Cathedral of the Nativity of the Lord (Chișinău)
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Lord ( Romanian Catedrala Nașterea Domnului ; Russian Собор Рождества Христова ) is a church building in the Moldovan capital Chișinău . It is the metropolitan seat of the Moldavian Orthodox Church .
history
The cathedral was built between 1830 and 1836 as the most important church building in the city on the initiative of the Metropolitan of Bessarabia Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni . After the initial plans of Peter Speeth , who died in 1831 , the architect Avraam Melnikov (1784–1854) took over the construction. The cathedral was consecrated on October 13, 1838.
In June 1941 it was badly hit by the bombing of World War II . The restoration began in September of the following year. The Romanian artist Jean Alexandru Steriadi was involved in restoring the wall paintings . The restoration was not completed until the 1950s.
On the night of December 22nd to 23rd, 1962, the bell tower was blown up on behalf of the city council of Chișinău. Services were no longer held in the cathedral building, instead it was used as an exhibition hall for the Ministry of Culture of the Moldovan SSR .
The rededication as a sacred building took place in the years 1989 to 1991. Extensive restoration work began. On November 3, 1995, President Mircea Ion Snegur signed a decree to expedite construction work on the building, most of which was completed in 1996. In the same year the foundation stone was laid for a new bell tower, which was completed in 1997. It's a little different from the one that was blown up in 1962. The restoration of the interior of the cathedral has not yet been completed.
Location and architecture
The cathedral in the Buiucani district lies on an axis with the triumphal arch of Chișinău , which was built a little later and forms a gate to the church building. At the church is the Parcul Catedralei, the "Cathedral Park".
The cathedral is built of stone and brick in the style of Russian classicism . There are colonnades on each of the four outer walls. The wall surfaces are light yellow, pillars and moldings are plastered in white. The bell tower is in front of the building. The tambour dome, which only got its current hemispherical shape during the restoration in the 1950s, is filled with light through eight high windows.
There are three altars in the church, the main one being dedicated to the Nativity .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 1 '34 " N , 28 ° 50' 4.6" E