanokka Churches in Helsinki Gothic Revival church buildings in Finland Byzantine Revival architecture in Finland Finnish Orthodox cathedrals 1868 establishments in the Russian Empire

Description

Icon theft

Gallery

See also

References

External links