Over the past decades in Russia, except forrestoration and restoration of church buildings, once selected from believers and who came for a long time in an emergency condition, a lot of work was done on the construction of new temple structures. One of the striking examples of this process is the history of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod. The schedule of the services held in it, an overview of the main activities, the Orthodox cultural and educational center created on its basis, as well as the history of the origin of the temple complex became the topic of this article.
The history of the community of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Nizhny NovgorodNovgorod is inextricably linked with the improvement of the spiritual life of the country, which resulted from restructuring and radical changes in the government's policy towards the church. In 1992, among the believers of the Avtozavodsky district of the city, the idea of building a church arose, since during the years of Soviet power all the temples that existed once in the district were destroyed.
The first step towards the implementation of theregistration of the local community, carried out in 1994. Her head became then one of the most active Orthodox activists ─ Maria Stepanovna Pypina. However, the community is only a community of believers who have come together to jointly perform various services and rituals. In order to rise to the next step and become a parish, a temple and its ministers are needed, around which the members of the previously created community will unite.
The parish in the district was created due to the fact that inIn 1997, the city authorities handed over to the believers the premises of the kindergarten, which in a short time was converted to perform worship services in it. Somewhat later, a house church was built in the same building, consecrated in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
A year later, when bookmark plans were already being builtthe future of St. Nicholas Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod), the diocesan leadership decided to erect a newly established community wooden church. It was intended for a more complete organization of the religious life of parishioners during the construction of the main church.
Such a church was built and consecrated in honor of the saintmartyr Tatiana, and all the works, both external and internal, were performed during the Great Lent, and the Church was consecrated to the Bright Resurrection of Christ. In the same year, the building of the city cinema, which was still under the communist rule, was built at the disposal of the community, in which a regional Orthodox center was set up by the diocese, headed by the hegumen Innokenty (Samylkin).
At the end of the summer of the same year,construction of one of the main temples of Nizhny Novgorod for today-Nicholas Cathedral. According to the tradition that was formed in ancient times, the first step was the consecration of the place chosen for him with the erection of the worship cross. This rite, which took place on August 21, was the beginning of a difficult path for the founders of the future church.
According to the participants of the construction,complexities began after the shortage of funds was sharply defined. Those donations made by workers of the Gorky Automobile Plant, as well as residents of the city who expressed a desire to take part in this pious business, were enough only to lay bricks at the base of the cathedral, after which the construction was frozen.
However, it is generally known that from time immemorial in Russiathe main donator for the construction of God's temples was the people, whose means and built most of the shrines. Nikolsky Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod was no exception. Thanks to the active activities of Orthodox activists, as well as the measures taken by the diocesan leadership, a very large sum was collected, and in the spring of 2006 the work on building the temple was resumed. At the same time, further fundraising continued, both in Nizhny Novgorod itself and in many other cities in the Volga and Central Russia.
In the architecture of St. Nicholas Cathedral (address:Nizhny Novgorod, Druzhaev, 3a) clearly traced motifs that are well-known in the outlines of the Transfiguration Church, the famous Diveevo Monastery throughout the whole country. It distinguishes it from this structure with such elements as a high multi-stage porch and a chapel and bell tower attached separately to the main building.
In the process of work, technologies were used,tested and well-proven in the construction of such famous buildings as the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Cathedral of St. Theodore Ushakov in Saransk.
St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in Nizhny Novgorod,has a height of 68.5 meters, which puts it in the row of the highest temple buildings erected in Russia over the last century. In the rooms located on the lower level, there is a refectory, seating up to 100 people, a baptistery, a conference room, a library, sacristies and a Sunday school.
The main temple room is located on thethe upper tier. It can hold up to 3 thousand people at the same time. To it adjoins a spacious three-altar altar. A characteristic feature of the internal structure of the cathedral is the presence of an elevator, with the help of which the disabled are delivered to the second floor.
Cathedral of St. Nicholas is part of the templecomplex, one of the constituent parts of which is the St. Nicholas Cultural and Educational Orthodox Center, organized on the basis of the transferred church of the cinema, discussed above. Today there is a Sunday school, a library, an icon painting workshop, and a singing school designed for both children and their parents.
For all the importance of cultural and educationalcenter and its teachers the main burden in the matter of the churching of city dwellers lies with the clergy. It is he who completely cares about the nourishment of the parishioners of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod. The schedule of services held in it fully corresponds to the annual circle adopted by the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church. Both on weekdays and on holidays, the early liturgy begins at 6:30, and late at 8:30. By evening services in the cathedral begin at 16:00.
