Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Lipetsk)

The construction of the temple was completed in 1842 . The cathedral was built by decree of Empress Catherine Alexeevna , the blessing of the Holy Synod and His Grace Innocent , Bishop of Voronezh.

According to the traditional point of view, the construction of the stone cathedral church of the Nativity began in 1791 . The erection of the temple part of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral was basically completed by 1803 , but it was not possible to consecrate the constructed church immediately: there was a fire during which all the wooden parts of the cathedral burned down, and the main volume of the building was badly damaged. By 1805, the cathedral church was reopened with the zeal of many philanthropists, and on June 20, 1805 the first throne of the new church was consecrated - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker .

The main cathedral throne in honor of the Nativity of Christ was consecrated on May 25, 1807 . It was from this time that the function of the cathedral church of Lipetsk passed to the Church of the Nativity of Christ from the Ascension Church, which stood on the current Theater Square . The third throne in the temple part (right, in the southern aisle) was consecrated in 1816 .

In 1822, it was decided to erect a cathedral bell tower designed in a strict classical style . Its construction was begun in 1825 , and completed in 1835 . At the beginning of the 20th century , there were eight bells on the bell tower of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral. The largest, weighing 489 pounds and cast in 1859 , was poured in 1900 .

After the construction of the bell tower came a rather long break in the construction of the cathedral. And only when the volumes of the bell tower and the temple part, different in height and mass, stabilized, did the refectory begin to be built. The stone refectory was added in 1840 - 1842 , led by archpriest Andrei Ivanovich Kalugin. Two thrones in the refectory church were consecrated in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God of Hodegetria in 1841 (left) and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1842 (right). The construction of the refectory and the consecration of thrones completed the construction of the main cathedral church of Lipetsk.

In 1922, church property was removed from the church.

From the report of the Lipetsk Ucoma ^[2] for March 1922: “The campaign to seize church property has been carried out in the city and county since half of March. The seizure took place without excesses, there was one small flash when seizing the values ​​from the Cathedral. A crowd of believers, mainly women, gathered, when 6 horse riders appeared, ran away, and then the seizure of valuables was started, work was going well in other churches of the city and county. “

In 1931 the cathedral was closed. In Soviet times, the temple began to fall into disrepair. Therefore, when creating the main square of the city - Lenin (now - Cathedral ), the question arose about its demolition. So as not to lose   a monument of architecture , the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore was placed within its walls (the main architect of the Lipetsk Region , L.E. Rudakov, was an active opponent of demolition).

In December 1970, at the 30-meter high bell tower of the cathedral, Lipetsk chimes were installed and put into operation. The clock mechanism with music was made at the Petrodvorets watch factory . The dial was designed by Lipan V. I. Neminuschiy ^[3] .

In 1991, the temple was returned to believers. Then he became a cathedral.

Among the special temple shrines that are currently in the cathedral, we should mention the Icon of the Mother of God the Passion "Lipetsk" . In 1831, when the cholera epidemic was rampant in Lipetsk and the county, the Lipans with tears turned to the Most Holy Lady, asking her to get rid of a terrible disease. A procession with the icon was made, and after several days of fasting and prayer at home, the epidemic stopped. The Lipchans attributed such a beneficial effect to the miraculous Holy Icon of the Mother of God. Through prayers, she received help and healing.

Opposite the icon of the Mother of God, on the left side, in the same icon case with seedlings there is an icon of the icon. Huara , Bishop of Lipetsk, ranked as a saint at the anniversary Bishops' Council in 2000.

Also a shrine is a cancer with 81 particles of relics of the Kiev Pechersk miracle workers from the Near and Far caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra . The crab is made of mahogany and is located under a carved oak canopy with many crystal lamps. ^[four]

• Nativity of the Cathedral of the city of Lipetsk. Publishing House of the Lipetsk and Yelets Diocese.
• Koltakov V.M. Lipetsk. Pages of history. - Lipetsk : Lipetsk publishing house, 1991.
• Klokov A. Yu. , Naydenov A.A. Temples and monasteries of the Lipetsk diocese. Temples of Lipetsk. - Lipetsk : Lipetsk region local historian. Society, 2006. - 384 p.

• Lipetsk and Yelets diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church