Trinity Cathedral

Trinity Cathedral in Saint Petersburg or Izmailovsky Cathedral is the architectural monument of the classicism. It was named after the Izmailovsky Regiment, one of the oldest ones in Russia. The regiment was founded by the Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1730. Part of the temple is called the Trinity-Izmailovsky. The construction is one of the most monumental cathedrals in the Northern capital of Russia.

Historical review

In the 40s of the 18th century, Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Izmailovsky regiments located on the shore of the Fontanka river. Each regiment had a church. In 1756, a wooden church was built on the settlement of Izmailovsky regiment. On that same very place, as a result of the flood of 1824, the wooden church was replaced by a stone cathedral. On the holiday of the Holy Trinity in 1835, a new cathedral was founded. It was planned by the architect V. Stasov and invested by the Emperor Nicholas I who was the patron of Izmailovsky regiment.

In 1867, the write Fyodor Dostoevsky got engaged to Anna Snitkina in the Trinity Cathedral. The burial service for the composer Anton Rubinshtein was read there as well.

In 1886, a monument “The Column of Glory” was established in front of the cathedral. It was projected by architect D. Grim and sculptor P. Swarz. The monument included 5 layers of 108 Turkish trophy cannons, crowned by a figure of Glory. In 1930 the column was disassembled.

After the revolution 1917, all valuables were moved away from the Trinity cathedral, and serves were stopped. In the 30s, there was even an idea to create a crematorium there. Premises were used as storage. During the Great Patriotic War, the cathedral got badly damaged from the shelling, and by the end of the war, it had broken walls, flooded basements and no glass windows. Inside it was empty.

In 1969, a monument to the creator of Trinity Cathedral – Vasily Stasov – was created. Only in 1990, the cathedral was returned to churchmen and services re-started. In 2005 the Column of Glory was restored as well.

However, a year later, the fire started during a service destroyed the main dome and damaged one of its smaller domes. The city authorities assigned 100 million rubles on restoring the Trinity Cathedral. On a sunny day of October 9, 2008 the Cross was raised on the main dome of the cathedral, which represented its total and official revival.

Read also

Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery, or Alexander Nevsky Lavra is often…

St Nicholas Naval Cathedral

Saint Nicholas Naval Cathedral, situated on the shore of Kryukov…

Information About the Excursion

Share