Description of the attraction
The oldest surviving church in Nikolaev is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. It was founded in 99 in the 18th century, and a year later it was completely built.
The construction of the temple was carried out with donations from local merchants, in connection with which it was also called "Starokupecheskiy". The construction was supervised by Archpriest Karp Pavlovsky. The total height of the cathedral is 38 m. The powerful walls of the temple are made of hewn shell rock. Initially, its columns were covered with gilding. Later, two side-chapels were added. The left side-altar was consecrated in honor of Saints Helena and Constantine, the right side-altar - in honor of the Bishop of Voronezh, Saint Mitrofan. In 1828 the temple received the status of a cathedral. In the year 76 of the 19th century, a giant bell, cast in Moscow, weighing over 8 tons, was installed on its bell tower.
The campaign to close religious buildings that emerged in the 1920s did not spare the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. First, the bells were dropped and sent to be melted down, then the bell tower was also destroyed. In 1938 the cathedral was closed, its building was given to the garrison officers' house. The Cathedral suffered not only from the outside, but also from the inside. Icons, frames and other church attributes were destroyed, the frescoes were whitewashed, and the structure itself, which could accommodate about 2,000 parishioners, was shattered with partitions.
The temple resumed its activity in 1992. At the beginning of the restoration, the main dome was recreated on the cathedral, and in March 1997 a gilded cross was installed on it. After that, major work began on the revival of the bell tower. Now the cathedral is a real spiritual abode for the believers of the townspeople.
