Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Chersonesus. St. Vladimir's Cathedral - decoration of ancient Chersonesos 3d Chersonesos St. Vladimir's Cathedral

Within the city of Sevastopol, on the territory of the Chersonesos archaeological reserve, stands the majestic Church of St. Vladimir, erected on the site where the baptism of Rus' took place and from where the Christian faith began to spread as the state religion.

According to the Chronicle of Bygone Years and church records, it was on the main square of Chersonese that there was a church and a font in which Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

According to historians, Vladimir, who was ruling Rus' at that time, wishing to strengthen the position of the state, entered into an agreement with the Byzantine rulers. According to this agreement, in exchange for military assistance, the brothers Constantine and Vasily, who were on the Byzantine throne, agreed to become related to Vladimir, giving him their sister Anna as his wife.

The condition for concluding a marriage, in addition to the provision of Russian troops, was Vladimir’s adoption of Christianity. The Russian prince, having sent his army to Byzantium, believed that he had fulfilled the main requirement of the treaty and insisted on sending Anna to him, and only then did he intend to accept the new faith. A difficult situation arose: Anna did not want to become the wife of a pagan, and Prince Vladimir was growing dissatisfied with the failure to fulfill the concluded agreement.

Deciding to put pressure on the rulers of Byzantium and resolve the issue by force, Vladimir besieged Chersonesus, the then Byzantine possession. After several months of siege, the city surrendered and Byzantium, not wanting to continue the military confrontation, sent Anna to the prince who occupied the city.

According to legend, Vladimir practically lost his sight during the siege. His future wife Anna convinced him that by accepting a new faith, he would be cured. And so it happened. Vladimir received his sight and, under the influence of this miracle, he deeply believed that the accepted faith was true. Thus, from a pagan the young prince was reborn into a fiery apostle of the Christian religion.

Following the prince, his military squad also converted to Christianity. Upon returning to Rus', the prince began to actively spread the new religion throughout his state. He everywhere replaced Slavic idols with Christian churches. The prince himself began to follow the commandments and abandoned polygamy. Under the shadow of a new religion, he united the Slavic tribes. During his life, Vladimir contributed to the education of his people, teaching them literacy and the word of God. For his deeds, Prince Vladimir was nicknamed “The Red Sun” and the church canonized him.

Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich "Red Sun".

The land on which the starting point of the spread of Christianity in Rus' was located was for a long time cut off from the possessions of Russian rulers. Repeated attempts were made to conquer Crimea, and with it to return Chersonesos, a sacred place for the Slavs. Russia finally established itself in Crimea at the end of the 18th century under the reign of Catherine II.

The empress's successors on the Russian throne contributed in every possible way to the creation of a monument at the site of Prince Vladimir's baptism, designed to perpetuate this sacred event for Christians.

The beginning of this matter was laid by Emperor Alexander Ⅰ the Blessed. From the very beginning of his reign, he ordered that all antiquities located on the peninsula, including Chersonesos, be protected from destruction. In 1822, the Tauride governor was entrusted with the care of preserving the ancient ruins.

Shortly before his death in 1825, Sovereign Alexander Ⅰ visits Sevastopol and examines the ruins of Korsun (the Slavic name for Chersonesus). The Emperor approved the idea proposed by Governor General Greig to build a monument at the site of Vladimir's baptism and instructed the Academy of Arts to develop the project. It was planned to build a church and an almshouse with it.

In 1827, on the initiative of Greig, archaeological research was carried out in Chersonesos. Several temples were excavated, including a cruciform church on the main square, which, according to scientists, was the place of Prince Vladimir’s baptism.

The project for the construction of a monument in this place was submitted for consideration in 1829 to the new Emperor Nicholas II. However, he ordered to first install the obelisk, for which he approved one of the drawings of Academician Beretti. We began collecting donations throughout the Tauride province. By 1832, 528 rubles had been collected. Unfortunately, the idea of ​​installing an obelisk was not realized. It was probably decided to build something more grandiose.

During his stay in Sevastopol, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich deigned to move the site of construction of the temple-monument from ancient Chersonesus to Sevastopol.

In April 1845, a committee was established to build the Church of St. Vladimir, and in February 1848, the collection of donations began again, which lasted until 1859. Funds for the temple were collected throughout the country.

In parallel with the collection of funds, preparatory work was carried out: building materials were prepared, space was cleared for the foundation, and icons were painted. The new design of the temple, carried out by Academician Ton, was also approved. In the meantime, in 1850, the St. Vladimir monastery (monastery) was founded in Chersonesos.

The Crimean campaign of 1854-1855 also played a role in the history of the creation of the temple-monument. After a heavy defense, the city lay in ruins and Alexander II, who ascended the throne, decided that there would be two churches named after St. Vladimir. One is over the graves of the admirals who died in the defense of Sevastopol. The second is on a sacred place for Christians in Chersonesus.

On the previously opened main square of Chersonese, through the efforts of Count A.S. Uvarov, the basilica of the cathedral church of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the font there were cleared. Apparently, they were mentioned in the chronicles in connection with the baptism of Prince Vladimir here. These ancient buildings became the basis for the new temple-monument to St. Vladimir.

In 1859, a new design for the temple, presented by the architect Grimm, was approved. The year 1860 was spent in carrying out preparatory work at the construction site. The city architect Vyatkin was appointed to supervise the construction of the temple building.

The material for construction was partly taken from what had been prepared before the war and stored in Nikolaev, and partly mined on site (stone and granite from destroyed docks and barracks, in local quarries).

On August 23, 1861, the first stone of the future temple was laid by Emperor Alexander II himself, who arrived at the Chersonesos monastery on this occasion. During construction, financial difficulties had to be taken into account. The collected donations and banknotes from the treasury were not enough. The construction of the temple was suspended for almost three years and was resumed in 1865 according to a new estimate. Using the available funds, it was planned to build the lower floor and cover it with a roof, mothballing further construction until the amount required to continue the construction and finishing of the temple building became available.

The lower church was completed by November 1867. Construction of the second floor (upper church) began in 1870 with funds newly allocated from the treasury and by the new architect Tarasov. Since 1873, the main builders were changed again due to unsatisfactory quality of work. The temple was completed by a new contractor under the leadership of architect Arnold.

In the fall of 1876, the construction of the building was completed, finishing work was ahead. For interior decoration, 100 thousand rubles were allocated annually from the treasury for 3 years from 1888 to 1891. Academician Chagin supervised these works.

In 1888, on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', the lower church was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The upper church was consecrated in October 1891.

The erected Church of St. Vladimir became one of the most grandiose churches in Russia. It was built in the Byzantine style and made in the form of a three-nave basilica, preserving the remains of the church that stood on this site, exposed by archaeologists. The icons and iconostases of the upper and lower churches were made in the workshops of the most famous domestic masters of that time. The marble work was entrusted to Italian carvers.

The relics of Prince Vladimir, transferred here from the house church of the Winter Palace, were placed in the lower church. In addition, pieces of the relics of another 115 saints were kept in the temple.

Unfortunately, this majestic monument was soon devastated and forgotten for a long time, and later destroyed. After the October Revolution, all valuables and books were confiscated from the temple, and shrines were irretrievably lost. In 1925, religious services ceased completely, and the building was transferred to the management of the Chersonesos Museum as an architectural and historical monument. As a religious building, the temple ceased to exist for many years.

During the second defense of the city during the Great Patriotic War, an air bomb hit the temple building, and before the liberation of the city in 1944, German sappers mined the remains of the building. As a result, the temple was significantly destroyed, many structural and decorative elements were lost.

“Green Ghost” - this nickname was given to the formidable armored train “Zheleznyakov” by Hitler’s troops, which operated in the Sevastopol defensive region during the Second...

In Crimea, on the territory of Chersonesus, there is an unusual golden-domed Vladimir Cathedral, which can be seen from anywhere in the ancient city

It was in Vladimir Cathedral, according to church traditions, in 988 the baptism of Prince Vladimir took place

In 1825, the commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet A. Greig came up with the idea to perpetuate the place of baptism of the Grand Duke, and therefore in 1827 excavations were carried out in Chersonesus, as a result of which the ruins of ancient temples were discovered, among which was an ancient church that was once located in the very center of the city. It was in it, according to historians, that Prince Vladimir received Baptism

Very little time passed - and already in 1850, the St. Vladimir Convent was founded on this very spot, and on August 23, 1861, the construction of the Vladimir Cathedral itself began

The construction of one of the largest churches in the country lasted 15 years and was completely completed by 1876

The decoration of the cathedral began only on the eve of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', and on June 13, 1888, the Lower Church was consecrated. The consecration of the Vladimir Cathedral took place only on October 17, 1891, although its design was completely completed only by 1894

In 1859, a piece of the relics of Prince Vladimir was transferred from the Small House Church of the St. Petersburg Winter Palace to Chersonesos, which after construction was completed Vladimir Cathedral placed in the Lower Church. In total, the relics of 115 saints were transferred here!

The Second World War was hard on the cathedral - it was completely destroyed, and began to be restored only at the end of the century. In 2002, through the work of many masters of our time, the lost paintings of the cathedral were restored

When he asks where the Vladimir Cathedral is located, most often he means the cathedral in Chersonesus and often does not even realize that there are two objects with that name in the city, and both are architectural monuments with a long and difficult history. The second one is called the tomb of the admirals to distinguish it. They even look a little similar to the untrained eye. But both churches are the cornerstone Orthodox shrines of Sevastopol.

The idea of ​​​​the appearance of the Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos

Everyone knows, at least in general terms, the story of the baptism of Prince Vladimir in Korsun (Chersonese) in 988. From this historical point the chronological countdown for Orthodoxy in Rus' begins. Some historians now refute this fact, while others question the sincerity of the Kyiv prince in accepting the new faith. He, they say, simply needed an alliance with the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Vasily, so the latter set the condition for the baptism of the prince and his people. Whether this is true or not, the official version of the church considers Vladimir to be the person who opened the gates to Orthodoxy in Kievan Rus, although he was under great pressure from Catholic and Jewish missionaries. From the point of view of the official church, Prince Vladimir is a saint.

When the question of opening the temple arose (and the initiator was the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet A.S. Greig), it became a small matter - to determine the place where the ancient temple that was baptized by Prince Vladimir could stand. Naturally, this had to happen on the territory of old Chersonesos. Excavations that were carried out in 1827 revealed to the world the remains of an old temple in the area of ​​​​the central square of Chersonesos.

View of Vladimir Cathedral and fortification walls of Chersonesos	View of Vladimir Cathedral from the ancient settlement of Chersonesos

Historians have suggested that it was here that Vladimir should have been baptized, since it is obvious that the excavated church occupied a central position in the city, and therefore a dominant one. Of course, this is speculation. And quite bold, since it eventually came to life in the form of the new Vladimir Cathedral.

History of St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Chersonesos

David Ivanovich Grimm was appointed the architect of the Vladimir Cathedral, to whom the construction of this temple brought him a professorship. This architect glorified his name with buildings not only on the territory of the Russian Empire, but also abroad (for example, the beautiful Alexander Nevsky Church in Copenhagen). Despite the fact that Grimm was a fan of the Russian style in architecture, he decided to build the Vladimir Cathedral in the Byzantine style, which was quite justified - in Chersonesos during the time of Vladimir, all buildings were strongly influenced by the Byzantine school of architecture.

The first stone for the foundation of the future cathedral was laid in 1861. Emperor Alexander II and his family attended the ceremony. The Emperor donated money for the bells, and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich became the patron of the church. It was he who laid the foundation stone for the high throne in 1867. Construction began under the leadership of Grimm, and ended under the leadership of Maxim Yuryevich Arnold in 1876. There have never been such large churches in Crimea. It could easily accommodate more than a thousand people at a time. During the construction, local limestone from Gaspra was used, and expensive white Carrara marble was used for decoration. The dome, covered with zinc tiles, was crowned with a cross.

The interior of the Vladimir Cathedral began to be created with a serious delay, since the enormous scale of construction quickly absorbed all funds, and this led to the fact that there was no time to paint the temple for the nine-hundredth anniversary of the baptism of Rus'. The upper church was not completed, so celebrations and services were held in the Lower Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The funds were nevertheless found with the help of the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, Pobedonostsev.

As a result, the internal appearance of the temple amazed with the richness of its design and execution. The upper main temple was entrusted to Nikolai Mikhailovich Chagin, who is known to Crimeans as the architect of the famous Foros Church of the Resurrection of Christ. The famous Russian painter Alexey Ivanovich Korzukhin began painting the iconostasis. Italian craftsmen created a multi-colored mosaic floor and a marble balustrade. All major work was completed in 1891, and the Vladimir Cathedral was consecrated by Archbishop Martinian, who would be buried in one of the side chapels seven years later. Cosmetic improvements continued for another three years. The side chapels of the temple with their altars were named in honor of Alexander Nevsky and the Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

Vladimir Cathedral was rich in relics. A particle of the relics of Prince Vladimir, donated by the house church of the Winter Palace, was transferred from St. Petersburg. In the temple there was a revered copy of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God, the original (according to a beautiful legend, painted from the Mother of God herself) which Prince Vladimir took with him from Chersonesos to Kyiv. The stunningly beautiful iconostasis was made of marble, and the pedestal for laying the venerated relics of Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles was made of marble.

After the end of the Civil War in 1922, all relics were removed from the Vladimir Cathedral. Only part of the Chersonesos monastery was left to the parishioners. But that didn’t last long either. The administration of the Chersonesos Museum evicted all the inhabitants of the monastery. Vladimir Cathedral was closed completely. All property of the temple that was not looted went to the museum. Numerous shrines with the relics of saints (and there were 115 of them before the revolution) were opened as part of the government campaign of those years to expose incorruptible shrines. The last service in the Vladimir Cathedral was held in 1926.

The Vladimir Cathedral was slowly destroyed without proper supervision, although it was listed as an architectural and historical monument as part of the Chersonese Museum. And during the Great Patriotic War, the temple building shared the fate of many buildings in Sevastopol, which went through all the circles of hell. A bomb hit the temple, collapsing the dome. During the retreat, the German occupiers mined the Vladimir Cathedral. The explosion turned it into ruins, which stood as a grim reminder of the callousness of the authorities until the collapse of the Soviet Union. But in 1988 the millennium of the baptism of Rus' was celebrated.

In 1992, the Vladimir Cathedral, handed over to the parishioners, began its new life. In 1997, a decision was made to restore it; in 2001, the walls on which the dome rested were erected; by 2006, the interior decoration of the temple was completed and the bells were raised.

	View of Vladimir Cathedral from the ruins of Chersonesos

By the way, one of the bells can now be seen among the ruins of Chersonesos. Previously, it was located in the bell tower of the Vladimir Cathedral, where it came from French “captivity”, because even during the Crimean War it was taken to France (to the bell tower of Notre Dame de Paris), previously removed from one of the local monasteries.

It was placed on the shore in 1925 and, in addition, it was deprived of its tongue.

St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Chersonesus. How to get there

In order to visit the Vladimir Cathedral, you first need to come to the historical and archaeological museum-reserve Chersonesos on the peninsula of the same name. Public transport goes there, the required stop is Dmitry Ulyanov Street. You will need to go down along it towards Sevastopol Bay. Further, Dmitry Ulyanov Street will merge into Eroshenko Street, which in turn will merge into Drevnyaya Street. Walking through the open-air museum, you cannot help but notice the Vladimir Cathedral, because it stands in an open space, which is an area where archaeological excavations have revealed to the world the distant past of the former Greek colony. The bell stands northwest on the shore of the bay.

Vladimir Cathedral (Tomb of the Admirals)

The Vladimir Cathedral on Suvorovskaya Street was born from the same idea of ​​the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet, Greig, about the need to build a cathedral dedicated to Vladimir and his baptism. However, Admiral M.P. Lazarev pointed out the lack of Orthodox churches in the center of Sevastopol, and proposed to build it not in Chersonesos, but in the central part of the city.

Nicholas I supported this idea and personally pointed to the Central City Hill as the site of the foundation of the future Vladimir Cathedral. By that time, the design of a new cathedral was already ready, executed by the famous architect Konstantin Andreevich Ton, who glorified his name primarily with the project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Clearing the territory began in 1845; the rocky soil had to be blasted with gunpowder charges. The work progressed extremely slowly. Work was soon to begin on the Chersonesos Vladimir Cathedral.

In 1851, the famous and respected Admiral Lazarev died and the decision was made to bury him in the crypt, above which the Vladimir Cathedral would rise in the future. The admiral was buried under the deafening noise of scorching naval artillery. On July 15, 1854, a ceremony took place to solemnly consecrate the construction of a new Sevastopol temple. It was attended by Vice Admiral of the Black Sea Fleet Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov, who could not even imagine that his body would very soon rest in the crypt of the Vladimir Cathedral under construction.

But the breath of the Crimean War has already touched Sevastopol. And already in October Kornilov died, in March of the following year - another war hero - Vladimir Ivanovich Istomin. Like Kornilov, the rear admiral of the Russian fleet also descended into the crypt of a temple that had not yet been built. The next irreparable loss of the Russian command was Admiral Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov, killed by a bullet on Malakhov Kurgan. And his body rested in the crypt next to his comrades. During the occupation, soldiers of the allied forces desecrated the sarcophagus with the bodies of Russian naval commanders resting there.

Marble slabs with the names of Russian admirals on the walls of the Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol

After the end of the Crimean War, when the wounds on the body of Sevastopol began to heal, the city authorities again returned to the construction of the Vladimir Cathedral. Alexey Alexandrovich Avdeev became the new architect. He modified Tone's original design. Instead of the five domes that his predecessor had seen at the head of the temple, he proposed a single-domed temple in the Byzantine style. The dome was supposed to rest on an octagonal drum, which would be supported on all sides by the gable triangular pediments of the facades.

Vladimir Cathedral thus became the tomb of four heroes of the Crimean War. Their graves were combined into a common tomb, which is a large black cross, on each ray of which are inscribed the names of the heroes who died for their homeland. The cross was topped with a gold cross. Later, other war participants and commanders of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were buried here.

The lower church in the name of St. Nicholas was consecrated in 1881, the Upper one in the name of St. Prince Vladimir - in 1888. On his icon case there was an icon painted by Aivazovsky. As in the temple of the same name on Chersonesos, the mosaic floor in this church was made by craftsmen from Italy. Marble of different colors was actively used in construction. The icons and wall paintings were carried out by academician and painter Karneev. The Vladimir Cathedral was not much inferior to its Chersonesus counterpart in splendor and richness of decoration.

It is interesting that the Vladimir Cathedral on the Central City Hill did not function in the mode of constant access of parishioners that is familiar to us. Divine services were held only on Sundays, church holidays and birthdays of members of the imperial family, as well as in connection with memorable dates of the Crimean War and the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Twice during the First World War, Nicholas II prayed in the Vladimir Cathedral, and a solemn liturgy was held here in honor of the accession of Baron Peter Wrangel to the post of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia.

After the revolution, the temple was closed, the crypt was desecrated by an autopsy, and the remains of the admirals were thrown out. Already in the nineties, the remains found in the crypt were reburied. The usual unenviable fate of the holy places of Crimea under the new regime was shared by the Vladimir Cathedral. Workshops and warehouses were located here.

During the Great Patriotic War, the temple was heavily damaged by shelling. The Vladimir Cathedral began to be restored earlier than other former churches of the Crimean Peninsula due to the fact that it became a branch of the Museum of Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol. Already in the eighties of the last century, large-scale restoration work was carried out here. Vladimir Cathedral again became an attractive and clean temple, as it had been before the revolution. The tomb has been restored, the paintings have been updated, and icons are once again displayed in the marble iconostasis. And although after the collapse of the Soviet Union, services began to be held in the church building again, the museum is still located within the walls of the Vladimir Cathedral.

Vladimir Cathedral (Tomb of the Admirals). How to get there

Finding Vladimir Cathedral is not difficult. It is located in the center of Sevastopol, surrounded by a mass of historical and architectural attractions. If you arrive at the railway station, you can advise taking a minibus from there to Suvorov Square (there is also a monument to this commander), from where you walk about two hundred meters north along Lenin Street in order to look to the left and see the Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Continue along Lenin Street until it intersects with Marata Street, turn left and after a couple of hundred meters you will see St. Vladimir Cathedral on the Central Hill.

Returning to Lenin Street, walk north for another half a kilometer until you see the Church of the Archangel Michael, which is now part of the Museum of the History of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Lenin Street ends with the monument to Admiral Nakhimov, behind which lies the Primorsky Boulevard, incredibly rich in attractions: the Monument to the Scuttled Ships, the Count's Marina, the Admiralty Anchor and other monuments and memorials.

Along the route 5th km - General Ostryakov Ave., central market, st. Dm. Ulyanova, st. Eroshenko and to the gates of the museum-reserve there is bus number 22.

Or along the same route to the stop. st. Dm. Ulyanov on buses No. 2, 105.

Along the route Kamyshovaya Bay, Omega Bay, October Revolution Avenue, st. adm. Yumasheva, Studgorodok, TsUM to the stop. st. Repin (or TSUM) can also be reached by bus.

The two Vladimir Cathedrals in Sevastopol are somewhat similar to each other, and not only in name, but each carries its own history, both of them were reborn from ruins, both emerged from oblivion. Without them it is difficult to imagine the appearance of a modern hero city.

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Vladimir Cathedrals of Sevastopol

Kiev Prince Vladimir, consecrated in 1891; restored from a dilapidated state in the 1990s - early 2000s.

Background

According to legend and historical evidence, the baptism of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich in 987 (or 988) could have taken place in the city of Chersonese ( Korsun), during the suppression of the rebellion of Bardas Phocas. In The Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor the Chronicler mentions the city cathedral church: “in the middle of the city, where the Korsun people gather for bargaining,” which, as some historians suggest, could be the most likely location of a fateful event for Rus'.

The idea of ​​perpetuating the site of the Baptism of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir was first expressed in 1825 and belonged to the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet and Ports, Vice Admiral A. Greig. Greig handed over a memorandum to Emperor Alexander I, who was then in Sevastopol, about the need in Chersonesus to “build a small church of elegant architecture” dedicated to the baptism of Prince Vladimir, “with the establishment of an almshouse for 30 decrepit and poor people, who, glorifying the name of God, would have supervision both behind the temple and behind the ruins themselves.”

In 1827, archaeological excavations began under the leadership of K. Kruse, which discovered the ruins of ancient Christian temples, and among them the remains of a cruciform church in the center of the main square of the city. In the early 30s of the 19th century, historians F. Dubois de Montpere and N. Murzakevich suggested that the Grand Duke made his decision in this basilica.

In 1850, at the request of the Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride Innocent (Borisov), a monastery was founded here in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (Kherson Prince-Vladimir Monastery). The first abbot of the monastery was Abbot Vasily (Yudin) († 1856).

The monastery buildings were severely damaged during the defense of Sevastopol (1854-1855). In April 1857, a wooden church in the name of the Seven Hieromartyrs of Chersonesos, built by the support of the Sevastopol merchant Peter Telyatnikov, was consecrated.

From 1857 to 1874, the monastery was ruled by Archimandrite Eugene (Eckstein), who proposed to build the Vladimir Cathedral on two floors. On June 29, 1859, Emperor Alexander II transferred from the small church of the Winter Palace to the Chersonesos Monastery a particle of the relics of St. Prince Vladimir in an ark in the form of a Gospel.

And on August 23, 1861, the ceremonial laying of the cathedral took place, performed in the presence of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna, who donated a silver-gilded frame decorated with precious stones for the Korsun icon.

Construction

The author of the project for the Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos was the academician of architecture David Grimm. The cathedral was built in the neo-Byzantine style. Its construction was carried out through donations and lasted 30 years, from 1861 to 1892. The cathedral is the second largest on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, as well as the largest cathedral in Sevastopol: height - 26 m.

Work on decorating the temple began on the eve of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' (1888). It was not possible to paint and decorate the grandiose cathedral before the significant date, so on June 13, 1888, on the day of remembrance of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, only the lower church was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which a wooden carved iconostasis was installed. In the same year, work began on arranging the interior of the Upper Church, the leadership of which was entrusted to the architect Nikolai Chagin. Paintings and icons for the central iconostasis of the Chersonesus Cathedral were performed by academician of painting Alexei Korzukhin. In addition, in the interior of the temple, paintings by academician T. A. Neff and artist F. N. Riess, and icons by masters N. A. Maykov and Evgraf Sorokin, were used in the 50s of the 19th century. Marble works (the iconostasis of the Upper Temple, the mosaic floor of the cathedral, the marble balustrade along the solea, etc.) were performed by Italian masters J. Seppi and the Bascarini brothers.

The solemn consecration of the main altar of the Vladimir Cathedral in the presence of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev was committed on October 17, 1891 by Archbishop of Tauride and Simferopol Martinian (Muratovsky). The final decoration of the temple's interior was completed only in 1894.

The right side chapel of the cathedral was consecrated on July 12, 1892 in the name of the holy blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. The left altar of the cathedral was consecrated in the name of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

In the lower church of the cathedral there was also a right side chapel of St. Martinian. The bodies of Archbishop Martinian (Muratovsky), who died in 1898, and Bishop Innocent (Solodchin), who died in 1909, were buried in this chapel.

Back in 1859, from the Small House Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, a piece of the relics of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir was transferred in a marble ark in the form of a Gospel to Chersonesos. After the construction of the Vladimir Cathedral, this shrine was placed in the Lower Church next to the historical ruins of the ancient basilica. In the altar of the upper church there was a copy of the miraculous Korsun Icon of the Mother of God, according to legend, transferred by Prince Vladimir from Chersonesos. In total, the relics of 115 saints were transferred to the cathedral.

In 1924, the Chersonesos Monastery was closed, and the Vladimir Cathedral was transferred to the museum.

Recreation

During the Great Patriotic War, Vladimir Cathedral was damaged twice. During the siege of the city, a large-caliber shell hit the dome of the cathedral. During the occupation, within the cathedral, the Germans stored those museum exhibits that they planned to remove from the territory of Chersonese Tauride, but the invaders failed to carry out their plan, since on May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated. However, before retreating, the Germans blew up the building of St. Vladimir's Cathedral; only 2/3 of the structure remained. Work on its restoration began in the late 1990s, although they began to actively develop only in 2000. The project for the restoration of the cathedral was developed by the Kyiv institute "Ukrproektrestavratsiya" under the leadership of the architect Evgeniy Osadchy, sketches of religious painting of the interior decoration of the cathedral were made by artists of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, A. I. Petrova, A. S. Pigarev in 2001.

Since 2002, the paintings in the Vladimir Cathedral have been recreated by artists from Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Crimea, who restored the lost paintings of academicians A. I. Korzukhin, T. A. Neff, monumental compositions: in the dome “Holy Spirit” (authors - L. Steblovskaya, E. Revenko), “Baptism of the Lord” (performed by A. Dmitrenko based on a sketch by K. Popovsky, photographic materials from the Russian State Historical Archive, f. 812), “Transfiguration of the Lord” (performed by L. and N. Dmitrenko based on a sketch by A. S. Pigarev, photographic materials of the Russian State Historical Archive, f. 812), and the central composition in the altar of the temple "

In Chersonesus there is one of the most outstanding architectural structures of Sevastopol, striking with its majesty, beauty and proportionality of lines.

Its foundation took place in 1861 in the presence of the royal family and Emperor Alexander II himself, who laid the first stone of the future temple. The Tsar personally approved the project of the cathedral on the territory of the Chersonesos monastery. Before this, the monastery had only a small church in memory of the holy princess Olga, the grandmother of St. Prince Vladimir. During the first defense of Sevastopol, the monastery was occupied by the French. They turned the church into a firing position and fired from here at the Russian troops located beyond Quarantine Bay. By the end of the defense, the monastery and church lay in ruins. After the Crimean War, the Chersonesos monastery was restored; Emperor Alexander II ordered annually on July 28, the day of remembrance of St. Prince Vladimir, make a religious procession from Sevastopol to Chersonesos and gave permission for the construction of a cathedral church. The cathedral was supposed to embody the memory of the greatest event - the Baptism of Rus', and become a symbol of spiritual continuity between Byzantium and Russia. This is a symbol of the transition of the East Slavic world from paganism to Christianity. The author of the project, academician of architecture D.I. Grimm.

Vladimir Cathedral is the first outstanding structure designed by Grimm. This temple brought the architect the title of professor and the right to teach at the academy. The height of the temple together with the cross exceeded 34 meters. Its walls, even at the level of the second floor, reached a meter in thickness. The interior decoration was striking in its splendor - columns made of valuable varieties of marble, mosaic floors. The temple was painted by well-known artists at that time - academician of painting A.I. Korzukhin, who took part in the design of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Professor T. Neff, N. Maikov, I. Malyshev. The work was supervised by A. Chagin, the author of the Foros Church project. Funds for the construction of St. Vladimir's Cathedral were collected by subscription throughout Russia. When the subscription period expired, the people demanded that it be extended. However, due to lack of funds, its construction was delayed for three decades. On the land of Chersonese, the destinies of St. Clement of Rome, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, who gave the Slavic peoples the alphabet and grammar, and St. Vladimir the Baptist united. After his Baptism, Prince Vladimir took the relics of St. Clement to Kyiv. About nine centuries passed, and now the holy relics of Prince Vladimir were taken to Chersonesos. A part of them, kept in the Small Church of the Winter Palace, was transferred to the monastery. This is natural, because the cathedral itself was built on the spot where the Kiev prince received Holy Baptism. Therefore, the St. Vladimir Chersonesus Cathedral is a pan-Orthodox shrine, a monument temple, perpetuating the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir. In 1924, the Chersonesos Monastery was closed, and the Vladimir Cathedral was transferred to the museum. During the Great Patriotic War, the temple received serious damage, the walls showed cracks, and the interior decoration was almost completely destroyed. The cathedral remained in this form until very recently. The ruling bishop, Vladyka Lazar, had to put in a lot of work and effort to achieve the restoration of this great shrine. Issues of its restoration were resolved at the highest state level. In 1992, services were resumed here. The restoration of the cathedral began with the family of the President of Ukraine in 1998, when Lyudmila Nikolaevna Kuchma laid a memorial capsule with an appeal signed by the head of state.

Under the patronage of L.D. Kuchma, restoration work began. In 2002, for the first time in the last 77 years, an Easter service was held in the cathedral, celebrated by Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea, which was attended by the President of Ukraine L. D. Kuchma and the leadership of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. On April 3, 2004, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Vladimir, in the presence of the President of Ukraine L. D. Kuchma, performed the rite of consecration of the restored St. Vladimir Cathedral of Chersonese.