Description of the attraction
The Holy Trinity Naval Cathedral, or the Church of the Holy Trinity with side-chapels in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker, is located in the village of Ust-Luga, Kingisepp District. The history of the appearance of the temple is associated with the development of the commercial seaport of Ust-Luga, which became the largest Russian port in the Baltic. Simultaneously with the idea of building a port, the idea of building a temple appeared. The foundation stone was laid in 1993 and the church was forgotten for some time.
When the port of Ust-Luga began to develop, and it was necessary to start building a new city for its workers, the architects determined the location of the future city. The highest point of the city turned out to be the foundation stone of the temple. The management of the port developer decided to build a church on this site, which was supposed to become the first shrine of the future city. On February 9, 2007, the first meeting of the organizing committee to promote the construction of the Trinity Church took place at the St. Petersburg Naval Museum. And on May 22, a solemn laying of a capsule with the names of the temple builders took place at the site of the future temple.
A year later, in the city of Bari (Italy) on the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, an icon was consecrated for the Ust-Luga church. So the temple found its shrine. The icon depicts the Savior, St. Nicholas, St. Joseph, the Prophet Elijah, the Protection of the Mother of God, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was donated to the temple by the family of V. S. Izrailit, who is the chairman of the board of directors of Ust-Luga Company. On May 20, 2008, the icon, dating from 1816, was brought into the church, and the cross and dome were consecrated.
On June 17, 2008, the first dome was erected and the cross was raised. The second dome was raised to the belfry in 2009, and in 2010 12 bells were erected on the temple. The largest, "Blagovestny", has a height of 2 m and a diameter of 2 m, weighs 4.5 tons, the smallest, "Zazvonny", weighs 14 kg. In June 2011, the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God was consecrated, and in 2012, the icon of the Holy Trinity was brought into the church.
By the beginning of 2011, roofing and plastering works on the facade of the building were completed, and work began on the implementation of engineering networks. In 2012-2013, it is planned to carry out work on the design of lighting systems and external power supply. Work will also be carried out on the design of the iconostasis, painting of the vaults.
The construction of the temple in the village of Ust-Luga is at the final stage. The temple is designed for 450 parishioners.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral with the chapels of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God is being built in the Byzantine style. Being the spiritual and architectural dominant of the port city, it uses nautical symbols in its decoration. Now the development of projects for the iconostasis and stained-glass windows continues. Work began on creating a mosaic panel and decorative lanterns for the open gallery.
The temple is being built with charitable funds within the framework of the project of the Center of National Glory Foundation with the blessing of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. The temple complex, in addition to the building of the cathedral, should include a house for the abbot, a boiler room, a utility block, an auxiliary block, a store of church goods, a village cemetery, and treatment facilities.
The Trinity Church in the village of Ust-Luga is the third temple of Russia's Sea Glory in the Northwest, along with the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Epiphany in St. Petersburg and the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kronstadt. The Ust-Luga temple claims to be the largest in the North-West.
It is known that Nicholas the Wonderworker is the patron saint of seafarers. His family was engaged in fishing. When Nikolai's parents died, he handed over all the family fortune to the poor. On one of the voyages to Alexandria, where Nikolai studied, he resurrected a sailor who fell from the mast during a storm and crashed to death.
