Resurrection Cathedral (Semei)

The Resurrection Cathedral

The Resurrection Cathedral ( Russian Воскресенский собор ) is a Russian Orthodox church building in the Kazakh city ​​of Semei . The sacred building was built between 1857 and 1860 in the city center near the Irtysh River .

history

As early as 1792 there was a stone church in Semipalatinsk, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Signs. As the population of the city increased steadily, it became necessary to build an additional church. In the early 1850s, Mitrofan Kazakow, a resident of the city, campaigned for the construction of another stone church. The design for the building came from the local architect Alexander Bolbotow; Construction began on March 31, 1857. After a little over three years of construction, the cathedral was completed with the consecration of the high altar on July 10, 1860.

In 1922 the cathedral was partially looted. On May 19, 1922, as part of a campaign to confiscate church property, the regional executive committee issued a decree that enabled the state to appropriate valuables from the Resurrection Cathedral. All items made of precious metal and all items with precious stones were removed from the cathedral. In the 1930s, five of the six churches in the city were either closed or destroyed. The inventory of some closed churches was brought to the Resurrection Church and kept there. In 1937 the clergy and a large part of the active parishioners were arrested. The clergy were later charged with counter-revolutionary activities, sentenced to death, and executed in November 1937.

The Resurrection Cathedral remained closed, but was not officially confiscated. 1940 was marked by attempts by the parish to reopen the cathedral for services. On the other hand, the authorities tried to officially close the cathedral in order to be able to use it for cultural purposes and eventually to be able to demolish it. With the beginning of the war, the question of the use of the building faded into the background, which is why the cathedral was the only church building in the city to be preserved. In March 1944, a group of believers turned to the Soviet authorities with a request that the cathedral be reopened for services. This request was finally successful, whereupon it was reopened on April 16, 1944. The building had deteriorated considerably in recent years, which is why repairs were necessary.

After Kazakhstan's independence, the area was expanded to include a Sunday school , a refectory and an administration building. In the summer of 1997 a new heater was installed in the cathedral. In the following year nine new bells were purchased. Up to the year 2000 the building was in need of renovation, so that the external appearance was renewed together with the city administration. The work was completed by autumn 2001.

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Web links

Commons : Cathedral of the Resurrection (Semei)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Resurrection Cathedral on the site of the Öskemen Eparchy
• Pictures and information on sobory.ru (Russian)
• Information about the cathedral on russian-church.ru (Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ По страницам истории Воскресенского Собора. pravsobor.kz, accessed July 31, 2019 (Russian).
2. ↑ ^{a b} г.Семипалатинск, Воскресенский собор (Семипалатинское благочиние). vko-eparhia.kz, accessed July 31, 2019 (Russian).

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 ′ 43.9 ″  N , 80 ° 14 ′ 2.7 ″  E