The St. Alexander Nevsky Military Cathedral of Tiflis ( ka, ტფილისის სამხედრო ტაძარი, ''tp'ilisis samkhedro tadzari''; , ''Tiflisskiy Aleksandro-Nevskiy voyenny sobor'') was an Orthodox Christian

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in downtown

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(now Tbilisi),

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, constructed during the

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

n rule in 1871-1872 and 1889–1897 and demolished by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities in 1930. The novel design of the cathedral became a standard for the emerging Neo-Byzantine style well before the cathedral was completed.

History

The cathedral was erected to commemorate the Russian victory in the

Caucasus War The Caucasian War () or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series o ...

against the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

mountainous peoples and was named after the medieval Russian saint

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...

. It was initially sponsored by the high priest of the Caucasian army Sergey Gumilevsky, military governor count

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev () was one of the wealthiest and most influential Russian noble families, descending from Feodor Koshka. History The family held many high commanding ranks in the Russian military, governorships and eventually the ra ...

and grand duke Mikhail Nikolayevich. An architectural contest for the cathedral was held in 1865; the government requested it to be executed in "grandiose and magnificent" style and to fit up to 2000 worshippers in the upper (summer) church. However, the funds allocated for the project, even with provision for continuing private donations, were insufficient to these purposes. Although the board awarded first prize to a joint collaboration of Victor Schroeter and Andrey Huhn, this eight-dome design was rejected due to high cost. In the end the board chose a simpler design by David Grimm. Grimm reused a cross-shaped pattern invented by Roman Kuzmin, with four symmetrical

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s tightly blended into the main volume (unlike the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

prototype with only two principal apses); however, his version was extended vertically, radically departing from the flattened shapes of early Byzantine temples. Basic composition of the Tiflis cathedral became a standard for the emerging Byzantine style long before its completion. Construction of the cathedral was launched six years later, April 16, 1871, in the upper part of Alexander’s Garden in Gunib Square (later known as Soborn Square, now part of

Rustaveli Avenue Rustaveli Avenue ( ka, რუსთაველის გამზირი, Rust'avelis Gamziri), formerly known as Golovin Street, is the central avenue in Tbilisi named after the medieval Georgian poet, Shota Rustaveli. The avenue starts at ...

). However, less than a year later it was suspended indefinitely. Construction resumed in 1889; in April 1891 the builders finished work on the foundation and proceeded with the wall

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

. 32 years after the contest of 1865, on May 21, 1897, the Cathedral was consecrated by Exarch Vladimir of Georgia. Grimm died the next year. The cathedral, 40 meters high and with a 13-meter dome, was built to be the largest in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

region. Internal artwork was inspired by recently completed

cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

St Volodymyr's Cathedral St Volodymyr's Cathedral ( ) is a cathedral in the centre of Kyiv, and one of the city's major landmarks. Since the unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine in December 2018, it has been under the ecclesiastical jurisdictio ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Icons were based on prototypes by

Fyodor Bruni Fedele Giovanni Baroffi Bruni,. russified as Fyodor Antonovich Bruni (10 June 1799 – 30 August 1875) was a List of Russian artists, Russian painter and draughtsman of Swiss Italian descent, active during the Romanticism, Romantic period, best kn ...

and

Victor Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (; 15 May ( N.S.), 1848 – 23 July 1926) was a Russian artist who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered a co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, an ...

. The cathedral was administered by the

Exarchate of Georgia An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. Byzantine Emperor Maurice created the first exarchates in the recently reconquered provinces of the former Western Empire. The term is ...

until 1917 when it passed to the recently reinstated

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate. In February 1921, its churchyard became a burial ground for the cadets (''

junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English language, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft manufacturer, aircraft and aircraft engine manufactu ...

'') of Georgian Military School who fell in the

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...

with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. In 1930, the Cathedral was demolished by the Soviet government to build the House of Government of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

(later the seat of the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

) in its place.

References

* Kvirkvelia, Tengiz. ძველთბილისური დასახელებანი (''The placenames of Old Tbilisi''), p. 28. Tbilisi: Sabchota Sakartvelo, 1985.
Тифлисский Александро-Невский военный собор
in: Tsitovich, G. A
Храмы армии и флота
(''The Army and Fleet Churches''), pp. 399–400.

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (; Circassian languages, Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody, which has an i ...

, 1913. * ''Savelyev, Yu. R. Vizantiysky stil v architecture Rossii'' (Савельев, Ю. Р. Византийский стиль в архитектуре России. - СПБ., 2005) Saint Petersburg, 2005. , pp. 42–45 {{coord, 41, 41, 48, N, 44, 47, 53, E, region:GE-KA_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Cathedrals in Georgia (country) Churches in Tbilisi

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Churches completed in 1872 Buildings and structures demolished in 1930 1872 establishments in the Russian Empire 1930 disestablishments in Russia 1870s establishments in Georgia (country) 1930s disestablishments in Georgia (country) 20th century in Tbilisi 19th-century Russian Orthodox church buildings Byzantine Revival architecture in Georgia (country) Destroyed churches in Georgia (country)

History

See also

References