Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen"

Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen" () is a Russian Orthodox church in Kursk, Russia. It is the main cathedral of the Diocese of Kursk within the Russian Orthodox Church. It is located in the historical center of the city, on the territory of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen".

It was built between 1816 and 1826 to celebrate the victory in the French invasion of Russia of 1812. The temple was built in the style of classicism, which is a type of architecture that imitates the features of the Western European Renaissance. It has a traditional cross-dome construction, which means it has a cruciform design with a significantly elongated western part. For a long time, the cathedral stored the miracle-working Theotokos of Kursk icon. Every year, there was a procession with the icon.Знаменский-Богородицкий-Рождественский монастырь // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона: в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). СПб., 1890—1907. It was transferred to the .Victor Kryukov. Новый город со старыми традициями. Газета «Городские известия», No.82 (3253), 2012 г. (10 July 2012).

The cathedral has been rebuilt several times over its long history. In 1943, it was badly damaged in a fire. From 1937 to 1992, the cathedral was used as a movie theater called the October cinema. It is a monument of federal importance.Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 1327 by 30 August 1960Собор Знаменский. Памятники истории и культуры народов Российской Федерации. ФГУП ГИВЦ Минкультуры России (2008—2011). Дата обращения: 24 January 2014.

History

Context

The modern Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen" is on the site of the city fortress of Kursk from the early 17th century.Victor Kryukov. Курск сгорел. Да здравствует Курск! Газета «Городские известия», No.76 (3247), 2012 г. (26 June 2012). In 1612, the city was captured and devastated by seventy thousand troops of Polish-Lithuanian invaders under the command of Hetman Zholkevsky. However, the city fortress remained impregnable to the enemies.Знаменский мужской монастырь. Святыни земли Курской. Курская областная научная библиотека им. Н. Н. Асеева (2011). It was heroically defended under the leadership of the voevoda stolnik Yuri Ignatyevich Tatishchev.Razdorsky А. I. Воеводы Курские // Князья, наместники и воеводы Курского края XI—XVIII вв.: Краткий биографический справочник. Курск: Регион-Пресс, 2004. 125 p. The people of Kursk believed that their survival was due to the intervention of the Virgin Mary. In gratitude, they promised to build a monastery in honor of the Theotokos of Kursk, also known as the "Omen". This monastery was later moved to the royal chambers in Moscow.Platonov O. A. Курский Знаменский Богородицкий мужской монастырь // Святая Русь. Большая Энциклопедия Русского Народа. Русское Православие. М.: Институт русской цивилизации, 2009. V. 2. pp. 152—153.

By 1615, a wooden church had been built on the site of the modern cathedral to honor the Nativity of Mary. In 1615, Tsar Michael Fyodorovich Romanov ordered the return of the miracle-working Theotokos of Kursk the "Omen" to Kursk. By his own order in 1618, it was moved to the Nativity monastery from the Resurrection Cathedral in the city. In 1631, a fire caused by a lightning strike burned down all the monastery buildings.

In 1649, Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich ordered the construction of a stone cathedral called the "Omen" in honor of the Theotokos of Kursk. This cathedral replaced the original wooden one, which was built by Semyon Beliy and Sergey Kalugin.Stepanov V. B. Знаменский собор // Из истории монастырей и храмов Курского края / Под редакцией А. Ю. Друговской. — Курск: Курский государственный медицинский университет, 1998. pp. 158—163. Beliy was a builder for the Moscow Order of Stone Affairs, and Kalugin was a clerk. The Tsar's treasury and private individuals paid for the construction.Знаменский монастырь Официальный сайт Курской епархии. Курская епархия (2010).Manastyriyov I. E., Donchenko Yu. V. Знаменский монастырь // Курск на старой открытке. Курск: Курский областной комитет государственной статистики, 2001. pp. 12—23.

In 1688, the sovereigns Ivan and Peter Alexeevich and Sophia Alexeevna were given a large bell as a gift. It was made by master Fyodor Matorin and weighed 57 pounds. It was used in the new stone church, which had two side chapels (St. Alexis, a man of God, and Demetrius of Solunsk).Знаменский монастырь. Официальный сайт Курской епархии. Курская епархия (2010). The bell was used for about two hundred years. In 1680, the cracked bell was removed from the bell tower and placed on a high pedestal in the northeastern part of the monastery fence. The new cathedral was 58 m long and 11.5 m wide. In 1752, it was plastered inside and out. Its only chapter was dismantled, and five were erected in its place. From 1771 to 1775, under the spiritual leader Archimandrite Victor (Lodyzhensky), the throne in the church was covered with gilded copper, depicting the Passion of Jesus, and the iconostasis was decorated with new paintings and gilding. During the renovations, church services were held in the Church of the Epiphany of the Lord. In 1775, the domes of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen" were gilded.Архиепископ Серафим (Иванов Л. Г.). История Курского Знаменского монастыря // Одигитрия Русского Зарубежья: О Курской чудотворной иконе Божией Матери. Новая Коренная Пустынь: Издание Новой Коренной Пустыни, 1955. 173 p. In November 1814, during a service, pieces of plaster fell from the cathedral's dome. An examination of the building revealed cracks in the refectory vault and on the walls of the temple. These cracks were formed as a result of subsidence of its foundation. In 1815, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen" was dismantled.Artsybashev T. N., Piskaryov S. P. Монастыри // Курск: Краеведческий словарь-справочник / Под редакцией Ю. А. Бугрова. Курск: ЮМЭКС, 1997. pp. 239—242.

Construction

The construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the "Omen" began in 1816 and was finished 10 years later.Fyodorov S. I. Историческая летопись храма // Записки из фронтовой сумки: воспоминания архитектора. Орёл: Издательство Орловской государственной телерадиокомпании, 1995. pp. 120—137. Габель В. Ф., Гулин И. Н. Курск. М.: Государственное издательство литературы по строительству и архитектуре, 1951. pp. 20. The cathedral was started on June 4 (16), 1816 to honor the victory in the Frenche Invasion of 1812. Archbishop Feoktist (Mochulsky) of Kursk and Belgorod decided to have Archimandrite Palladius (Belevtsev) of the manage the construction.Палладий (Белевцов) // Русский биографический словарь: in 25 volumes. СПб.—М., 1896—1918. Palladius used to be an artillery officer, a native of the Kursk nobility, and the provincial architect P. K. Shmita helped him. The cathedral was built using donations from citizens and income from Znamensky Bogoroditsky monastery. Archbishop Theoktist, who died in 1818 and left a large sum in his will for the improvement of the temple, Governor Arkady Ivanovich Nelidov, representatives of the Kursk nobility, and merchants also made significant contributions. Privy Councillor Grigory Apollonovich Khomutov was an expert in architecture. He helped choose the masters and workers. He also worked with the best Moscow masonry contractor. The contractor personally supervised the work of Kaluga masons. The Kaluga masons built the walls of the temple. For many years, local historians in Kursk thought that the cathedral's design was by St. Petersburg architect A. I. Melnikov. However, no documentary evidence of his involvement has been found. The name of the cathedral's original architect is still unknown.Fyodorov S. I. Архитектурно-исторический центр Курска (из истории кинотеатра «Октябрь») // Архитектурные очерки Курского края. — Воронеж: Центрально-Ченозёмное издательство, 1982. pp. 41—50.Teplitsy M. L. Знаменский кафедральный собор // Автографы в камне. Архитектурная летопись Курска. Курск: Курская городская типография, 2001. P. 32.

The main excavation works were carried out in the summer and fall of 1816. A hole was dug, and a stone foundation was laid on solid ground (without piles). Every year in the winter, materials for construction were obtained. From spring on, construction began directly, requiring a large number of different craftsmen and laborers. The cathedral was finished by 1826. At first, the cathedral was square with three six-column porticos on each side. In 1826, they added a refectory with two bell towers on the side facing the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The northern bell tower had a big clock made in Germany in the 19th century. The clock had a big dial and sounded beautiful. People could hear the sound of the clock even in the city. It cost the Kursk diocese 600,000 rubles to build the cathedral.

Even though the finishing works were still going on, the cathedral was officially opened on January 13 (25), 1826. The cathedral's dedication was rushed because a funeral procession that was passing through Kursk from Taganrog carrying the ashes of the late Emperor Alexander I. Three days later, the cathedral received the coffin with the emperor's body. In 1832, a cast-iron iconostasis was installed. It had been ordered in 1824 at the Alexandrovsky foundry in St. Petersburg. Its manufacture was so difficult that it took six years to create, deliver, and install it. In 1853, a side chapel was built in the lower church according to the design of the Moscow architect N. I. Kozlovsky. In 1854, the architect closed and connected brick walls with windows and doors to the passages in the monastery fence north and west porticos. This created two entrance galleries, and a third gallery led into the church from the bishop's house. On weekdays, church members passed through the gate across from the Church of the Resurrection, around the back of the cathedral, and went up the steps of the southern entrance. In 1865, the church was rebuilt, and the second floor was removed. In 1866, three large bells were placed on the cathedral's bell tower. The largest bell weighed 1045 poods and cost more than 20,000 rubles. It was donated by a merchant from Belgorod named N. I. Chumichev. Another bell, weighing 500 poods, was cast at the Samgin factory with donations from the mayor, D. V. Tikhonov, and the Kursk city society.Tankov A. A., Zlatoverkhovnikov N. I. Знаменский монастырь // Путеводитель по Курску. Курск, 1902. pp. 10—12. It is known that the cathedral was originally painted a bluish-gray color with white details, which was determined by studying historical sources and examining all layers of plaster on the building's facades at different heights.

In 1893, during the Easter holidays, Father John Sergiev, the archpriest of the Cathedral of the "Omen" in Kronstadt, led a special church service called the Divine Litarge in the Saint Andrew's Cathedral of Kronstadt. Father John would later become known as Saint Protoiereus John of Kronstadt.