The Cathedral of Sts Simeon and Anne (, ), located at 12 Akadēmijas Street in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

, is a cathedral of the

Latvian Orthodox Church The Latvian Orthodox Church () is an Eastern Orthodox church in Latvia, part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy community. The Primate (bishop), primate of the church carries the title of ''Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia ...

, one of four

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 ...

cathedrals in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

History

The church traces its history to 1710, when

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

Tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...

, arranged the marriage of his niece

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

Frederick William, Duke of Courland Frederick William (; 19 July 1692 – 21 January 1711) was Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1698 to 1711. Frederick Wilhelm was the son of Friedrich Kasimir Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia and Princess Elisabeth Sophie of Brande ...

. The duke promised to build an Orthodox church in Jelgava (then known as Mitau), his capital, but his premature death prevented this. Anna was sent to Jelgava in 1712 and ruled there with the advice of

Pyotr Bestuzhev-Ryumin Count Pyotr Mikhailovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (, ; 1664–1742) was a Russian statesman who effectively governed the Duchy of Courland in the name of Anna Ivanovna between 1712 and 1728. Bestuzhev came from an ancient boyar family of Novgorod extract ...

, who directed a wooden church be constructed in 1726. In 1774, a stone church designed by

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (; 1700 – 29 April 1771) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palac ...

replaced this building. The cathedral was built between 1890 and 1892, with the financial support of Tsar

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III (; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary in domestic affairs and reversed some of the libera ...

, on designs made by architect Nikolai Chagin, of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. The cathedral was destroyed in August 1944 amidst

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and remained in ruins during 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 ...

period. After Latvia regained its independence, the church was returned to the Orthodox congregation and the cathedral was restored over the next ten years, the process being finished in 2003. The cathedral has nine bells in the bell-tower with the largest bell weighing 830 kg."St. Simeon’s and St. Anna’s Orthodox Cathedral"
''Visit Jelgava''. Retrieved on 29 August 2017. Particularly striking are the golden domes decorated with blue stripes.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Simeon and Saint Anne's Cathedral, Jelgava Cathedrals in Latvia Eastern Orthodox churches in Latvia Churches completed in 1882 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Church buildings with domes Buildings and structures in Jelgava 19th-century churches in Latvia Latvian Orthodox Church