The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral

The Feodorovsky Imperial Cathedral is an Orthodox church located in the suburb of Saint Petersburg, in the town of Pushkin, on Akademichesky Avenue near Fermsky Park.

In the mid-1900s, the idea arose to build an architectural complex in the style of the 17th century on the territory of the barracks, called "Feodorovsky Town." The dominant feature was to be the regimental church. At the end of 1908, Emperor Nicholas II personally marked and paced out the site for the construction of a permanent church on a clearing adjacent to the park, not far from the Alexander Palace.

At the beginning of 1909, a temporary church was erected for the officers of the Consolidated Infantry Regiment and the Imperial Escort. The premises were found in the new stone building of the regiment’s training team. Here, the iconostasis of the field church of the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment was installed, received on January 13 (26), 1909. The church was arranged by Captain Dmitry Loman of the Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment. On February 6 (19), 1909, the first service was held in the church. The temporary church was consecrated in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Church utensils and vestments for the clergy were donated from Moscow. The icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, painted by Seraphim’s mother, the elder sister of the painting workshop of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, consecrated at the saint’s relics in the year of his glorification, was transferred here. Abbess Nectaria of the Seraphim-Ponetaevsky Monastery donated an exact copy of the miraculous Ponetaevskaya icon of the Mother of God "The Sign."

On May 24 (June 6), 1909, with the regiment moving to its summer quarters in Peterhof, the church was closed. Work continued inside. Prince Mikhail Putyatin created a drawing of a new iconostasis, which was made from June to December 1909. Architect Vladimir Pokrovsky decorated the church’s interior with utensils and icons created according to ancient Russian models. The walls were covered with canvas dyed reddish, stamped with eagles from the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Ancient icons were gathered in the church.

Additionally, the Seraphim Church housed revered relics. By blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir of Moscow, a particle of the relics of Saint Princess Anna of Kashin was transferred here. In December 1910, from the abolished fortress church of Shlisselburg came a 1700 altar cross with 12 relic particles and a Gospel printed in 1677, donated by Tsar Fyodor Alekseyevich "to the cathedral church of Archistrategos Michael."

After the completion of the Feodorovsky Cathedral, all utensils of the temporary church (except the iconostasis) were moved to its lower chapel and arranged as a cave church, preserving the altar of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The building that housed the temporary church has survived to this day (Akademichesky Avenue 12).

Simultaneously, construction of the Feodorovsky Cathedral began. The Emperor, by special decree, approved the Construction Committee for the cathedral under the chairmanship of Major General Komarov, commander of the Consolidated Infantry Regiment. Loman was also part of the committee.

The initial drawings were entrusted to architect Pomerantsev. The project was approved. On August 20 (September 2), 1909, the laying of the church foundation took place. The solemn prayer service was performed by Theophan (Bystrov), Bishop of Yamburg. The first foundation stone was laid by Emperor Nicholas II. However, soon after the foundation work began, A. N. Pomerantsev’s project was criticized. It became clear that the design was too large and cumbersome. Pomerantsev was dismissed, and the young Pokrovsky was invited instead. It is generally accepted that Pokrovsky took as a model the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in its oldest form, without later alterations and 16th-century additions. The project was approved on August 1 (14), 1910. Maximov worked alongside Pokrovsky.

The main funds for the cathedral’s construction (150,000 rubles) were provided by Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. They constantly monitored the construction and were present at key moments, for example, on February 26 (March 11), 1910, when the crosses were raised on the cathedral, and on March 4 (17), when the bells were installed. The total cost of construction was 1,150,000 rubles. Besides the imperial family’s contribution, the rest came from voluntary donations by merchants and industrialists.

The solemn consecration of the new cathedral took place on August 20 (September 2), 1912, in the presence of the imperial family; it was performed by Protopresbyter Georgy Shavelsky, head of the military and naval clergy. The cave church was arranged by transferring all the furnishings of the temporary church, preserving the altar in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov. It was consecrated on November 27 (December 10), 1912, by Seraphim, Bishop of Kishinev.

After all construction work was completed in October 1913, the question arose of painting the entire cathedral’s walls, as provided by Pokrovsky’s project. By order of Nicholas II, the painting of the Feodorovsky Cathedral was to be done following the examples of the Church of John the Baptist in Yaroslavl and the Resurrection Church in the Rostov Kremlin. The Emperor was presented with extensive visual material on these churches in the form of color photographs, copies of paintings, and more. Everything was approved.

On January 26 (February 6), 1914, by order of the Protopresbyter of the Military and Naval Clergy, the church of His Majesty’s Own Escort and the Consolidated Infantry Regiment received a new name — "Feodorovsky Imperial Cathedral." The Feodorovsky Imperial Cathedral was considered the regimental church of the Consolidated Infantry Regiment and His Imperial Majesty’s Own Escort, as well as the "parish of the imperial family." During their stay in Tsarskoye Selo, the imperial family attended the church on holidays and Sundays. In the cave church, the Emperor prayed during fasting days. Ordinary laypeople were admitted to the cathedral by invitation tickets, which could only be obtained from the palace commandant.

Situated on the highest point, the cathedral dominates all the buildings of Feodorovsky Town. The cathedral consisted of two churches — the upper church, with a capacity of up to 1,000 people, with the main altar in the name of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God and a side chapel dedicated to St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow (the arrangement and consecration of which had not been completed by 1917); and the lower church — the cave church of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The extensive foundation laid by Pomerantsev allowed, with a reduction in the cathedral’s size according to Pokrovsky’s drawings, the creation of a series of secondary low rooms for porches, chapels, entrances, and the sacristy. The main volume of the cathedral is a four-pillar cubic structure of the cross-domed system. The uniform wall surfaces are interrupted by slightly protruding pilasters, a light arcature belt, and molded Russian coats of arms on the royal porch. The facades are decorated with mosaic panels made in Vladimir Frolov’s workshop. The cathedral has several entrances located on different sides of the building, previously intended for different categories of visitors so that the Emperor and his family, clergy, officers, soldiers, and private individuals could enter separately, directly to the places in the cathedral designated for them. On the west side: the main entrance is decorated with a large mosaic panel depicting the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God with attending saints. Above this entrance is a small bell tower with three arches and bells. On the wall on either side of the entrance were plaques with the dates of the cathedral’s laying and consecration, as well as the names of the builders. The cathedral is accessed by a red granite staircase. This entrance was used on rare occasions during major holidays.

On the south side of the building there were two entrances:

an entrance for officers and escort officials, designed as three-tiered arches and decorated with a mosaic image of St. George the Victorious on horseback. The mosaic was restored by the mosaic workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts under the direction of Mashenkin;

a separate entrance for the imperial family to the cave church. This entrance was decorated with an icon (not a mosaic panel) depicting St. Seraphim of Sarov.

In the southeast corner of the building is an entrance leading to the upper church, previously also intended for the imperial family. It is designed as a stone porch with a tented blue roof topped with a gilded eagle on a scepter (an exact copy of the image in the Patriarch’s Chamber of the Kremlin Palace). Above the entrance are icons of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, Mary Magdalene, and Saint Queen Alexandra.

On the north side of the cathedral are two entrances:

the main one — in the middle of the wall, leading to the upper church and serving as the general entrance for parishioners and lower ranks in summer. Currently, it is also the main entrance. Above it was a mosaic image of Archangel Michael on a red-fiery horse in battle armor.

the entrance to the cave church, the soldiers’ cloakroom, and the boiler room (also called the entrance for lower ranks). Currently, above this entrance is a mosaic depicting St. Seraphim of Sarov, which does not correspond to historical reality.

Under the bell tower is a small door leading to the lower part of the cathedral. Small doors are also located in the northeast and southwest (to the mortuary) corners of the cathedral. The interior of the upper church was distinguished by the grandeur of architectural forms, the grand size of the round pillars, the height of the interior volume, and good lighting.

It had a five-tier iconostasis, made according to Pokrovsky’s design. The height of the iconostasis was 11 meters. The iconostasis housed icons executed in Moscow from ancient models in the workshop of N. S. Emelyanov (now in the State Museum of the History of Religion). The utensils of the upper church in the 17th-century style were made by the firm "P. I. Olovyannikov and Sons." Furniture for both churches was made by woodcarvers from Sergiev Posad. In 1914, Emelyanov began trials of painting the upper church. They managed to paint four pillars to the height of a human, but due to damp walls and the outbreak of war, the work had to be stopped.

In the upper church on the solea to the right was the Tsar’s place, with installed chairs; nearby was a door connecting the church with the upper Tsar’s room and the "Tsar’s" staircase connecting both churches. There, to the right of the altar, was the Empress’s prayer room. According to the original project by architect V. A. Pokrovsky, a cave church was not planned in the Feodorovsky Cathedral, and the space now occupied by it was intended for heating and changing rooms for lower ranks. The utensils and icons of the temporary Seraphim Church were prepared to be moved to the upper church. Nevertheless, it was decided to transfer them intact to the Feodorovsky Cathedral as a cave church, preserving the altar of St. Seraphim. The basement, previously determined by the laid foundation, was deepened and expanded for the church. Architect Maximov, assistant to the cathedral builder, worked on its arrangement under the guidance of Prince A. A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov. The walls have recesses for icons. All walls from floor to ceiling are covered with dark fabric, panels decorated with blue stamping with dark red flowers of ancient Russian design. Rows of lampadas were hung along the north and south walls, with a second row of lampadas closer to the wall.

The vaulted ceilings (about 3.6 meters high) are covered with fresco ornamentation in the style of the 17th-century Yaroslavl Church of John the Baptist, with a predominance of light golden ochre. New mineral paints were used for the painting, with depictions of paradise and hell on the walls of the vestibules, and the "firmament of heaven" on the ceiling. The painting was done by the painter brothers Pashkov and Shcherbakov with the participation of Vasnetsov.

In the altar, the walls are covered with light golden brocade without pattern. On the projection of the eastern altar wall was a row of small icons in slightly gilded settings. The tabernacle was a reduced copy of the canopy over the grave of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Due to the small height of the church, the iconostasis consisted of a single tier of local ancient icons supplemented by a Deesis. Among them were the image of Christ Pantocrator and the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God of old Moscow style; the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker; the Annunciation icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of "Ustyuzhsk northern style," made by Stroganov masters in Ustyug; as well as the 17th-century Holy Trinity icon and the rare Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. The icons were adorned with precious stones and pearls.

On the right kliros opposite the southern altar doors was a special chair indicating the Tsar’s place. Nearby was the "Their Majesties’ room," adjoining the southern part of the church, an elongated room continuing the solea. The room was decorated with icons, embroidered veils, and crosses. From the Tsar’s room, a door led to the upper church, and next to it was a small corridor that, bending, led to the altar. In this corridor, at the center of the bend, was the Empress’s prayer room. Currently, the prayer room’s furnishings replicate the pre-revolutionary ones. The Empress’s chair was restored according to drawings. Special vestments resembling streltsy caftans were made for the cathedral’s clergy based on Vasnetsov’s sketches. Vasnetsov also created sketches for the choir singers’ clothing and clerical vestments.

The cathedral’s parade square was considered the square in front of its southern facade. The imperial family always arrived at the church through this square. The square was illuminated by lanterns. Currently, the territory in front of the western facade of the cathedral does not belong to it.

On this square, each member of the imperial family planted an oak tree, seven oaks in total. Some were cut down during the occupation. Currently, only four remain. From the cathedral to the Tsarskoye Selo station ran a linden alley. In the 1950s, the largest lindens were moved to the reconstructed Nevsky Prospect.

The Emperor attended services in the cathedral quite often. As a rule, etiquette was observed: at the side entrance, the Emperor and his family were met by the ktitor — Colonel Loman, and at the entrance — the palace commandant. Then the imperial family entered through the side door to the right kliros; the palace commandant followed them and took a place near the kliros, ahead of the commands of Cossacks and lower ranks, who stood across the entire width of the cathedral. Sometimes the Empress went to a separate prayer room separated from the altar by an arch. Nicholas II and his family traditionally attended the Feodorovsky Cathedral before important affairs.

In 1917, the cathedral became a parish church; a year later, all metric books were transferred to the Detskoye Selo civil registry office. In 1922, the largest seizure of property took place. In 1925, the furnishings of the Cave Church were appraised and transferred to the Catherine Palace Museum, and in 1927, old vestments were seized for an exhibition in the Russian Museum Fund. Additionally, several thefts occurred in the cathedral, for which the "twenty" were held responsible. From January 1928, the church was one of the centers of the Josephite movement. Pilgrimages from other Josephite churches in Leningrad were regularly arranged: Archpriest Alexey Kibardin guided guests through the church, giving detailed demonstrations and stories about the cathedral’s imperial period. On April 21, 1931, representatives of the OGPU, during the arrest of Protopriest Nikolai Neidbailik, confiscated the keys to the cathedral, which were later found abandoned in the city square. On August 26 of the same year, the church was reopened.

The first question about closing the church was raised at the level of the Detskoye Selo city council in December 1932. The reason was the delay in renewing the contract by the "twenty" with the authorities. Additionally, reasons cited included the large number of active churches in Detskoye Selo and the need to allocate premises for a club of the Institute of Dairy Farming. On June 13, 1933, the decision of the Leningrad Regional Executive Committee was made to close the church. Officially, the cathedral was closed by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on December 27, 1933. The church property of the closed cathedral was divided among several museums. After transferring icons from the lower church to the Russian Museum Fund, it was found that most of them, considered genuinely ancient, were wholly or partially forged. The mosaic was painted over. The upper church was adapted into a cinema hall, with the screen located where the altar had been. The lower church was arranged as an archive of film and photo documents and a film storage warehouse.

During the Great Patriotic War, the building was heavily damaged by German artillery shelling. The walls of the northern and western facades were pierced, the roof covering was damaged, and the onion dome of the main cupola was destroyed. The staircase of the main entrance was dismantled. The archive located in the church burned down.

According to some reports, after the war, the agricultural institute arranged a vegetable storage in the lower church. In 1962, the cathedral’s annexes were destroyed by explosions. The building’s shell was used for training by climbers. From 1985 to 1995, the trust "Lenoblrestavratsiya" carried out extensive restoration work on the cathedral.

In the spring of 1991, the Feodorovsky Cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. That same year, the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, one of the cathedral’s revered shrines, was found in one of the Tsarskoye Selo parks. On January 15 (according to other sources, March 1), 1992, services began in the lower church, and on August 29, 1996, in the upper church. In 1995, the Feodorovsky Cathedral was included among the objects of historical and cultural heritage as an architectural monument of federal significance.

On September 4, 2009, two icons — of the Mother of God and Saint Alexander Nevsky — were delivered to Moscow from Amsterdam. These had previously been on the main banners of the upper church. To date, these are the first icons of the Feodorovsky Cathedral discovered in a foreign private collection. Purchased by the well-known Moscow collector Vozyakov, these icons will be exhibited for viewing at the "House of the Icon on Spiridonovka" in Moscow.

Source:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodorovsky_Cathedral_(Pushkin)