Cathedral Square (Donetsk)

In the city of Stalin (now the territory of Donetsk , limited by Gurov Avenue, Teatralny Avenue, the streets of the 50th anniversary of the USSR and the Embankment) in 1947, Joseph Karakis (together with the sculptor Muravin ) designed a monument to the Great Patriotic War. The monument was awarded the 1st prize and recommended for construction ^[1] .

In 1945, by the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR and the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) U ^[2], it was planned to hold a republican contest for the best project of a monument to the soldiers of the Red Army who fell in the battles for the liberation of Donbass. The place for the monument was chosen in the square to them. Gorky ^[2] .

On September 9, 1945, the monument was solemnly laid, and the Socialist Donbass newspaper wrote: “On September 9, a solemn laying of the monument to the soldiers of the Red Army took place ... This magnificent monument will be erected on the main street of the city of Stalin, near Studgorodok. At the end of the park adjacent to Artyom Street , the delegates of the regional meeting of the Stakhanovites, working people of the city of Stalin, gathered. The meeting was opened by the chairman of the executive committee of the regional council of deputies of workers comrade. Struev. “Let the monument laid today preserve for centuries a bright memory of those who fell for universal happiness and freedom,” says Comrade. Struev. Everyone laid bare their heads. The mourning march sounds solemnly. Chairman of the Executive Committee of Comrade Comrade Matyas removes a red veil from a small pedestal. On it is a marble plaque: “A monument will be erected here to the soldiers-heroes of the Red Army who died in the battles for the liberation of Donbass from Nazi invaders. September 9, 1945 “Secretary of the Regional Committee of the CP (b) Melnikov , comrade Struev , Major General Kosenko, commander of the Artyomovsk-Berlin Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Division, Major General Fomichenko, a noble tractor driver Pasha Angelina lay the first stones of the monument's foundation. The mourning march is replaced by the Anthem of the Soviet Union ” ^[3] .

As follows from the note by the head of the Stalin Regional Department of Architecture E. Krasnyansky ^[2] , in April a republican contest was announced for the best design of the monument. From the note: “According to the conditions of the competition, the monument should combine a deeply-ideological content and an emotional expressive form. A warrior man who raised his righteous sword to fight the dark forces of fascism and defeated the world's evil is the main idea that should be embodied in the monument to the liberators of Donbass. The heroic struggle of the Red Army soldiers ..., the heroism of the partisans operating behind enemy lines, selfless work and readiness for self-sacrifice of the whole people should be reflected in the monument ^[2] . This monument was to be built on the square near the square to them. Gorky on the axis of the street. Artyom , exactly where the first stone was laid a year earlier. It can be seen from the same note that in the near future the construction of a new drama theater will begin near the monument, and one of the important tasks for the contestants was to combine the monument and theater into a single artistic and architectural ensemble ^[2] . The materials for the monument were to be durable and include: stone, cast iron, bronze and steel. Preference was given to local granites: Kazan - light gray and Cherdaklinsky - pink ^[2] . The deadline for the delivery of the monument projects was set for May 15, 1946.

As follows from the newspaper on June 11 ^[4] , the jury of the competition planned to consider the projects in the coming days, and the work should be submitted to a wide discussion by the public of the capital of Ukraine and Donbass. The discussion was planned to end with an exhibition of projects at the end of June.

As can be seen from the publication of I. Zotov ^[5] : “One of the best squares in the city of Stalin - Victory Square - will be crowned with a magnificent monument to the soldiers-heroes of the Soviet Army ...”. In total, 35 different options were presented at the competition, of which 19 were in mock-ups, "executed with exceptional care and love." As planned at the beginning of June, all 35 models were put up for public viewing and were hotly discussed by the public in the city of Stalin. “Thousands of people visited this exhibition, opened in the house of the Stalinugol plant (Artema str., No. 79) ...” The first project of I. Karakis (together with the sculptor Muravin): “is a work of great impressive power. Four figures froze, as if in a guard of honor, paying tribute to the blessed memory of the heroes. At the top of the pedestal is a strong figure of a warrior with a rifle tightly held in his hands - he subsequently won the 1st prize. Second draft work vol. Ivanchenko, Fridman and Rozhba represented three figures below - a steelworker, a miner and a woman, expressing grief for the fallen, and at the top of the monument, a life-affirming figure of a victorious forward-looking warrior. ” There was also criticism of the first two projects: “It is a pity that both of these good projects are not without drawbacks. In the variant of vols. Carakis and Muravina the pedestal is disproportionate to the figures. In the variant of vols. Ivanchenko, Fridman and Rozhba the pedestal was decided quite unsuccessfully and resembles some kind of hydraulic structure. But these shortcomings are removable when finalizing projects. ”

The result of the competition was: “1. Approve the version of the monument designed by the sculptor Muravin and the architect Karakis. 2. In the further development of the project, take into account the following comments and wishes of the executive committee: to work out the pedestal, which in the presented layout is not linked to the sculpture; the basement and the pedestal of the monument should be solved using local granites of the Karansky and Cherdaklinsky quarries. ” It was also decided to ask the regional council to enter with a petition to the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR “on permission to build a monument in 1948 on the square near Studgorodok” ^[6] .

But still, the project, which received the 1st prize and a recommendation for construction, was not destined to be built. As follows from the book of the main architect of Donetsk, Vladimir Kishkan, at the end of the 40s, the Hypograd , where Karakis worked, developed the further formation of the city center of Donetsk. On the north side, the complex was planned to be completed with Victory Square, between Shevchenko Boulevard and the campus. In the upper part of the square, located on the axis of Artyom Street , the building of the Drama Theater and the Victory Monument was designed ^[7] . According to the plan, a theater with a south-facing facade and a monument located in the center of the square should close the perspective of the street. But after the construction of the drama theater on Lenin Square, Victory Square, and with it the monument, were never built ^[7] .

Two monuments to Gorky were erected in turn in the square in the Gorky square (now this square is no longer there, it passed from Artyom Street to the Covered Market ).

The second monument in the Gorky square was cast from bronze in the central mechanical repair shops ^[10] and installed in 1977.

The authors of the monument are sculptor Nikolai Vasilievich Yasinenko and architect Vladimir Stepanovich Buchek .

The sculpture depicts the young Alyosha Peshkov, in 1891, when he worked in the repair team at the Slavyansk railway station.

In 1997, the construction of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral was started in Gorky Square. The territory of the cathedral occupied the whole square. The monument was moved to the territory of Donetsk State Medical University . The transfer of the monument to the territory of the medical university is not accidental - the university bears the name of Gorky.

Holy Transfiguration Cathedral ( ) - Orthodox Cathedral in Donetsk in honor of the Transfiguration , the main church of the Donetsk and Mariupol diocese of Ukraine The Orthodox Church .

It was built at the end of the 20th century on the model of the church of the same name destroyed in 1933.

Stone construction began in Yuzovka in the fall of 1883 on the site of a wooden church. On November 2, 1886, consecration took place. The Church Brotherhood of the Transfiguration Church in 1896 founded the Brotherhood School in Yuzovka .

December 11, 1930 the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral lost the bell, and later the bell tower was destroyed. And in 1931, the cathedral was blown up allegedly to produce building materials. On October 18, 1931, the deputy chairman of the Stalin City Executive Committee wrote the following document: “Feedback. Issued by explosive equipment of the All-Ukrainian Branch of the Explosive Industry comrade Kondratyev Y. I. in that the blasting work entrusted to him in the bombing of the Stalin Cathedral was technically competent and quite good, which resulted in up to 80% of suitable building materials. "

On February 12, 1992, the Donetsk City Council decided to allocate a land plot and begin construction of the cathedral on the site of the old cemetery. The new cathedral is being built in a different form than the one that was before its destruction. The place of construction of the new cathedral does not coincide with the old. Construction started in 1997 . Opening for believers was planned in 2006 .

In 2002, at the entrance to the cathedral, a bronze statue donated by the Kiev authorities to the Archangel Michael , previously standing on Independence Square in Kiev (a return gift from Kiev for a copy of the Mertsalov palm tree that Donetsk presented to Kiev in the summer of 2001 ) was installed.

Archangel Michael - a sculpture by George Kurovsky .

The sculpture is a figure of the archangel in the form of a thin young man in full growth, dressed in a long waving cloak. The archangel has a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left.

The sculpture was originally installed in Kiev ( Archangel Michael is considered the patron saint of Kiev) on Independence Square , in front of the main post office (now there is a pedestal with a globe on this site). The sculpture stood on a column of white marble brought from Italy.

In 2001, it was decided to replace the sculpture with a more impressive one and it was removed from the square. Instead, a sculpture by Anatoly Kushch was installed at the Pechersky Gate . Kiev residents did not like the new sculpture. The authorities and the clergy subsequently expressed the opinion that it was necessary to change it to another. ^[11] .

When dismantling the sculpture of Kuravsky, a large stone fell out of the pedestal and crippled several people.

The sculpture was planned to be presented to Kharkov on the anniversary of its 350th anniversary, but the monument was presented to Donetsk . Donetsk in return gave Kiev a copy of the Palm Mertsalov .

The sculpture was installed in May 2002 at the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Donetsk. At the opening was attended by the mayor of Kiev Omelchenko.

On the pedestal of the monument is an inscription in Ukrainian:

• Monuments and commemorative signs // All about Donetsk .: Reference manual. - Donetsk: Donbass , 2003 .-- S. 156-162. - ISBN 5-7740-0782-0 .

• Photo of the monument to the work of Yasinenko in the Gorky square (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 30, 2012.
• Gorky Square (neopr.) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 30, 2012.
• Donetsk: History. Developments. Facts - Holy Transfiguration Cathedral (Neopr.) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.
• Yuzov Holy Transfiguration Church Brotherhood in 1893-1919 (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.
• As in God's place, pheasants settled (neopr.) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.
• Yuzov Holy Transfiguration Church Brotherhood (Neopr.) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.
• The influence of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral on the spiritual and cultural life of Yuzovka (Neopr.) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.
• The legend of the royal priest (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 21, 2011. Archived November 28, 2012.