Sevastopol is considered by many to be only a summer resort.But this is far from the case. On its territory there are many places that are worth seeing tourists. Here are preserved the ruins of the ancient Chersonese, the city that is the cradle of Orthodoxy. Therefore, many believers today make a pilgrimage here to have the opportunity to visit temples, monasteries and many other religious shrines, including the Intercession Cathedral (Sevastopol).
Its construction was started at the end of the nineteenthcentury. The Intercession Cathedral in Sevastopol was designed by V. Feldman. It was this architect who directed all the works. Construction began in 1892 and was completed in 1905. It was conducted only on the means of patrons and income from parishioners. A total of one hundred and thirty-four and a half thousand rubles were spent on construction. The author used the Russian stone temples of the sixteenth century as a base sample.
In 1905, the Intercession Cathedral was consecrated.Sevastopol is rich in churches, but this cult structure has always had a special attitude among the townspeople. Chin was performed by bishop Nikolai Tavrichesky and Simferopol, and in co-operation were the rector of the Chersonesus Monastery, the Reverend Innokenty.
The upper church was consecrated in honor of the Intercession of the Most HolyThe Mother of God, and the lower one - in honor of the saints of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. In October 1905, according to the decree of the Holy Synod, located on the Great Sea Pokrovsky Cathedral (Sevastopol is still proud of its monument of architecture) was considered urban.
At the end of February 1919, here was committedordination of Archimandrite Benjamin as Bishop of Sevastopol. The cathedral was closed by the Bolsheviks. But during the years of the occupation of Sevastopol it was opened. During the Great Patriotic War the building of the cathedral was bombarded and badly damaged. Then a shell fell on him, from which several parishioners perished and two of its southern side-chapels were completely destroyed.
The Church of the Intercession also belonged to the chapelSt. Nicholas. It was located on the square, which today bears the name of Admiral Lazarev. It was built exclusively on private donations. According to some information, funds for the chapel were received from the merchant Sebastopol Feologo a year after the construction of the Intercession Church began - in 1893.
It was a cross-like planThe temple also had a tent roof, topped with a dome. The architecture of the building, in particular stucco friezes, semicircular kokoshniks and arched windows, were similar to the one in which the Intercession Cathedral (Sevastopol) was erected. On the chapel was made the inscription that it was built "For saving the Sovereign's heir ..." Unfortunately, in 1927 the building was demolished.
In 1947, John Krashanovsky was appointedrector of the Intercession Cathedral. Sevastopol became for him a native city. It was this spiritual father who began the restoration of the upper church - its southern chapels, badly destroyed during the war. The work of the abbot of John was completely restored and in 1948 the Cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin was consecrated again. Sevastopol in those years underwent many changes. But right up until 1962 the church services were held regularly, but then the city authorities decided to place the gym in the building and then the city archive.
Thirty years later - in 1992 - the northernThe chapel was again handed over to the community of Sevastopol believers. On the eighth of April it was consecrated in the name of St. the Great Martyr Panteleimon. And only two years later the whole building was transferred to the believers.
The architecture of the cathedral corresponds to the Orthodox cultchurches. The building, made in the type of the basilica, is a five-cupola temple. Above its main dome, there is a lancet arch, surrounded by four dvenadtsatigrannymi turrets.
In the western part there is a bell tower, from the cathedralnot separated. It is connected with the temple by the continuation of the central stretched perpendicular to the street volume. The bell tower and its turrets have tent roofs and are crowned with bulbous forms. From the north and south there are two aisles, and the southern one is not preserved in its original form. To the west side of the temple there is a refectory, in the inner part of which there are two rows of pillars, as well as a staircase leading to the choir.
The entrance to it goes through a porch of the typeclosed gallery, with stone steps. Pokrovsky Cathedral (Sevastopol, phone: 692 54-54-84) is decorated with several rows of semicircular kokoshnikov, while its cornices emphasize stucco friezes. The building is built from the hewn Krumbala and Inkerman stone types. Roof on the domes is made of piece galvanized tiles, the rest is made of galvanized steel. The height of the whole building is about thirty seven meters, the bell tower is ten meters lower.
Intercession Cathedral (Sevastopol), schedulewhose services can be learned by phone or directly in the church itself (daily services begin at 7:30 - matins, at 18:00 - vespers), inside has two churches. The upper - the Protection of the Holy Virgin - is preserved. In the lower one, located in the basement, was the Sophia Temple. There, judging by the surviving documents, there were crypts, but their precise location is unknown today.
On the crosses of the cathedral are depicted the uncharacteristicOrthodox buildings crescents. Researchers, historians and architects until today can not come to a single conclusion, somehow explaining the significance of these signs.
In the history of the temple of the Protection of the Mother of God, whichsurvived many tragic events, there are several interesting facts. For example, on the western facade of the building in the wall there is a burial, marked with a slab and a cross from the Crimean diorite. The text on it says that Archpriest Alexander Demjanovich, who died on August 18, 1988, is resting here, while the building itself was erected later - in 1892, and finished in 1905.
In May 1917, the cathedral was brought in temporarilyburied the remains of Lieutenant P. Schmidt, and with him and other revolutionaries who were shot on the island of Berezan. They were brought on board the ship "Princess Maria". Together with the remains of P. Schmidt in the crypts of the lower church were placed coffins with the bodies of S. Private, N. Antonenko and I. Gladkov. However, in November 1923, by the decision of the city council, they were solemnly reburied in the municipal cemetery of Kommunar.
In the southern nave in the eighties of the last century under a thick layer of plaster restorers found a fragment of a well-preserved mural painting.
In 1993, the building of the temple happened sostrong fire, that as a result, even the concrete floor was melted. However, by the will of God, or by a lucky chance, the iconostasis, which was in the epicenter of the fire, was practically unaffected and survived to this day. At present, it is the decoration of the Seraphim limit.
Today almost every citizen knows whereis the Intercession Cathedral. Sevastopol, the schedule of services which every local believer knows, annually receives the armies of pilgrims who want to see this temple located on the Big Marine - one of the most beautiful central city streets. And today the doors of this Christian monastery are always open.
