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Articles / The Cathedral of the Apostle Paul (Gatchina Town)

The Cathedral of the Apostle Paul (Gatchina Town)


Subject / Religion. Church/Orthodox churches

The Cathedral of the Apostle Paul (Gatchina Town, 26 Sobornaya Street ). The main town cathedral was laid on 17 October 1846 according to the order of Nicholas I. The cross plan building was built to the design of the architect R.I. Kuzmin in the Pseudo-Russian Style with Classicism elements. The artist F.A. Bruni, the artist F.S Zavyalov the artist P.M. Shamshin, the artist M.I. Scotti, the archeologist F.G. Solntsev, the sculptor A. Dylev took part in the decoration works. The main altar, in honour of the heavenly protector Paul I, was consecrated in 1852. The decoration work was finished in 1863. From 1852 the Malta (Gatchina) sacred objects, presented to Paul I in 1798, were moved annually from the Winter Palace for the worshipping by believers. In 1919 Archpriest Ioann Bogoyavlensky, the senior priest of the cathedral, transported these sacred objects in Estonia when he went with the retreating White Army; now these sacred objects are kept in Montenegro. Archpriest Aleksy Blagoveschensky, senior priest of the cathedral in 1919–1938 (there were breaks), was shot in 1938. The cathedral was closed in 1939; the project of the cinema adaptation of the cathedral was approved in April 1941 (the architect V.P. Kalmykov), the adaptation work was began. The cathedral was damaged from the artillery fire during WWII. The lower church of the cathedral worked from October 1941, town dwellers took cover here during bombardments. Archpriest Aleksandr Petrov (1941-1942) was shot by German troops. The religious services were began in the upper church of the cathedral after the restoration work of the roof in 1944. In 1946 the side chapel in honour of the Icon of the Mother of God "Healer of Sorrow" was consecrated in the lower church. The religious festival devoted to the Malta sacred objects was resumed when Archpiest Peter Balavsky (1949-1955) was the senior priest. In the middle of the 1950s the damaged interiors were restored to a sighificant degree ; In 1952 the right side chapel was consecrated, in в 1956 the main altar of the upper church was consecrated; in 1957 the left side chapel was consecrated. There are following sacred objects: copy of the Filermskaya Icona of the Mother of God, particles of the holy relics of St John the Baptist and the Life - giving Cross of Lord the Savoir, the holy relics of St Andronik, the Icon of the Virgin of Mercy; the Icon of the Mother of God "Healer of Sorrow", the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God; the Icon of St Pantaleon with his holy relics, the Icon of St Anna Kashinskaya with her holy relics; the Icon of St Nicholas; three mosaic icons by V.A. Frolov ( beginning of the 20th c).

Authors
Shkarovsky, Mikhail Vitalyevich
Bertash, Aleksandr Vitalyevich

Persons
Belavsky, Pyotr Ivanovich
Blagoveshchensky, Aleksey Aleksandrovich
Bogoyavlensky, Ioann Yakovlevich
Bruni, Fyodor (Fidelis) Antonovich
Dylev A.
Frolov, Aleksandr
Kalmykov, V.P.
Kuzmin, Roman Ivanovich
Nicholas I, Emperor
Paul I, Emperor
Petrov Aleksandr, archpriest
Scotti, Mikhail Ivanovich
Shamshin, Pyotr Mikhailovich
Solntsev, Fyodor Grigoryevich
Zavyalov, Fyodor Semyonovich

Geography
Leningrad Oblast, the/Gatchina District/Gatchina Town/Sobornaya Street

Bibliography
Славинский В., прот. Гатчинский собор Св. Ап. Павла // Историко-статистические сведения о С.-Петербургской епархии. Вып. 8. СПб., 1884
Белавский П., прот. Столетие Гатчинского Павловского собора // Журнал Московской Патриархии. 1952. № 8., С.66-67


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