Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of Elijah the Prophet is located in Arkhangelsk. The basis for its construction is considered to be a decree issued by the Senate in 1723, which prohibited the burial of people in cities. This decision was due to frequent epidemics and the so-called "plague riots". It was the need for the laying of city cemeteries and the construction of Orthodox churches on them that prompted the governor of Arkhangelsk I. P. Izmailov to rush to Archbishop Varnava with a request to consider this issue.
The first cemetery church in this part of Arkhangelsk was built in 1773 by local merchant Afanasy Yusov and merchant widow Juliania Dorofeeva. The temple had 3 thrones. The main throne was consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and the rest - in honor of Saints Nicholas and Stephen of Perm. In August 1806, lightning hit the church, a fire broke out, completely destroying it. The residents of the city decided to build two new ones on the site of the burnt church.
Remembering the recent misfortune, a merchant from Arkhangelsk, Jacob Nikonov, erected a summer church with thrones in the name of the Holy Prophets of God Elijah and Elisha. The construction of the church was carried out in 1807-1809. The consecration was performed in 1809 by His Grace Parthenius, Bishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk. In 1845, a warm adjoining church of the icon of the Mother of God "Joys of All Who Sorrow" was added to the temple, and then Bishop Varlaam consecrated it.
Next to the Ilyinsky Church, on the site of the burned-down church, a stone church was built with the main chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord and thrones in the name of St. Nicholas on the south side and the Three Hierarchs on the north. In 1811-1815, the temple was built at the expense of the merchant Vasily Popov and the churchwarden Andrey Ogapov. It was built of brick by the City Society.
Since 1882, within 2 years, a small side-altar was added to the church in the name of the holy Apostles Peter and Cyril. There was a beautiful marble iconostasis and massive bronze Royal Doors, skillfully gilded and were at that time a great rarity. The exterior of the temple was very beautiful. It was built in a classical style and is crowned with 3 blue domes.
A round bell tower was erected immediately with the temple. A gatehouse and an almshouse were built at the base of the belfry. Initially, there were 6 bells here, now there are 2 times more of them. Now the belfry is a training bell tower for pupils of bell ringing.
In the 20s of the XX century, the Transfiguration Church began to be called a cathedral due to the fact that the main Holy Trinity Cathedral of Arkhangelsk and most of the city's churches were transferred to the renovationist clergy. Thus, cemetery city churches became the only churches whose priests were canonically subordinate to the ruling Bishop-Archbishop Anthony (Bystrov), a protege of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow. But by 1937, these temples ceased to function. The Transfiguration Cathedral was actively destroyed.
The outbreak of the Second World War served as the basis for the resurrection of church life. In 1943, Bishop Mikhail (Postnikov) was appointed to the Arkhangelsk cathedra, who in 1944 awarded the Elias Church the status of a Cathedral.
The temple has been repaired many times since its existence, and almost nothing has remained of its original interior furnishings. However, the icons, the small "Sorrowful" iconostasis (1845) and the main "Ilyinsky" iconostasis (1893) are wonderful examples of the Baroque style. The main shrines of the cathedral are the image of the Archangel Michael of the 1st half of the 18th century, located in the main part of the cathedral, and the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" of the 19th century.
It is interesting that all the icons were created by local icon painters and are perfectly preserved. In the old days, there was a custom to bring the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God to the church from the Krasnogorsk Monastery (here it was from June 23 to July 1).
Now the Cathedral of Elijah the Prophet is the cathedral of the Bishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk, and is still one of the largest temples in Arkhangelsk.
