St. Nicholas' Naval Cathedral

Categories / Religion. Church/Places of Worship (see also Architecture and Urban Planning)
Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments/Religious Architecture (see also Religion.Church)
ST. NICHOLAS' NAVAL CATHEDRAL, St. Nicholas Cathedral of Epiphany, located at 1-3 Nikolskaya Square. An architectural monument in the Baroque style. Built in 1753-62 by architect S. I. Chevakinsky on the naval regimental grounds on the site where a wooden church had once stood, the church holds 5,000 people. A separately standing four-tier belfry crowned with a high spire was built in 1755-58. The cross-shaped building of St. Nicholas' Naval Cathedral is decorated with Corinthian columns with clustered tops, moulded window-frames and a wide entablature. The Cathedral is crowned with five gilded cupolas. Balconies with tracery wrought railings add to the dynamic decor of the facade. The St. Nicholas Church with three side-altars is located on the ground floor, and the single-altar Epiphany Church is on the upper level. The 18th century iconostases, carved by I. F. Kanaev and S. Nikulin, have been preserved. The brothers Kolokolnikov painted the icons: Fedot Kolokolnikov in the Upper church, and Mina Kolokolnikov in the Lower church. During consecration, the cathedral was named Naval; the victories of the Russian Navy were celebrated here. The most revered church treasure was the icon of St. Nicholas, dating to the 17th century, with some of his relics. In 1870, the cathedral established a charitable society with a school, a hospital, an orphanage and a women’s hospice. After October 1917, St. Nicholas' Naval Cathedral continued to be in service and in 1941-99 functioned as the main metropolitan cathedral. It gave its name to Nikolskaya Square, Nikolsky Lane, Nikolsky Market and Nikolsky Bridge. A chapel in the lower tier of the belfry was consecrated in 2000.

References: Антонов В. В., Кобак А. В. Святыни Санкт-Петербурга: Ист.-церков. энцикл. СПб., 1994. Т. 1. С. 110-112; Сойко Б. И., Шкаровский М. В., Исакова Е. В. Николо-Богоявленский кафедральный Морской собор: (Ист. очерк). СПб., 1998.

V. V. Antonov. Auber Artemy Lavrentievich
Chevakinsky Savva Ivanovich
Filotey Yakov Ivanovich
Kanaev Ignaty Filimonovich
Kolokolnikov Fedot Lukich
Kolokolnikov Mina Lukich
Nikulin S.
Nikolskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 1
Nikolskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Nikolskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Nikolsky Lane/Saint Petersburg, city
Антонов В. В., Кобак А. В. Святыни Санкт-Петербурга: Ист.-церков. энцикл. СПб., 1994
Шкаровский М. В., Сойко Б. И., Исакова Е. В. Николо-Богоявленский кафедральный Морской собор: (Ист. очерк). СПб., 1998 Baroque
1753
1762