Transfiguration Cathedral (Tver)

It stood in the Tver Kremlin from 1285 to 1763 , when the Kremlin was destroyed by fire. The cathedral was the first city white-stone cathedral in Russia, built after the Mongol invasion ^[1] . In 1344 - 1359, gilded copper gates were installed in the cathedral, and the floors were lined with colored majolica tiles. In 1382, the dome of the cathedral was covered with gold, after which the temple is often referred to in the annals as "Holy Savior Golden-Domed." Since 1289, the Transfiguration Cathedral became the tomb of local princes.

During the Polish-Lithuanian invasion at the beginning of the XVII century, the ancient cathedral was demolished. In place of the old, a new, second Transfiguration Cathedral was built. The last temple on this site was built of old white stone in 1689–1696 and was constantly “amazed by the zeal of rich parishioners,” so that, according to Apollon Grigoriev , “by the middle of the 19th century“ had a general, official character ” ^[2] .

In 1748-1755, a three-tier bell tower was erected to the southwest of the cathedral. In the middle of the XIX century , a bell weighing more than 16 tons was installed on the bell tower, the sound of which was heard anywhere in the city. On the bell tower, just below the dome, were a clock with four dials, looking to all sides of the world. The dials, with a diameter of about two meters each, were painted in dark blue, against the background of which gilded numbers and arrows stood out clearly.

In 1934, by order of the Soviet authorities, the Transfiguration Cathedral began to be consistently destroyed. The cathedral itself was blown up on the night of April 3–4, 1935 ^[3] . In 1937, in its place, a square was destroyed with a sculpture of Stalin and Lenin in the middle. In October 1941, a German cemetery was established here, which was liquidated after the liberation of the city. After the war, the square was restored, and in the middle of it a monument to Kalinin was erected.

Since 1992, there are plans for the restoration of the cathedral ^[4] . From August 22 to September 4, 1992, reconnaissance architectural and archaeological excavations of the remains of the cathedral were carried out ^[5] . According to the archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky Victor , preserved photos, drawings and measurements of the temple, as well as some icons, which makes it possible to restore it in historical form ^[6]

Restoration of the temple according to old drawings began on December 20, 2014. During the excavations, the foundations of the old quadrangle and bell tower, as well as the southern porch, were discovered and preserved. It is planned that they will continue to be available for viewing. By March 2015, the foundation of the new cathedral was flooded. ^[7] . By August 2019, the cathedral was rebuilt in draft (made of brick and reinforced concrete), domes and crosses were installed, preliminary plastering works on the facade were completed. Fundraising for the work is carried out by the charitable foundation "Cathedral" with the support of caring compatriots ^[8] .

The gates of the cathedral, captured in a photograph of S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky in 1910, are now stored in the Moscow Museum of Architecture. A.V. Schuseva .

• Transfiguration Cathedral in Tver. Deesis rite (the so-called "Kashinsky") (neopr.) . Date of treatment January 11, 2009. Archived March 20, 2012.
• The road to the Transfiguration Church. The newspaper Veche Tver. (unspecified) . Date of treatment January 11, 2009. Archived March 20, 2012.
• Orthodox parish of the Tver Transfiguration Cathedral.