Description of the attraction
In the city of Alexandrov, on Cathedral Square, there is a majestic Cathedral in honor of the Nativity of Christ. In 990, the first wooden church was founded on the Alexander land, which was consecrated in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker. This place was called the Nikolsky Pogost. Over time, the churchyard grew more and more, after which a church of the Nativity of Christ was built on the eastern side of the churchyard. Later, as the newly formed settlement increased, the village began to be called Rozhdestvensky, after which the process of merging of the two settlements began - this is how the long Alexandrov Sloboda arose.
Since its foundation, the Church of the Nativity of Christ has been rebuilt more than once. In the period between 1627 and 1630, the entire territory of the Russian land was devastated, but in the inventories of that time there are churches in the name of the Nativity of Christ, as well as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. After Russia recovered somewhat from the Time of Troubles, in 1649 the Nativity Church was rebuilt, which significantly increased its volume. It was this church that became the cradle for the female Dormition monastery located here later. The settlements of the first nuns appeared, who were tonsured by the Monk Lucian of Alexander. After a while, the nuns moved to another monastery.
Records from 1675 tell about the state of the temples at that time. The Church of the Nativity of Christ is described by a felled cage equipped with a refectory; in the temple there was a chopped altar with four walls, and in the building of the church were exposed the royal doors, while the pillars and canopy were painted on gold, the deesis - on paints. Icons with images of the Nativity of Christ and the Savior at the Most Holy Theotokos hung on the walls of the church. In the crown of the Most Holy Theotokos there were pendants and various other decorations. Especially noteworthy were the image of the Vladimir Mother of God, which was painted with paints, as well as the face of the Yavlensky Nicholas the Wonderworker, both faces were gilded, and the crosses on them were silver. The face of the Most Holy Theotokos was painted with paints and had eight silver crosses.
12 years after the data of this inventory, in 1687, brothers Peter Alekseevich and John Alekseevich, belonging to the royal family, visited the churches of Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Nativity of Christ. In 1696, with the support of the ruling Tsar Peter the Great, instead of two churches built of wood, a large stone church was built, consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ. In the new church, a chapel was built in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In the early years of the 19th century, the Church of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God was added to the majestic Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, which was built in 1800 on the territory of an old cemetery. In 1829, at the Church of the Nativity of Christ, a bell tower was built at the expense of the merchant Fyodor Nikolayevich Baranov, but in 1929 the Soviet government destroyed it. In 1847, the space of the temple was significantly expanded. In addition, the church acquired a chapel in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and later a chapel appeared in honor of the Archangel Michael. During the 1820s and 1830s, the cathedral was rebuilt in the Empire style.
Today the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is a traditional ark with a main chapel in the name of the Nativity of Christ; the chapel of the Archangel Michael is not used now. On the site of the previous location of the bell tower, there are auxiliary rooms intended for kittor affairs and christenings. The altar part ends with semicircular apses, which are covered with conch. The temple part is covered with a sail vault.
During the Soviet period, the cathedral was closed, and during 1920-1990 it housed a theater and a cultural center. In 1991, the temple began its work again under Father George. In 2002, the drum was completely restored, equipped with a bulbous head. In 2003, renovation work was carried out in the building of the cathedral; only the chapel of the Nativity of Christ remained in the restoration stage.
