Description of the attraction
The Catholic Cathedral of Divine Providence is the spiritual and religious center of Chisinau. The history of the creation of the cathedral began in the 20s of the XIX century, when a small chapel was erected on this site in the name of Divine Providence. The interior of the chapel amazed parishioners with its beauty - numerous icons, ornate molding on the walls, three altars, a beautiful sacristy. However, ten years after the construction, it became necessary to build a more solid church, since the chapel could not accommodate all the faithful. Since there were not enough funds for the construction of the church, a petition was sent to Tsar Nicholas I for the allocation of money from the state treasury. As a result, 20 thousand rubles were allocated for the construction.
The author of the project and the chief architect of the church was the architect, professor of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg - Joseph Charleman. The cathedral was built in the late neoclassical style and had the shape of an elongated rectangle. Inside, the temple was divided by rows of columns (six in each row) into three naves. In the main altar (wooden, with a stone throne) they marked the crowned icon of the Mother of God with the Baby Jesus in her arms. In addition, there were many icons and religious sculptures in the church.
In 1963, by the decision of the Council for Religious Affairs, services in the church were banned. However, it was only a year later that the believers were finally expelled from the church by force. In the fall of 1964, the building of the church was given for the needs of the school No. 56 built on its territory, where the Assembly Hall was equipped. Later, the building of the temple housed a recording studio of the cinematographic studio "Moldova Film", for some time a poetry theater functioned.
In 1989, after numerous petitions and appeals to the central authorities of the USSR, the UN returned the church building to the believers.
