Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod): description, history of the temple

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

You can admire Orthodox churches in almost every city in Russia. And here is one of the most ancient temples - Michael the Archangel Cathedral. Nizhny Novgorod is a beautiful old Russian city founded by Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich in 1221. The cathedral became the tomb of the Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod princes. The temple is active today, services are held every day - morning at 8.00 and evening at 17.00, the rest of the time it is open for tours.

A bit of history

Since the creation of the city, the cathedral in all its glory was located in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, built in the period from 1500 to 1518. No one in history has been able to conquer it. The inhabitants of the city under its walls, led by Prince Dimitry Pozharsky and their head of the Zemstvo Council Kuzma Minin, raised funds and organized a people's militia in 1611 against the Polish interventionists who captured Moscow. Citybecame an important trading hub in Russia from 1817. In Soviet times, it was renamed Gorky (in honor of the writer M. Gorky). During the Great Patriotic War, he was subjected to mass bombing, as he supplied the front with military equipment and ammunition most of all.

How the Archangel Cathedral was built (Nizhny Novgorod)

The history of the temple goes back several centuries. At first it was a wooden building in honor of the Governor of the Heavenly Forces, the Archangel Michael, who in Russia was considered the patron of the Russian army. In 1221 it was consecrated, but four years later, in 1227, a white-stone four-pillar and three-apse white-stone cathedral was built on the same foundation, in which there were three vestibules.

The building of the cathedral was rebuilt again in 1359, and three centuries later, by decree of the Russian Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, new construction resumed. It was erected on an ancient foundation in memory of the feat of Minin and Pozharsky and the Nizhny Novgorod militia. The cathedral was fully completed in 1631, and it has survived to this day.

After the coronation, almost every representative of the royal Romanov dynasty came to the grave of Minin, as they believed that they owed their accession to him and Pozharsky, and if they had not saved Moscow then, their ancestor Mikhail Romanov would not have received the royal throne.

Great architects

The Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod) was created under the guidance of architects Lavrenty Semenovich Vozoulin, his stepson Antipas and A. Konstantinov ina rather rare style for Russia, which was called tent. Its height reached 39 meters, and in shape the structure resembled a monument-obelisk with a tetrahedral volume, the walls ended with three decorative vaults of zakomara-kokoshniks. Right on top of the faces, called zakomar, a tent was erected from faces with a long drum and a small dome. The windows of the cathedral are slit-like. The bell tower and domes still retain their ancient crosses and their scaly robes made of figured tiles. The cathedral has fairly good acoustics, thanks to clay jugs - golosniks (they were specially built into the thickness of the walls).

Test Time

During the fire in the Kremlin that broke out in 1704, the Archangel Cathedral was completely damaged, and services were restored only in March 1732, and Archbishop Pitirim consecrated it again.

In the Soviet years, the cathedral was closed, the building was turned into a branch of the historical museum. In 1962, the tomb of Minin, who was taken from the destroyed Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, was brought into the building.

Michael the Archangel Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod), photos of which are presented above, in 2008, the square was decorated with a monument to Bishop Simon of Suzdal and Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. On February 17, many people and guests gathered for the grand opening and festive liturgy, which was served in all the churches of Nizhny Novgorod, and Archbishop Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod consecrated the monument.

In February 2006, the Archangel Michael Cathedral (LowerNovgorod) was visited by President V. Putin. In the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, he laid flowers at the tomb of the cathedral, where the ashes of Minin Kuzma are now buried.

Michael the Archangel Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod, Avtozavodsky district)

In the middle of spring 2009, nine bells were presented to the cathedral by Nizhny Novgorod deputies, of which the largest one, the Lawyer, weighed 530 kg, and began to decorate the belfry. Icon with a particle of the relics of St. Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich is the main shrine of the ancient cathedral.

In 2009, in September, Patriarch Kirill visited the Archangel Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod), who performed a funeral litiya, honored the memory of Kuzma Minin and presented the icon of the Virgin, called "Kazan".