Description of the attraction
In some way, the "culprit" of the appearance of the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg is Tsar Peter I, who created a "funny" regiment, which later became the basis of the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. It was this regiment in 1741 that helped Peter's daughter, Elizabeth, to carry out a palace coup and become an empress. A few days after the coup, Elizabeth, in memory of this great event, commanded to build a church in the location of the regiment's barracks, as a token of gratitude to the Lord for the great mercy shown to her.
Since 1743, in the Preobrazhenskie Sloboda under the leadership of the best architects of St. Petersburg Mikhail Zemtsov, Dominico Trezzini, Francesco Rastrelli, a stone church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord was being built. The Empress personally laid the foundation stone of this cathedral, took an active part in its construction, from control over the design, when she introduced more and more wishes and proposals, to direct supervision of the construction process. It was at her direction that the cathedral was designed in the image of the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin with a five-domed end, which is traditional for Russian churches. In 1754, in the presence of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the solemn consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral took place, which was named the regimental cathedral. In 1796, Emperor Paul I ordered to call the temple "the cathedral of all the guards."
In 1825, the cathedral, considered at that time the most magnificent, one of the best in St. Petersburg, caught fire due to the negligence of the workers who were repairing the dome of the cathedral. The flames raged for eight hours, and as a result, only the walls remained of the building. The dedication of the servants of the temple and parishioners helped to save the main shrines of the temple. The restoration of the temple began immediately by order of Tsar Alexander I. The famous architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov was appointed as the project manager.
While recreating the Transfiguration Cathedral, the architect tried not to deviate from the appearance and forms of the temple designed by Zemtsov. But he also made changes in accordance with his vision, the dictates of the time and the traditions of classical architecture: the western facade was decorated with a twelve-meter four-column portico with a pediment, the central and side domes of the cathedral were given hemispherical outlines, and the interior changed significantly. The magnificent iconostasis and altar canopy, created according to Stasov's drawings, are decorated with pilasters and columns of the Corinthian order. In the center of the vault of the main dome, which is painted to match the color of the sky, there is a star with diverging rays. The temple is illuminated through high semicircular windows, its walls are decorated with panels with military attributes, the central drum is decorated with bas-reliefs - garlands with heads of cherubs. In terms of the cathedral is a twenty-four-sided cross. The main dome is crowned with an eight-meter cross.
The iconostasis of the cathedral is a wooden four-tiered one - it looks like a triumphal arch with a hemispherical vault above the royal gates. It is decorated with gilded carvings on a white background. The icons for the iconostasis were painted by outstanding masters - V. Shebuyev, A. Ugryumov, and A. Ivanov. In the center of the cathedral there is a five-tiered chandelier for 120 candles, created under the supervision of V. Stasov, which still serves as an interior decoration. The belfry of the cathedral used to have 13 bells, but now only six remain. The total area of the cathedral is 1180 m2, and its height is 41.5 meters. The cathedral can accommodate up to 3000 worshipers.
There was not enough money for the gilded domes during the construction, but Stasov found a truly ingenious solution - now the domes shine with blued metal.
Around the cathedral, according to Stasov's design, a square was laid out, surrounded by a fence, for the construction of which the barrels of captured cannons taken from the walls of the captured Turkish fortresses of Izmail, Varna, Tulcha and Silistria were used. So the fence became a symbol of Russia's victory in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828. Inside the cathedral there is a memorial plaque with a list of the officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment who died in 1702-1917 for the glory of Russian weapons.
In 1886 the architect Slupsky, using donations from parishioners, built a chapel with stained-glass windows in the fence, “painted on zinc to protect it from dampness and damage to painting”. There is also a beautiful image of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, in a gilded silver robe, strewn with precious stones.
The magnificent Transfiguration Cathedral has never been closed, it has always been in operation since 1829. During the blockade and defense of Leningrad, the priests of the cathedral organized a bomb shelter in its basements. Nowadays it is one of the most magnificent buildings of the ceremonial Petersburg, and it is not without reason that it has long been the most visited temple in the city.
