The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral ( pl, Sobór św. Aleksandra Newskiego w Łodzi; russian: Александро-Невский собор) is a Christian Orthodox church located in the city of

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

, in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It was built in the late 19th century as a gift from the local industrialists to the small Orthodox community present in Łódź at the time. The church consists of many ornate elevations and has a richly decorated interior featuring an iconostasis manufactured in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

History

The church was built during the period when

lost its independence and was divided between the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

s. It was constructed in the Russian sector (

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

) with the financial support from the local textile factory owners and the most prominent citizens who adhered to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The church was consecrated on 29 May 1884 by Archbishop Leontius the ordinary of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and Chełm Dioceses. The orthodox church was designed and built in the

Neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthod ...

style in an octagonal shape. Stained glass windows and iconostasis, made from

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

wood, with three doors are the main decorations of the church.

Izrael Poznański Izrael Kalman Poznański (25 August 1833–28 April 1900) was a Polish-Jewish businessman, textile magnate and philanthropist in Łódź, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire), and the husband of Eleonora Hertz Poznańska. The mausoleum of ...

, who financed the enclosure and fence around the church was also the founder of the

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) 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 t ...

. The building is located at 56 Jana Kilińskiego Street in Łódź, near Stanisław Moniuszko Park and

Łódź Fabryczna railway station Łódź Fabryczna is the largest and most modern railway station in the city of Łódź, Poland. It was originally constructed at the initiative of industrialist Karl Wilhelm Scheibler in 1865. In the old Polish classification of stations it was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Lodz Cathedrals in Poland Churches in Łódź Eastern Orthodox churches in Poland Lodz Polish Orthodox cathedrals Church buildings with domes 19th-century churches in Poland 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings