The Saint Vladimir Cathedral (russian: Владимирский собор; uk, Володимирський собор) is a
Neo-Byzantine
Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orth ...
Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
cathedral on the site of
Chersonesos Taurica
Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσών; ...
on the outskirts of
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
, on the
Crimean Peninsula
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
. It commemorates the presumed place of
St. Vladimir's baptism.
History
According to legend and historic facts, the
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
of
Vladimir the Great
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
took place in 988 in the Chersonese (or, as it was called by ancient Russians, Korsun), now -
Chersonesos Taurica
Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσών; ...
, a
National Preserve
There are 21 protected areas of the United States designated as national preserves. They were established by an act of Congress to protect areas that have resources often associated with national parks but where certain natural resource-extract ...
near
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
. In ''
The Tale of Bygone Years'' by the monk
Nestor, the city's conciliar Church was mentioned "in the middle of the city, where the inhabitants gather to trade", which, as supposed, could be the probable place of this event crucial for the whole of Rus.
The idea to immortalize the place of the Baptism of the Holy
Prince Vladimir
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
Equal-to-the-Apostles was first represented in 1825 by the
Black Sea Fleet Chief,
Vice-Admiral Alexey Greig
Aleksey Samuilovich Greig (russian: Алексе́й Самуи́лович Грейг) (6 September 1775 – 18 January 1845), born into the noble Greig family, was an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. Born in Kronstadt, he was the son of A ...
. On his initiative excavations under the direction of K. Kruse were conducted in
Chersonesos Taurica
Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσών; ...
in 1827. As a result, the remains of the ancient Christian
churches, including a cruciform basilica, were found at the centre of the
market square. In the 1830s the historians
Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux and N. Murzakevich made the conjecture that Vladimir the Great was baptized in this basilica. After that, all doubts about the place of the future church were dispelled. In 1850, on the initiative of Innocent, archbishop of Tauric Chersonese, a
cenobium
Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of prece ...
was founded at the site, the Monastery of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles. On August 23, 1850, the grand laying of the foundation stone of the church in honor of
Saint Vladimir took place.
Building
![Sevsobor3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Sevsobor3.jpg)
The author of the project of St. Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonese was
academician
An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...
David Grimm. According to his plan, the cathedral was built in
Neo-Byzantine style
Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...
. The construction took 15 years and was finished in 1874–1876, with the assistance of engineer M. Arnold. It was one of the biggest cathedrals in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(height – 36 m, total area – 1726 sq. m, dome diameter – 10,5 m) and could accommodate up to a thousand people.
The building consists of a lower (winter) and upper (summer) church.
The decoration of the church began on the eve of the 900th anniversary of the
Baptism of Rus
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
. It was not completed in time for this significant date, so on June 13, 1888, on the Memorial Day of Grand Prince St. Vladimir, only the lower church, dedicated to the Birth of Mary, was consecrated. That year the carved-wood
iconostasis was placed in the church and the interior work on the upper church under the direction of architect
Nikolay Chagin
Nikolay Mikhailovich Chagin (Николай Михайлович Чагин; 1823, Oryol – 1909) was a Russian architect active primarily in Vilnius and the Crimea. He took part in the Siege of Sevastopol and served as Vilno's main architec ...
began. The painting and icons for the central iconostasis of the cathedral were made by academician
Alexei Korzukhin
Alexei Ivanovich Korzukhin (Russian: Алексей Иванович Корзухин; 1835—1894) was a Russian genre painter.
Biography
He was born into a family of gold prospectors near Yekaterinburg. As a young man, he worked in a local ra ...
. Furthermore, in the interior of the cathedral works executed in the 1850s by academician T. Neff, painter F. Riss, and icons made by I. Maikov and E. Sorokin were also used. Works in marble, such as the iconostasis of the upper church, the mosaic floor of the cathedral, and the marble balustrade along the
soleas
The soleas (( el, σολέα, other form σολέας) = lat, solea meaning (“bottom, base”, as used in "sole of a shoe", cf. also the "sole" from the resemblance of fish to a flat shoe. Of uncertain origin)) is an extension of the sanctuary ...
, were carried out by Italian masters J. Seppi and the Baskarini brothers. The consecration of the cathedral took place on October 17, 1891, though the final decorative design was completed only in 1894.
As far back as 1859, the marble reliquary in the form of a Gospel with relics of Grand Prince St. Vladimir was passed from the Small Church of the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...
in
St. Petersburg
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 ...
to Chersonese. After the building of St. Vladimir Cathedral, his relics were placed in the lower church near the ruins of the ancient basilica. The list from the miracle-working Korsun icon of the Mother of God, which, according to legend, was brought from Chersonese by Vladimir the Great, is situated at the altar of the upper church. Altogether, the relics of 115 saints were translated to the cathedral.
Reconstruction
![The bell of Chersonesos2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/The_bell_of_Chersonesos2.jpg)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the cathedral was destroyed. Work on its restoration began in the late 1990s. The project of reconstruction was carried out by the Kiev Institute “UkrProjectRestoration” under the direction of architect E. Osadchiy. From 2002 Vladimir Cathedral was painted by artists from St. Petersburg, Kiev and the Crimea, who recreated the lost paintings of academician A. Korzuhin. The following monumental compositions can be seen on the walls of the cathedral: “The Holy Spirit” (authors – L. Steblovska, E. Revenko), “The Baptism of Christ” (author – A. Dmitrenko), “The Transfiguration of Christ” (authors – L. Dmitrenko, N. Dmitrenko), and “The Lord's Last Supper” (A. Pigarev, K. Popovskiy). The icons for the marble iconostasis of the Upper Church were painted by the young artists A. Dmitrenko and N. Dmitrenko.
The consecration of the
high altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...
of Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonese took place on April 3, 2004, and a week later the Easter liturgy was celebrated.
See also
*
St. Vladimir's Cathedral, Sevastopol
*
Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian Empire
Russian-Byzantine architecture (Russo-Byzantine architecture, russian: русско-византийский стиль) is a revivalist direction in Russian architecture and decorative and applied arts, based on the interpretation of the forms ...
External links
The Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonese today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonese, The
Churches in Crimea
Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Ukraine
Byzantine Revival architecture in Ukraine
Buildings and structures in Sevastopol
Tourist attractions in Sevastopol
Church buildings with domes
Cultural heritage monuments in Sevastopol
Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance