Description of the attraction
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Irkutsk is one of the oldest churches in the city. The church is located in the historical center of Irkutsk on Sedova Street and is a vivid example of Siberian religious architecture.
In 1717-1719. a wooden church in the name of the Holy Trinity appeared on the Krestovaya Hill. However, the locals called it Krestovskaya or Krestovozdvizhenskaya. In the middle of the XVIII century. instead of a wooden church, a new, stone one was built. The temple was founded in 1747. Its construction lasted for eleven years. The newly erected church, like the previous one, was consecrated as Trinity, but, despite this, the parishioners stubbornly adhered to the name "Krestovskaya". As a result, it was this name that they decided to legalize. In 1757, a cold chapel was consecrated in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. In 1779, a warm side-chapel was built from the northern part of the temple. In 1860, the final appearance of the church building took shape, when, according to the project of the architect V. Kudelsky, a stone blind porch was added to the western side of the bell tower.
However, the main feature of the temple is not the original architecture, but a rather complex ornament that covers its outer walls with an almost continuous carpet. It is noteworthy that the ornament is made in a purely oriental style. The unknown master created not just a beautiful and complex decor - scientists suggest that some semantic meaning is encrypted in this ornament and its meaning has yet to be unraveled.
From 1929 to 1936 and from 1948 to 1991. The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross served as a cathedral. In 1936, services in the church stopped. The bells were removed from the bell tower, and then an anti-religious museum was placed here. However, it is thanks to this that the church retained its original appearance and iconostases. In 1943 the church was returned to the believers, in 1948 it was declared an architectural monument of federal significance.
Recently, the temple was restored to its original color, and local residents have to get used to its "new old" appearance. Today the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is not only a decoration of the city, but also one of the city-forming buildings.
