Description of the attraction
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a former Roman Catholic church built in 1913. The church did not last long until 1929, when the Soviet government closed it down.
According to official data, the Catholic Vologda community has existed since 1862. In 1831, as well as 1863-1864, small Catholic groups began to appear, associated with the exile of participants in the uprisings in Poland during these years. In 1866 and at the beginning of 1867 in the city of Vologda, a home Catholic church or chapel was built, the priests traveled around the province. By the period 1873-1876, 512 Catholics already lived on the territory of the Vologda region, and by the beginning of the 20th century there were already 600 of them.
In the summer of 1907, the Catholic community presented in the construction and technical department of the Vologda province a plan for the construction of a stone church building, according to the project of the architect I. V. Padlevsky, and a few days later, the proposed project was fully approved. Also in 1907, the community received an agreement on the issue of permission and the beginning of the construction of a new church. For this, the city authorities allocated a small plot of land to the community on Galkinskaya Street. In August 1909, the first foundation work was completed, and in the spring of 1910 the foundation was consecrated.
In October 1913, the provincial construction and technical commission inspected the completed building and agreed to its full operation. The solemn consecration of the church in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross took place on October 27, 1913, and was carried out by Canon Konstantin Budkevich - rector of the St. Petersburg Church of St. Catherine.
The new temple, which has so renewed and beautified Vologda, was built in an unusual appearance, which combines the techniques of Gothic architecture and the motives of Russian Art Nouveau. The main facade of the building had a massive base, faced with granite and topped with a stepped pediment, as well as a low tower, which had slots of narrow windows and ended with a gable roof with stepped small pediments on the sides. On the plan, the building had a cruciform appearance. The side walls of the nave were cut through by two pairs of windows on two tiers: at the top with a semicircular end, and at the bottom with a rectangular end. The sleeves of the transept, which also had a stepped end, are cut through by a pair of rectangular windows at the bottom, and a large semicircular window is located at the top. On the side of the altar part of the building, along the entire width of the transept, there is a two-storey building intended for service needs, which perfectly forms a single whole with the temple. First of all, the extension served not only as a priest's dwelling, but also as a parish house and, most likely, as a sacristy. The rear end of the two-story extension had the same decoration as in the temple, made in the form of a stepped pediment. The general view of the temple is striking in its compactness and incredible elegance, which, even in modern times, distinguishes it from an advantageous side against the background of ordinary urban development.
The building of the most beautiful Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross belongs to the architectural monuments, as well as to the objects of cultural heritage of Russia.
During 1917-1922, a large number of Catholics emigrated or were simply repressed. At the end of 1929, the city council of the Vologda Oblast decided to completely liquidate the Catholic community in the city, as well as to close the church. Many believers filed a petition, but their requests were denied. After the liquidation, the building of the temple was transferred to the needs of the city Club of Young Pioneers.
In the winter of 1991, an agreement was signed regarding the lease of a building that was previously a temple. In 1993, the building was privatized, and it passed into the hands of LLC Miskolc. The Catholic parish of Vologda has repeatedly addressed and appeals to the city authorities with a request to return the building. But the conversions of Christian Catholic believers were not satisfied. At the moment, the building houses the entertainment center "Miskolc", as well as a restaurant.
