Before starting the story of how the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Vyborg was created deanery, let's talk about his predecessor -Lutheran Cathedral, which later became known as the Church of the Nativity of Christ. The fates of these two churches are closely interrelated. Local history tells that originally the first Orthodox church in the once Swedish and later Finnish city of Vyborg appeared after in 1710 it was conquered by the Russian troops of Peter the Great.
In 1350 in the city was built a woodenLutheran Church. Because of the constant wars of conquest, its walls were often destroyed, and eventually the building quickly fell into disrepair. But in 1494 a magnificent Lutheran Cathedral was rebuilt on this site, which during the siege of the city by the military detachments of Peter I because of the artillery fire was also very badly damaged and practically not subject to restoration.
Residents of the city of Vyborg at the end of the militaryof the actions submitted a document to the Russian military administration, where they submitted a list of city buildings destroyed during the fighting, which they would like to repair and use in the future. But Tsar Peter I was surprised that he did not see in this list the main shrine of the city - the cathedral, and then he decided to take it in his charge and set up an Orthodox church there.
In 1720 he issued a decree for the Holy Synodabout the restoration of the former Lutheran Cathedral, in which the Church of the Nativity of Christ was to be opened. Outwardly, the building was not changed, only inside its eastern part was an iconostasis and an altar for worship services. Former greatness and wealth, as before, was no longer in the church, since the parishioners at first were few. In the inheritance from the old cathedral, she received two bowls for the sacrament of 1651, the ancient work of the ark, a silver dish on which Jesus Christ was depicted, and the Gospel of 1703. Later, in 1746, there appeared small sizes of nine chandeliers, which for the commemoration of their soul brought to the church the Russian officer Nikita Rusinov.
Many years after the next fire, the church was transferred to the warehouse of the military garrison, by this time it was already decided to build a Transfiguration Cathedral near it.
But the appearance of the Transfiguration Cathedralwas preceded by one event. In the summer of 1783, Empress Catherine II was on an official visit to the Swedish king Gustav III. The suite of the Russian ruler consisted of important statesmen - ER Dashkova (president of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences) and AA Bezborodko (chairman of the board of foreign affairs). In the carriage with Bezborodko there was a certain NA Lvov, who had nothing to do with the royal suite. He was a versatile, very talented Petersburg architect, engraver, draftsman and musician.
He also created a draft project, which thenbuilt the Transfiguration Cathedral. The city of Vyborg, I must say, was mentioned in his reports to Catherine II by Governor VK Engelgardt. In them he testified that in this settlement it is necessary to build a new Russian Orthodox church.
In the drawing, an analoguedome-apsidal layout of the temple of ancient Rome. NA Lvov visited Italy in the early 1780s, and later became the translator of the scientific work of architectural solutions of the architect of the Renaissance, A. Palladio. This greatly influenced a number of buildings of NA Lvov, who was not a certified architect.
In December 1786 the decree of the RussianEmpress on the construction in Vyborg Orthodox cathedral church. In the same year Johann Brockman, appointed by the provincial architect, came to the construction department of the vicegerency. He took advantage of the draft design of NA Lvov, without changing anything in the architectural design of the church, just reduced its size. By the way, these drawings are still kept in the Finnish State Archive.
So, the construction of the temple began.In its original form, the Transfiguration Cathedral (Vyborg) - the photograph presented below, as it indicates - possessed a dome-apse part of the structure, which had a cuboidal shape with a hemispherical covering and side vestibules. Entrance doors were located on the north and south side of the building.
The first archpriest of the cathedral was Vasily Fedorov.And already in 1804 the new archpriest of the temple Feodor Loginovsky filed a report on the repair of the temple. At the beginning of the summer of 1806, the edict of the Spiritual Consistory permitted the correction of the dilapidated building. In 1811, the need arose to buy a dwelling for the clergy. But the funds were constantly in short supply, but the perseverance of the priest brought its results, and in 1816 the Savior-Transfiguration Cathedral of Vyborg received a good amount from the Commission of theological schools. The cathedral was completely renovated for this money.
After repair, it retained its original form inthe form of an elongated cross. In 1817 on September 14 the cathedral was consecrated in a solemn atmosphere with a large number of parishioners. Above him was planted a gilded copper cross of St. Petersburg master S. D. Gusev. Archpriest F. Loginovsky received great gratitude for the effective care of the church.
In 1838 a new bell was cast - the gift of merchant FN Nabilkin. Artistic works were performed by the painter S. V. Postemsky, the artist of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
A few years later, whenreconstruction of the Savior's Transfiguration Cathedral in 1889, a lodge was added to the bell tower. In 1892, the Diocese of Vyborg was established and the cathedral was given the status of a cathedral. The last time it was altered according to the drawings of the foreman A. Isakson.
In 1937, the Transfiguration Cathedral celebrated its 150th anniversary, and in 1987 - the 200th anniversary. In 2017, the temple will be 230 years old.
You can always visit the spiritual and cultural heritage of our ancestors, as the Transfiguration Cathedral (Vyborg). Temple address: st. Cathedral 1.
Храм находится в центральной части Старого города between the street of the Serf and the Watchtower. From the historic building, called the Round Tower, it can be reached in a few minutes. The temple works daily, all the ritual sacred actions are performed in it. Any believer who, through the power of his sincere prayer and faith, can receive his repentance and confession in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Vyborg will receive an invisible saving Divine grace.
