The Holy Trinity Cathedral (Russian: Свято-Троицкий собор,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: קתדרלת השילוש הקדוש) is a cathedral of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, located at the heart of the so-called

Russian Compound The Russian Compound (; ; ) is one of the oldest districts in central Jerusalem, featuring a large Russian Orthodox church, the Russian-owned Sergei's Courtyard and the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Jerusalem, as well as the si ...

in central Jerusalem. The cathedral was built in 1860–1872 by a

Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem The Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem () was founded in the 19th century to serve as a representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and to oversee the facilities caring for the thousand ...

, when the Holy City was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Layout

The designed the church as a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

building, a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

with one central nave and two side aisles, and two lateral rooms in the shape of rounded apses completing the cross-shaped layout. The cathedral is built from white stone, with eight

steeples In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religio ...

, each topped by a cross. The inside of the cathedral is covered with

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

and barely contains chairs. Most of the worshippers are praying to stand, as is customary in Orthodox churches.

History

The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was officially founded on 11 September 1860. In 1864 the outside was completed, but the construction was suspended due to budgetary issues. By 1872 the cathedral was luxuriously inaugurated, in a ceremony where Duke Nicholas participated. Since then the cathedral has been used by pilgrims and locals. The author of the project was German-Russian architect, Martin Eppinger. It was originally supposed to be consecrated as the church of St.

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). ...

(the patron saint of Alexander II), but finally it was decided to dedicate it as the Cathedral of the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

. In 1895 to 1897, the cathedral was renovated. The process included repairing the roof and fixing the blind area. Further, the glutinous paints on the walls of the cathedral were scraped off, with three interiors painted white. Then the cathedral was decorated with sacred images. Next to the altar an emergency exit was built. In the period of the British Mandate, the Trinity Cathedral remained independent. It was under the jurisdiction of the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Currently, t ...

. During the

first Arab-Israeli war First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

the church was badly damaged. From 1948 it has been under the jurisdiction of the

Moscow Patriarchate The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...

of the Russian Orthodox Church. The ownership of the church is undetermined as it is part of an ongoing legal and diplomatic controversy between Russia and Israel apparently centered on the arrest of an

Israeli citizen Israel has two primary pieces of legislation governing the requirements for citizenship, the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew has the unrestricted right to immigrate to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Individuals ...

for drug smuggling.Lahav Harkov. (18 April 2022). "Putin demands Russia gain control of Jerusalem church as promised"
Jerusalem Post website
Retrieved 25 July 2022. Jerusalem_Church_of_the_Holy_Trinity.jpg, The outside of the cathedral RussianCompound2-1.jpg, The inside of the cathedral

References

External links

History of the holy trinity cathedral (in Russian)
{{Authority control Cathedrals in Jerusalem

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 ...

Jerusalem Trinity

Jerusalem Trinity Jerusalem Trinity Jerusalem Trinity

Layout

History

See also

References

External links