Description of the attraction
The Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the main attractions of the city of Kharkov. The cathedral is located on Gogol Street, 4.
The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1887-1892. designed by the Kharkov engineer and architect B. Mikhailovsky. In July 1892, the temple was consecrated by Bishop Francis Simon in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin. The cathedral was built with Gothic elements: a high bell tower with a round rosette window in the second tier, crowned with a spire, stained-glass windows. In April 1901, an organ produced in Bavaria at the Etgiton factory was installed in the church. At the church there was an almshouse for all those in need, an orphanage and a parish school. A chapel in the cemetery was also inaugurated. Since 1915 Divine services were also held in the cathedral by Catholic Armenians who fled their country because of the persecution of the Turks.
At a time when Soviet power had already been established in the city, the persecution of believers began. In 1938, priests L. Gashinsky and K. Yeganyan were repressed by the organs of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and the cathedral was closed. During the German occupation, the temple was restored, but in 1949 it was closed again, and then transferred to the state. For a long time, the building of the temple housed the regional administration of the film distribution.
The monastery began its revival in the early 1990s. In December 1991. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was finally returned to the believers. In 2002, after the creation of the Kharkov-Zaporozhye diocese of the Catholic Church, the temple received the status of the Cathedral.
Today, a library and a Sunday school for children and adults are open at the church.
