Saint Michael's Cathedral, Sochi

The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel is the oldest

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

church in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

and the entire Black Sea Oblast of the former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Its construction was decreed by

Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (25 October 1832 – 18 December 1909) was a Russian Empire Field Marshal, the fourth son and seventh child of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia. He was the first owner of the New Michae ...

with a view to commemorating the victorious conclusion of the prolonged

Caucasian 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 ...

in 1864. The existing building was designed by

Alexander Kaminsky Alexander Stepanovich Kaminsky (1829–1897, , sometimes spelled Kamensky, Каменский) was a Russian architect working in Moscow and suburbs. One of the most successful and prolific architects of the 1860s–1880s, Kaminsky was a faithful ...

. It was built between 1874 and 1890 with funds provided by

Savva Mamontov Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (, ; , Yalutorovsk – 6 April 1918, Moscow) was a Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur and patron of the arts. Business career He was a son of the wealthy merchant and industrialist Ivan Feodorovich Mamonto ...

and Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, among others. The church, long neglected by the Soviets, was restored in 1993. The domed

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and the

sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

were built next to the church in the 1990s. Buildings and structures in Sochi Churches in Krasnodar Krai Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Russia Tsentralny city district, Sochi Culture in Sochi Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Krasnodar Krai Tourist attractions in Sochi {{Russia-EO-church-stub