St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral (Liepaja)

The temple, founded in 1900 , was built by the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire for three years and was consecrated on August 22 (September 4), 1903 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II (who was the main donor) with his family ^[2] . The emperor also laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. The author of the project and construction manager was the famous St. Petersburg architect Vasily Antonovich Kosyakov , the author of the project of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kronstadt, but the cathedral in Libau was built in much shorter time: in less than 3 years, while the construction in Kronstadt lasted 11 years. Vasily Antonovich personally gave explanations to the emperor during his visit with his family to open the cathedral, presenting also artists Raylyan ^[3] and Vasiliev, who performed the painting of the altars. The artist Raylyan also developed a sketch of the carpet in the 17th century Russian style, which decorated the staircase for the meeting of the emperor. Also, according to his sketch, pavilions were built in the same style in which Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and Maria Fedorovna were housed during the celebration and parade of troops. From the side of the Church, the cathedral was received by Protopresbyter of the Military and Naval clergy Alexander Zhelobovsky .

Cathedral in Libava - an important military port in the Baltic - was built to feed and admonish before the military campaigns of sailors. From here, the Second Pacific Squadron , commanded by Admiral Zinovy ​​Petrovich Rozhestvensky , almost completely died near Tsushima , left for his mortal battle, they prayed for the health of brave sailors during the First World War.

The interior of the cathedral was already damaged during the First World War , but for some time rare services were still held there. In 1936, the cathedral was visited by Metropolitan of Riga and All Latvia Augustine (Peterson) . The iconostasis of the cathedral by that time was dismantled and was in the basement. The metropolitan expressed the wish that this iconostasis be transported to Riga and installed in the cathedral, which was executed in 1939 ^[4] . During World War II , the cathedral was set up air defense point of German troops, all the bronze bells were removed. After the return of Soviet troops, a sailor club was set up in the temple. Much of what reminded of the true purpose of the cathedral was destroyed or remade.

Towards the end of the 1980s , a movement for the return of the Orthodox Church Cathedral arose and became stronger. In September 1991, the military left the temple, handing over the keys to believers. Since 1992, services in the temple began to be held regularly. Currently, work is underway to rebuild the temple through donations.

The construction and decoration of the temple cost 500 thousand rubles. Since the gold standard has been applied in Russia since 1897 and the ruble has been equated to 0.774234 g of pure gold, in terms of today's prices (35 euros per gram) this amounts to 13 million 549 thousand 95 euros. Two million would have been enough to restore the temple, but the community has not yet collected such amounts, so everything is done gradually. The structures of the domes and their cover were restored, crosses were restored and gilded, the interior of the temple is being renovated. In 2013, when the 110th anniversary of the cathedral was celebrated, Metropolitan of Riga and All Latvia Alexander handed the memorial letters and medals of the Latvian Orthodox Church to the volunteers of the St. Nicholas Church Svetlana Vorontsova (transport company Ultima ) and Igor Zezule (hydraulic cylinder plant Hidrolat) .

In addition to the temple, the parish was also given the house where the Sunday school and refectory now work. The church feeds 150 people in need daily with free meals.

The cathedral is faced with granite and sandstone , the walls are made of red brick. The gilded central dome is surrounded by four smaller ones. The bell tower is located above the main entrance to the temple. The central altar, like the whole temple, was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker , whom sailors have long considered their heavenly patron. The four pediments of the cathedral are decorated with scripture inscriptions in Church Slavonic and golden mosaic icons made by St. Petersburg masters who also performed wall majolica .

Instead of the columns usual for temples of this scale, the cathedral has four arched intersecting arches holding the arch with a dome and a central drum. Thanks to this architectural solution, the interior space and its visibility were significantly increased. The temple had a rich interior decoration: icons in gilded cases, three two-tier iconostases . Three marble staircases lead to the salt fenced by wrought-iron grates (at each of the three chapels).

The use of concrete in the manufacture of the supporting structure was also innovative, and everything was cast on conscience: the cathedral survived the infernal bombings, and subsequent rebuilding with the construction of additional ceilings, and the looting, after which the church and rain, snow, and birds got inside the church .

• St. Nicholas Cathedral (Kronstadt)

• Site of St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral
• Liepaja St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral on the website of the Latvian Orthodox Church