Hodegetria Cathedral (Ulan-Ude)

The general volumetric and spatial composition of the cathedral is three-part, symmetrical, solved by the so-called “ ship ”, with the arrangement of the building’s components strictly along the longitudinal axis from west to east. All the objects of the temple, refectory and bell tower are merged together and form a dense monolith.

Among them, the central place is occupied by the two-story pillarless massive volume of the quad with a five-sided apse . The four is covered by a closed arch, crowned with a high dome without a roof and a light two-tier flashlight. “Round” pediments with four-leafed lucarnes along the four axes, curly kokoshniks at the corners form the completion of the walls, creating the effect of rounding the corners and organically connecting with the dome.

From the west, the refectory is adjoined by a bell tower of the octagon on quadruple type. A two-tier octagon is placed over two square tiers. Each face of the upper tier is cut through by arched openings, giving it expressiveness. The bell tower is completed with a helmet-shaped dome with a spire.

In the architecture of facades and decorative details of elements, a strong influence of baroque forms is noted. The platbands decor is interesting in a combination of traditional Old Russian forms of the preceding wooden cult architecture with Baroque elements. The rich plastic processing of facades with well-drawn brick details of window frames and other elements belongs to the traditions of patterned brick architecture of the 17th century, which confirms the influence of the architectural work of immigrants from the Russian North .

In 1700, a wooden Mother of God-Vladimir Church was built on the site of the cathedral - a small cemetery one-story church with a separate bell tower. To the south of the cathedral, at the place where the old church was, two crosses were later installed.

The construction of the cathedral began in 1741 and lasted 44 years. The builders and first rectors of the cathedral were Hieromonk John and Priest Maxim Fedorov. The temple was erected at the expense of Verkhneudinsky and Kyakhta merchants and donations from citizens. Like many Siberian cathedrals, it was built in two stages. On May 27, 1770, Hierarch Sofroniy , Bishop of Irkutsk and Nerchinsky, consecrated the warm lower chapel in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord . The upper summer chapel in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria was consecrated on May 3, 1785 by Bishop Michael.

In the mid-1860s, the cathedral’s large bell weighed 105 pounds 7 pounds . The oldest book in the library was the church charter of 1700, printed in Moscow. The main artistic and decorative element of the temple were gilded carved iconostases .

In 1818, cracks appeared in the foundation of the cathedral and its vault. There were more cracks after the earthquakes of 1862 and 1885. In 1863, a major overhaul of the cathedral was carried out. In the 1860s, charitable organizations were opened upon arrival.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries church parish schools opened in 20 villages assigned to the parish of the cathedral.

During the First World War, the parish took care of the wounded and raised funds. At that time, the cathedral owned 4364 square fathoms of a courtyard in the city of Verkhneudinsk and 50 acres of arable land and land in its suburbs.

In 1914, there were 1833 males and 1815 females in the parish.

On September 6, 1929, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic issued a decree on the closure of the cathedral because of the “refusal of the Hodegetria Society of Believers to repair the church. All church property was seized, the icons destroyed, the building transferred to a warehouse. The last rector of the cathedral, Gabriel Makushev, archbishop of Pribaikalsky, was executed in 1930. In the same year, bells were removed from the cathedral.

Courses of construction personnel were arranged in the temple building, and from the end of 1935 the cathedral housed the Antireligious (after World War II Local Lore) museum. For visitors, the museum opened in November 1937 ^[1] . Until 1999, the cathedral kept the funds of the Museum of the History of Buryatia .

In 1960, the cathedral received the status of a monument of architecture . In 1959-1961, restoration work was carried out in the temple.

On March 31, 1992, an Orthodox parish was registered at the cathedral. On May 25, 1992, Priest Igor Arzumanov was elected chairman of the parish of the Holy Odigitrievsky Cathedral ^[2] . On May 23, 1996, six bells were installed. On July 23, 1999, a cross was erected on the bell tower of the cathedral.

On December 20, 1999, the lower chapel was transferred to the diocese, and on May 30, 2000, the upper one.

By the end of 2001, according to the plan of repair and restoration works, all cracks were investigated and the foundations were strengthened.

  architectural monument (federal)

• List of Russian Cathedrals
• Ulan-Ude and Buryat diocese
• Architecture of Ulan-Ude
• Siberian Baroque

• Minert L. K. "Architecture of Ulan-Ude." Buryat Book Publishing House, Ulan-Ude , 1983.
• Minert L. K. "Monuments of architecture of Buryatia." Publishing House "Science". Novosibirsk , 1983.
• Rutkovskaya V. M. article “Monuments of architecture of Buryatia”. Questions of local history of Buryatia. Buryat Book Publishing House, Ulan-Ude , 1975.
• Proskuryakova T. S. article “Features of the Siberian Baroque”. Architectural heritage. M .: Stroyizdat , 1979. No. 27.
• Guryanov V.K. "By Bolshaya, Bolshaya Nikolaevskaya". Ulan-Ude , publishing house of the BSC SB RAS, 1998.
• Dyomin E.V., Panov A. B. "Engineering-seismic survey of the Holy Odigitrievsky Cathedral of Ulan-Ude." Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude , 2003.

• The page of the temple on the site of the Buryat diocese