Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Kaliningrad)
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the tallest building in Kaliningrad at 73 m and the largest church building in Kaliningrad Oblast . Since March 31, 2009 it has served as the Metropolitan Church of the Diocese of Kaliningrad and Baltiysk .
Building history
The cathedral is the first major Russian Orthodox church building in Kaliningrad. Until then, Orthodox services had to be held in former German Protestant churches and other adapted rooms. In a referendum carried out in 1995, residents of the city approved the project to build a cathedral on Siegesplatz , the former Hansaplatz in front of the Nordbahnhof. The foundation stone was laid on June 23, 1996 in the presence of the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin . The cathedral consists of an upper main church and a smaller prayer room in the basement. The consecration of the upper church in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place during the anniversary celebrations of Kaliningrad Oblast on September 10, 2006 in the presence of Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Alexei II . The inauguration of the lower church in honor of the "not human-made image of Christ" was carried out on September 27, 2007 by the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kyrill (Gundjaew) , who later became Patriarch Kyrill I.
architecture
The traditional Russian-Byzantine style cathedral was designed by the Kaliningrad architect Oleg Kopylov. Its appearance is based on the cathedral of the same name in Moscow . It is an octagonal building with protruding arched entrance portals, a main tower above the altar (corresponding to the choir room) and four other onion domes . The building is 73 meters high, 31 meters long and just as wide. The strict symmetry is intended to emphasize the monumentality and importance of the building. A large number of stained glass windows are intended to create picturesque light effects inside and outside the building. The cathedral can seat more than 3000 people.
In the lower church in honor of the " Not Man-Made Image of Christ " there is an iconostasis that was made during the Seven Years' War for the then Russian garrison in Memel , but later first in the Russian embassy church in Stockholm , and then in the possession of the brotherhood of the Holy Prince Vladimir in the Russian house church of St. Nicholas was in Hamburg . After that house church was closed in 1995, it was brought to Russia in 1996 for the planned cathedral in Kaliningrad. At the suggestion of Gleb Rahr , the then chairman of the brotherhood, the lower church serves as a memorial chapel to commemorate the Russian soldiers who died in East Prussia in the Seven Years' War , the Wars of Liberation , World War I and World War II .
Next to the cathedral is a wooden church originally intended as a temporary solution . This "little cathedral" was built between June and September 1996 next to the construction site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
See also
Web links
- http://www.ubrus.org/ (Russian)
Coordinates: 54 ° 43 ′ 15 ″ N , 20 ° 30 ′ 12 ″ E