The Holy Virgin Cathedral, also known as

Joy of All Who Sorrow In Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christianity, the Joy of all who sorrow, or the Joy of all afflicted (russian: Всех скорбящих Радость) is a title given to the Theotokos (Mary, the mother of Jesus). The iconography is ...

(russian: Радосте-Скорбященский собор), is a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

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 ...

in the Richmond District of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. It is the largest of the six cathedrals of the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...

, which has over 400 parishes worldwide, and the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of the Diocese of San Francisco and Western America. __TOC__ Stjohn shanghai

History

Russian settlement in California began at

Fort Ross Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in ...

in 1812. The original San Francisco parish of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia was founded on June 2, 1927."History"
Holy Virgin Cathedral website An earlier Holy Virgin Cathedral was located at 858-64 Fulton Street between Fillmore and Webster Streets. That building is still extant and was designated a San Francisco Landmark on May 3, 1970. The current cathedral at 6219 Geary Boulevard in the Richmond District was founded by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, born Mikhail Maximovitch. The neighborhood is known for its Russian restaurants and shops, and the "most visible Russian presence is the magnificent Holy Virgin Cathedral". Groundbreaking took place on June 25, 1961, construction was completed in 1965, and the cathedral was consecrated on January 31, 1977. St. John, who died in 1966, is buried within the cathedral.

Architecture

The cathedral was designed by Oleg N. Ivanitsky, and features five

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a ty ...

s covered in 24 carat

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

. The "incredible beauty" of the interior, which is "lined by icons, religious paintings, and mosaics, and lit by a voluminous chandelier" can be seen only by those who attend religious services and go on visitation days. The mosaic work on the outside of the building were done by Alfonso Pardiñas of Byzantine Mosaics.

Clergy and programs

The rector of the cathedral is

Kyrill (Dmitrieff) Archbishop Kyrill (russian: Архиепископ Кирилл, secular name Boris Mikhailovich Dmitriyev or Dmitrieff, russian: Борис Михайлович Дмитриев; born 24 November 1954), is the ruling bishop of the Western American ...

, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America. The archbishop is a San Francisco native and a graduate of the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

. The cathedral operates a K–12 school, the Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy, as well as a bookstore and housing for senior citizens.

References

External links

Holy Virgin Cathedral, San FranciscoVirtual Tour of CathedralThe Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy
{{Authority control Cathedrals in San Francisco Richmond District, San Francisco Russian Orthodox cathedrals in the United States Russian Orthodox church buildings in the United States Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Russian-American culture in California Churches completed in 1965 1960s architecture in the United States Church buildings with domes San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1965 establishments in California