Holy Ascension Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in the city and the cathedral church of Belgorod-Dniester . Located on a hill in the city center. It is a monument of history and architecture of the XIX century, is also one of the few attractions of the city .
| Cathedral | |
| Holy Ascension Cathedral | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A country |  Ukraine |
| Denomination | Orthodox UOC MP |
| Diocese | Odessa and Izmail |
| Architectural style | classicism |
| Builder | Archpriest Fyodor Malyavinsky |
| Building | 1815-1820 |
| Status | acting |
| condition | local architectural monument |
| Site | svsobor.church.ua/main-p ... |
History / Description / Device and Architecture
- Archpriest Fyodor Malyavinsky was the builder and first rector of Holy Ascension Cathedral in Akkerman. He was appointed to Akkerman in 1812, shortly after the liberation of the city from the Turks. A year later, he decided to build an Orthodox church in the city. When, in 1813, the Acmerian Bulgarians addressed a letter to the Exarch (district head, bishop) Gavrila with a request to allow them to build a church for themselves, the Exarch requested an opinion on this matter from F. Malyavinsky, the prototopian, as the archpriest was called at the beginning of the XIX century. In his response, F. Malyavinsky in particular wrote: “The city of Akkerman with all its citizens, including those Bulgarians are listed, does not have a good church, but accommodates in such a Turkish mosque, which, due to its dilapidated state, is subject to rapid destruction. There is no one to build a new church ... Especially nobody still pays any attention to building a cathedral church from the local rulers of the city here ... Is it not pleasing to our eminence to give Bulgarian society so that they will be eager to build a church so that they build it not outside, but inside the mountains. Akkerman, where uniting with the Slavic-Russian society, by common efforts they can build a church with two altars, which they assumed, to build without distant difficulty, with which both classes can be satisfied. March 18, 1813. ” Fortunately, the Bulgarian church was built, the cathedral was built.
- The current building was built on the site of an old Turkish cemetery. At that time, at the beginning of the 19th century, it was not the center of the city, this place was chosen for the outskirts because it was the highest point of the city and with the further growth of the city, it happened, today it is the center of the city. The local rubble stone is limestone shell rock, a high-strength stone (not Odessa shell rock) from which the Akkerman fortress was built, was mined in the area of the current port, and was collected by local residents for many years.
- In 1820, the central part was built with a dome and an altar . A year later, in 1821 , the newest church in the area was supposedly able to visit AS. Pushkin , who at that time visited Akerian .
- In 1832 , three porticos with 4 columns were added, and the cathedral acquired the form of a cross.
- In 1842 , the builder and first rector of this church, Fyodor Malyavinsky, was buried under his altar after his death. This is evidenced by a memorial marble plate on the facade of the altar of the apse form under the frescoes depicting the patronal feast of the temple, in honor of which it was built - the Ascension of the Lord . Today, in our time during the repair of the facade of the building in the 2010s, the frescoes were replaced with mosaics .
- Until 1863, the cemetery was completely neglected, not even fenced in, cattle and graves were destroyed, tombstones and crosses were destroyed, and more wealthy people bequeathed to bury them in churches so that their graves would not be so negligent. The landowner Gregory of Navrotsky, who died in 1862, bequeathed 300 rubles in favor of the Ascension Cathedral for his body to be buried in the fence of this cathedral, and not at a neglected cemetery.
- In the 1870s , a new four-tiered bell tower was built, about 40 meters high, which was lost, collapsed in 2004 as a result of its dilapidation and the aggressive external climatic environment. But this structure could be saved in time by capital repair and reconstruction of the supporting structures and, last but not least, the restoration of the exterior . The restoration of the bell tower took place in 2010-2012. The present bell tower is not very similar to the previous one, there are significant differences in both the dome with the cross and the very last tier with the octahedron at the top. The temple stood without a full-fledged bell tower from 2004 to 2012. In the reconstruction was used brick and reinforced concrete. The bell tower has 8 bells. The largest of them weighs 6 tons 160 kg. The bell is cast in the factory of Pavel Ryzhov in Kharkov at the same time when the bell tower itself was built, with diametrically placed images of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, in the space between them is a complex leaf ornament.
- From 1918 to 1940 , during the stay of the city of Akkerman , at that time - Chetatya-Alba as part of the Kingdom of Romania , the church passed from the ROC under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Patriarchate . And also at that time, while the city was part of Romania , in 1938 The temple was supposedly visited by the king of the romanian kingdom during his visit to the city of Chetatya-Albe - Carol II Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen with his 17-year-old son, Mihai I, also the future king of Romania.
- The rich decoration both inside and outside of the temple has changed somewhat since the time of the initial idea, the years of the Soviet era were disastrous. From 2012 to 2015, the entire building was of restoration (of dubious quality), the temple was painted in blue and blue colors with white architectural elements (columns, cornices, pilasters, etc.), new mosaics instead of frescoes and new roofs (modern metal tile) appeared and also the basement was trimmed with dark granite of a bluish tint.The interior of today (preserved carved wooden iconostasis of 1898)
- Three-altar Cathedral with a gilded wooden carved iconostasis. Its original form - the three tiers - was not preserved, it was changed during the painting of the temple in 1938-1939. The iconostasis was made smaller so that the altar apse and altarpiece were visible. The iconostasis icons of the right and left aisles are written in gilt, in imitation of Athonite letter, but in the South Russian style, which in ancient times was considered the canon of painting. Christ the Almighty is depicted in the dome. This image is called “Pantokrat”. Christ holds the gospel in his left hand, and blesses his right. Cherubs are depicted around, angels are between windows, 8 apostles are written in medallions in a belt, and 4 evangelists are written in sails: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the Theologian. The ceiling is painted: in the center is God the Father, and in the medallions are the Old Testament prophets. The entire altar, the dome and the central part of the ceiling are painted by a certified artist A. Piskarev together with his son and daughter.
- In 2002, a chapel was built on the territory of the cathedral in honor of the 2000 anniversary of the Nativity of Christ.
Shrines
- In the Ascension Cathedral stored particle relics of St. John Sochavsky . And also Gerbovetskaya icon of the Mother of God.
- Photo Gallery
View in the Soviet period, the original bell tower until 2004
Photo of Karl Migursky. The very first photo of the temple of the 1860s, the 40-meter bell tower and the stairs with a late forged fence had not yet been
Old photo taken from the bell tower / view of the city center from the beginning of the 20th century
Modern general view
Modern general view of 2016
Photo without bell tower in 2009
The original building in the pre-revolutionary period.
Without a bell tower 2004 - 2012
Temporary Belfry 2004 - 2012
Modern photo
Damaged due to the fall of the bell tower in 2004, the western part of the temple is a portico, the ruins of the portico
The pre-revolutionary photo of the monument, after the 1870s, a ladder descending to Izmailskaya street and a new version of the fence - forged cast iron
The new dome for the ostreimovym bell tower again in 2011
The ruins of the western portico in 2004 / destruction after a catastrophe - the collapse of the bell tower
Bogdanovsky V.S. :: Ascension Cathedral. Belgorod-Dniester :: 1970, 36x25, paper, paraffin, ink
Bogdanovsky V.S. :: Northern outskirts of the city Belgorod-Dniester :: 1956, 17х41, watercolor on paper
Old pre-revolutionary postcard
The first photo of the temple was taken by Karl Migursky in 1869
The grave of the 1860s of landowner Gregory of Navrotsky near the cathedral
Modern appearance