A ''katholikon'' or catholicon ( gr, καθολικόν) or ''sobor'' ( Slavonic: съборъ) refers to one of three things in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

: * The

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 ...

of a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

. * The major church building (temple) of a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

corresponding to a

conventual church A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...

. * A large church in a city at which all the faithful of the city gather to celebrate certain important feasts rather than go to their local parish church. The name derives from the fact that it is (usually) the largest church where all gather together to celebrate the major feast days of the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...

. In Russia, it is common for a katholikon to have a smaller church in the basement which can be more easily heated in the winter. A ''katholikon'' may have special architectural features in it, such as a ''

kathedra 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 principal ...

'' (episcopal throne), or both an ''esonarthex'' (inner-

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

) and ''exonarthex'' (outer narthex), used for special services such as the

Paschal vigil Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a liturgy held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this liturgy that people are ba ...

or a

lity Lity may refer to: * Lity (Orthodox Vespers), a procession at Great Vespers in the Eastern Orthodox Church * Lity (Orthodox memorial service), a short service for the dead in the Eastern Orthodox Church See also * Liti (disambiguation) * Leti ...

. The word ''katholikon'' is often translated into English as cathedral rather than assembly and that can cause confusion. In

Saint Isaac's Cathedral Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is ...

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, for example, there is a placard in Russian and in English describing the building as having been "кафедральный собор", rendered in English as the "cathedraly cathedral". However an Eastern Orthodox diocese may have several katholikons, only one of which is the bishop's cathedral, other important churches being known as katholicons. The

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of such churches is usually an

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

References

{{Reflist Types of church buildings * Ecclesiology Christian terminology Greek words and phrases