Catherine's Cathedral
Catherine's Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine, is an Orthodox church located on Cathedral Square in Pushkin, rebuilt in 2006-2010 after destruction.
Address:
St. Petersburg, pl. Sobornaya, 1
Telephone:
+7 (812) 476-77-77
The appearance of the cathedral is distinguished by its grace and grandeur.
White walls are crowned with 5 dark domes with gilded crosses. At the top there are arches with images of angels, and on the eastern side of the building there is an image of St. Catherine. The height of the temple is 50 meters. Accommodates about 2000 people. The Tsarskoye Selo city church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine was founded in 1835 by decree of Emperor Nicholas I. The architect is Konstantin Andreevich Ton.
The cathedral was built in the style of Suzdal churches (pseudo-Byzantine) and was the architectural dominant feature of the sovereign's residence. In 1840, the consecration ceremony of the temple took place. In 1842, under the leadership of garden master Fyodor Lyamin, landscaping of the area near the cathedral was underway.
12 paths were built here, converging to the cathedral, and 200 poplars, brought in advance from Holland, were planted. In 1862, a fire occurred in Pushkin’s Gostiny Dvor, which also affected the nearby cathedral.
The gilding of the cathedral domes suffered to a greater extent. In 1875, the cracked cathedral bell was recast. A separate wooden bell tower was temporarily built for it. In 1889, the bell was returned to its original location. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary in 1890, the cathedral was renovated. In 1917, the number of parishioners in the temple decreased sharply.
At the end of October 1917, the Red Guards killed the archpriest of Catherine's Cathedral, Ioann Kochurov, who supported the legitimate government. In 1938, the question arose about the closure of the cathedral and its demolition. The following year the roof was removed, the icons were destroyed, and church utensils were taken away. The memoirs of art critic Anatoly Mikhailovich Kuchumov, who was part of the commission for the liquidation of the temple, say that the icons were stabbed with axes and thrown into a heap, the old people cried and asked to give them back to themselves. So 2 icons were saved: the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon (now kept in the Gatchina Palace). In 1939, St. Catherine's Cathedral was blown up. Gradually, the mountain of the remains of the temple settled and turned into an ordinary city square. In 1960, a monument to Lenin appeared here. In connection with the canonization of Archpriest Ioann Kochurov in 1995, a seven-meter eight-pointed wooden cross was installed on the site of the destroyed Catherine Cathedral.
Archpriest Gennady Zverev was fined for erecting the cross, and he was ordered to remove the cross. In 2003, a new wooden cross was built and consecrated here, made on the Solovetsky Islands by monk George. In 2006, work was organized on an archaeological excavation of the foundation of the cathedral.
It was from this moment that the painstaking work of restoring the Catherine Church began, ending in 2010. At the beginning of December 2009, the first liturgy was celebrated here. The recreated cathedral is an exact copy of the one that stood here 100 years ago.
The interior is under renovation. The walls are whitewashed, there is no ornamentation. The iconostasis was recreated according to the pre-revolutionary model. The difference is in the iconography: the images are painted in the Old Russian style. Seven new bells (a copy of the destroyed ones) were raised to the belfry in February 2011.
White walls are crowned with 5 dark domes with gilded crosses. At the top there are arches with images of angels, and on the eastern side of the building there is an image of St. Catherine. The height of the temple is 50 meters. Accommodates about 2000 people. The Tsarskoye Selo city church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine was founded in 1835 by decree of Emperor Nicholas I. The architect is Konstantin Andreevich Ton.
The cathedral was built in the style of Suzdal churches (pseudo-Byzantine) and was the architectural dominant feature of the sovereign's residence. In 1840, the consecration ceremony of the temple took place. In 1842, under the leadership of garden master Fyodor Lyamin, landscaping of the area near the cathedral was underway.
12 paths were built here, converging to the cathedral, and 200 poplars, brought in advance from Holland, were planted. In 1862, a fire occurred in Pushkin’s Gostiny Dvor, which also affected the nearby cathedral.
The gilding of the cathedral domes suffered to a greater extent. In 1875, the cracked cathedral bell was recast. A separate wooden bell tower was temporarily built for it. In 1889, the bell was returned to its original location. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary in 1890, the cathedral was renovated. In 1917, the number of parishioners in the temple decreased sharply.
At the end of October 1917, the Red Guards killed the archpriest of Catherine's Cathedral, Ioann Kochurov, who supported the legitimate government. In 1938, the question arose about the closure of the cathedral and its demolition. The following year the roof was removed, the icons were destroyed, and church utensils were taken away. The memoirs of art critic Anatoly Mikhailovich Kuchumov, who was part of the commission for the liquidation of the temple, say that the icons were stabbed with axes and thrown into a heap, the old people cried and asked to give them back to themselves. So 2 icons were saved: the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon (now kept in the Gatchina Palace). In 1939, St. Catherine's Cathedral was blown up. Gradually, the mountain of the remains of the temple settled and turned into an ordinary city square. In 1960, a monument to Lenin appeared here. In connection with the canonization of Archpriest Ioann Kochurov in 1995, a seven-meter eight-pointed wooden cross was installed on the site of the destroyed Catherine Cathedral.
Archpriest Gennady Zverev was fined for erecting the cross, and he was ordered to remove the cross. In 2003, a new wooden cross was built and consecrated here, made on the Solovetsky Islands by monk George. In 2006, work was organized on an archaeological excavation of the foundation of the cathedral.
It was from this moment that the painstaking work of restoring the Catherine Church began, ending in 2010. At the beginning of December 2009, the first liturgy was celebrated here. The recreated cathedral is an exact copy of the one that stood here 100 years ago.
The interior is under renovation. The walls are whitewashed, there is no ornamentation. The iconostasis was recreated according to the pre-revolutionary model. The difference is in the iconography: the images are painted in the Old Russian style. Seven new bells (a copy of the destroyed ones) were raised to the belfry in February 2011.
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Telephone:
+7 (812) 476-77-77
Working hours:
Every day until 19:00
Address:
St. Petersburg, pl. Sobornaya, 1
