The Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa is the Orthodox Cathedral in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, dedicated to the

Saviour Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or li ...

's Transfiguration and belongs to the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), common ...

. The first and foremost church in the city of

, the cathedral was founded in 1794 by Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni. Construction lagged several years behind schedule and the newly appointed governor of New Russia, Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, employed the Italian architect Francesco Frappoli to complete the edifice. The cathedral was designated the main church of New Russia in 1808 and was continuously expanded throughout the 19th century. The belltower was built between 1825 and 1837, and the refectory connecting it to the main church several years later. The interior was lined with polychrome marble, and the

icon screen In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...

also was of marble. Several churches in the region, including the

Nativity Cathedral Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Campin), a 1420 panel painting by ...

in Chişinău, were built in conscious imitation of the Odesa church. The cathedral was the burial place of the bishops of Tauride (including Saint

Innocent of Kherson Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relatio ...

) and Prince

Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (russian: Князь Михаи́л Семёнович Воронцо́в, tr. ; ) was a Russian nobleman and field-marshal, renowned for his success in the Napoleonic wars and most famous for his participati ...

, the famous governor of New Russia. The original structure was demolished by the Soviets in 1936. It was rebuilt starting from 1999. The new cathedral was consecrated in 2003. The remains of Vorontsov and his wife were subsequently reburied in the cathedral. There is a statue of him on the cathedral square. The cathedral bells are controlled by an electronic device capable of playing 99 melodies.

References

Gallery

File:Будівля Спасо-Преображенського собору 2.jpg, The Belltower and the main entrance File:Будівля Спасо-Преображенського собору в Одесі.jpg, The total view File:Vue de Odessa La Cathedrale.JPG, The Cathedral Square in the early 20th century File:Odessa Kirche Verklärung Christi-2.jpg, The icon screen in a side chapel

External links

Official website

Transfiguration Cathedral (Odesa)
{{Authority control Religious buildings and structures in Odesa Buildings and structures in Odesa Demolished churches in Ukraine Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Ukraine Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) church buildings 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Churches completed in 1808 Buildings and structures demolished in 1936 Church buildings with domes Rebuilt churches 21st-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Churches completed in 2003 Tourist attractions in Odesa 19th-century churches in Ukraine 21st-century churches in Ukraine Neoclassical church buildings in Ukraine

See also

References

Gallery

External links