The Cathedral Church of the Dormition, dominating the city of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, Russia, from Cathedral Hill, has been the principal church of the Smolensk bishopric for 800 years.

Monomakh Cathedral

The first brick church on the spot was started by

Vladimir Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Мономахъ, ''Volodiměrŭ Monomakhŭ''; uk, Володимир Мономах, translit=Volodymyr Monomakh; russian: Владимир Мономах; Christian name: ''Vasiliy'' ...

in 1101. The large six-pillared edifice, similar to Monomakh's cathedral in

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 ...

, took several decades to complete. It was finally consecrated during the reign of Vladimir's grandson Rostislav of Smolensk in 1150. In the course of the following 500 years, the church survived numerous wars and fires. Especially serious was the damage inflicted during the great

siege of Smolensk (1609–1611) The siege of Smolensk, in Polish (oblężenie Smoleńska) and known as the Smolensk Defense in Russia (''Смоленская оборона'' in Russian), lasted 20 months between 29 September 1609 to 13 June 1611, when the Polish army besiege ...

. According to the official

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

, the remaining defenders of the city locked themselves in the cathedral and then set fire to the

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

in the ammunition depot in the church's basement on June 3, 1611. The explosion that followed caused the roof to collapse, killing all the people inside, who preferred death to being taken prisoner by the

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

. It is unclear, though, what happened in reality except that the ammunition depot in the basement really did explode. It was not unusual in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

for civilians to seek

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

in churches when a city was overrun, so it was likely civilians, rather than defenders, who died in that explosion. What caused the explosion will probably forever remain an open question: it could have been a

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the D ...

-style suicide but it might well have been an accident. The old cathedral survived the explosion, however. On September 9, 1627, the bishop Lew Rzewuski pleaded

Lew Sapieha Lew Sapieha ( lt, Leonas Sapiega; be, Леў Сапега or Lieŭ Sapieha; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Gr ...

to preclude "the 500-year-old church" from being converted into a

Roman Catholic church 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 ...

, which would violate the terms of Smolensk's surrender to the Poles in 1611. In a 1636 engraving, the cathedral is represented as being covered with a temporary wooden roof. After Smolensk was recaptured by the tsars and recognized as belonging to Russia in the 1667 peace treaty, the Russian voivode Prince

Repnin The House of Repnin (russian: Репнин), the name of an old Russian princely family of Rurikid stock. The family traces its name to Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Obolensky (+1523), nicknamed ''Repnya'', i.e., "bad porridge". Like other Princes Ob ...

was commissioned to inspect the cathedral and to prepare a list of urgent repairs. In 1673 the archbishop of

was authorized to restore the roof and the domes without damaging its original walls. The ancient bricks, however, proved too dilapidated to put to good use. The old cathedral was completely demolished between May 5 and July 13, 1674.

New cathedral

The current six-pillared, five-domed edifice was constructed over a period of almost 100 years due to flaws in the original design and its implementation – at one point one of the walls collapsed – but it was eventually completed in 1772. The building’s Baroque design is impressive, especially looking up from the base of a wall. Viewed from certain locations it often looks as if it is suspended in the air because it is situated on hill surrounded by trees, concealing the base of the building. One of the most notable views is inside the cathedral, namely the iconostasis that separates the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

from the nave area of the cathedral, which stands almost the height of the interior space. On it there are

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 and interspaced with intricate

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

-covered wooden decorations including figures of cherubim and columns entwined with vine branches. According to local legend, when

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

entered the cathedral after Smolensk had fallen to the French army in 1812, he looked up at the altar wall and proclaimed that if any one of his soldiers dared to steal anything from it, he would personally kill that man. The cathedral sustained enormous damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when the 11th-century miraculous icon of Theotokos of Smolensk perished in a great fire. The cathedral appears in Christian Bot's 2013 novel ''When we were Heroes'', in the context of the 1812 Battle of Smolensk.

External links

Pictures of the exterior and the interior of the cathedral

{{Coord, 54, 47, 20, N, 32, 3, 16, E, type:landmark_region:RU-SMO, display=title Buildings and structures in Smolensk Oblast

Churches completed in 1772 18th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Tourist attractions in Smolensk Oblast 1772 establishments in the Russian Empire 18th-century churches in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Smolensk Oblast