Description of the attraction
Trinity Cathedral is considered the most beautiful temple in Ustyug. The cathedral is five-domed, built on the site of a dilapidated wooden church, in 1659. The temple was built at the expense of the merchant S. Grudtsyn. A year earlier, the barefoot merchant family donated 1,500 rubles to the monastery for the construction of the church. The construction started was later financed by I. Grudtsyn. However, when the brothers died, work had to be suspended. Then Elder Filaret bequeathed to his third brother, V. Grudtsyn, to finish building the temple. He even gave him money to build. However, Vasily resumed construction only after the abbot of the monastery wrote a complaint to Patriarch Joachim. Construction was completed in the 1690s.
The architects who had previously erected the Archangel Michael Monastery worked on the construction of the cathedral and the entire monastery. The Trinity Cathedral is practically the same as the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel. The compositions of the nearby churches and refectories are almost identical. It should be noted that the Trinity Cathedral has, after all, more balanced proportions. Its architectural composition is symmetrical. Particular attention should be paid to certain parts of the cathedral, such as the apse. They have a smooth, soft outline with an elegantly decorated center window. The tiles used in decorative processing are typical of the Vologda-Ustyug architecture.
The main volume of the temple has a cubic shape, with a two-story gallery attached to it on three sides. The temple is decorated with colored tiles, a stepped cornice with zakomaras and ordinary pilasters. The altar side-altar is built on the right side of the main volume and consists of undulating three-bladed apses, smoothly adjoining the main volume.
The structure is slender, directed upward, successfully emphasizing the five-domed head assembled on faceted drums. A row of kokoshniks are built at the base of the drums. The windows of the temple are framed with green tiles. A wide belt is located along the upper perimeter of the gallery. The bell tower's quadrangle is also decorated with identical motives.
The bell tower was built separately from the temple, which ensures the optical balance of the volumes. It is placed on a quadrangle, consisting of arches connected by powerful tetrahedral pillars. The bell has an octal shape and is crowned with a low tent with double-row dormer windows. The lower windows are larger than the upper ones, therefore, an optical effect of perspective reduction is created, so that the structure appears taller and more grandiose. The bell tower of the Trinity Cathedral is located in the middle of the western facade of the temple, with an entrance built at the base and a staircase leading to the porch. In general, the building of the bell tower has a slender, finished look.
The five-tiered Baroque iconostasis is of considerable artistic value. It amazes with its extraordinary fine carving. Its creation was possible thanks to donations from the Ustyuzhan people, and lasted for eight long years - between 1776 and 1784. The construction of the iconostasis was conceived by Abbot Gennady, who achieved the blessing of Bishop John. In the archives of the monastery, contracts with carvers and icon painters have been preserved, which greatly helped to restore the history of the creation of the iconostasis and the names of the masters working on it. It was the Totem carvers Bogdanovs who gave the iconostasis a baroque style, while in Ustyug in those years they were already fond of a new style borrowed from Petersburgers - classicism. The gilding on the royal doors and the iconostasis was carried out under the guidance of the skilled craftsman P. Labzin. Most of the icons were painted by the famous icon painter A. Kolmagorov. Impressive with its wealth and beauty, the iconostasis represents the evangelists standing in the royal gates, over which the seraphim soar, and next to them are the angels. All these images are made in the form of sculptures, the author of which, unfortunately, is not known. In artistic terms, the iconostasis is an example of the Italian school.
In the 70s of the 20th century, the ancient iconostasis, as the main property of the Trinity Cathedral, was restored, and now it can be contemplated in its original beauty.
