Description of the attraction
In the city of Rostov, Yaroslavl Region, there is a magnificent Trinity Cathedral in the Holy Trinity Sergius Varnitsky Monastery. It was this building that became the first stone structure at the monastery. Presumably, the cathedral was built in 1770-1771 according to the decree of the Bishop of Rostov Volkhovsky Athanasius, who earlier, before accepting the rank of hierarch, was an archimandrite at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The process of consecration of the cathedral was carried out on October 16, 1771.
Today it is difficult to imagine how important the construction of this beautiful cathedral was for the entire Varnitsa monastery. There is information that the monetary incomes of the Varnitsa monastery have always been very meager and barely reached the "subsistence level." The inhabitants of the monastery could not know what kind of grandiose and large-scale construction awaits them. The necessary funds for the construction of the cathedral were granted by Bishop Athanasius, who, from the moment such an idea appeared until the very end of his life, took care and carefully followed all the affairs of the Trinity Cathedral. It was this man who was able to carry out the plan for the construction of a magnificent Orthodox church.
In the Trinity Cathedral, two side-chapels were equipped, and one of them was consecrated in honor of the Monks Nikon and Sergius, who at one time were Radonezh abbots. The second side-altar was consecrated in the name of the especially revered Orthodox saints Cyril and Athanasius - the Patriarchs of Alexandria. According to the surviving written sources, the heavenly patron of Bishop Athanasius - the builder of the Trinity Cathedral - was St. Athanasius, while St. Cyril was considered the guardian angel of Cyril, the father of St. Sergius.
As for the interior decoration of the Trinity Cathedral, it is worth noting that no temple could compare with it in beauty and luxury among all Rostov monasteries. For example, even the Spaso-Yakolevsky church looked a little simpler against its background, because the Trinity Cathedral was at one time the most worthy and majestic cathedral of the entire city of Rostov. The vaults and walls of the cathedral were skillfully decorated with plaster cartouches, painted with magnificent paintings. Each of the side-chapels had a gilded carved iconostasis. Most of the icons were donated by philanthropists and were housed in rich silver frames.
The bell tower rises above the cathedral porch, which was originally built in three tiers and was equipped with nine bells. At the end of 1892, another - the fourth tier - was completed for the donated bell. Old photographs have survived to this day, in which you can see that in the first decades of the 20th century, the wedding of the bell tower was carried out with the help of an onion cupola, which was the same size as the cupola of the Trinity Cathedral itself. Today, the dome has a spire-like end, which appeared from the end of the 18th century to the 19th century.
In the middle of 1930, the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Varnitsky Monastery was brutally blown up. It is important to note that even the foundation of such a magnificent and large building was torn down - most likely, this was intended so that neither contemporaries nor subsequent generations could restore the temple or even remember it. For a rather long period of time, a landfill was set up at the location of the cathedral.
Today, the Trinity Church has been rebuilt and is operational, which was achieved thanks to the efforts of the monastic brethren at the Varnitsky Monastery. A large number of volunteers and benefactors also joined in the restoration of the cathedral. The last large-scale construction of the temple, as well as the repair work carried out in the internal and external decoration of the temple, date back to mid-2005, after which the Trinity Church began its fruitful work again.
