ARCHITECTURE

PAINTINGS

SCULPTURE

BELLS

GALLERY OF MILITARY GLORY

These sections of the site are under construction.

A miracle occurred in Moscow on December 31, 1999. Despite the hard times, the birth of the new millenium saw the opening of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

There are three altars in the main church. The central one - dedicated to the Birth of Our Lord and two side altars located in the second floor balcony - dedicated to Saints Nicholas and Alexander Nevsky.

Patriarch Alexey is the Rector of the Cathedral while the assistant rector is Father Mikhail Riazantsev.

The reconstructed Cathedral was intended to be as close to the original in as many ways as possible. The architects and builders used every available source to research the original construction. However, two major distinctions exist between the original and the contemporary structures.

First of all, an entire new section was designed and constructed at the base of the Cathedral instead of the hill that the original Cathedral stood on. Today, this area houses the Church of the Transfiguration, the Hall of Church Councils, the Hall of the Holy synod, several Dining Halls (designed after similar Halls in the Kremlin), a Patriarchal suite, as well as many offices for the Cathedral staff and an underground garage. A special ramp allows both vehicular and pedestrian access to the Cathedral. Elevators were installed in the administrative areas and in the columns of the Cathedral itself.

Secondly, the newest technologies and building materials were used in the construction of the new Cathedral. For instance, the walls are made out of concrete faced with brick. The exterior is faced with marble from Koegla (Cheliabinsk regions, Russia), while the stairs and base of the walls are faced with red granite from Balmor (Finland).

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the largest cathedral in Russia. It can fit up to 10,000 people. The Cathedral is designed as an equal sided cross measuring 85 meters across. The Cathedral is 37 meters high without the main cupola. The main cupola is 28 meters high and over 85 meters wide. Thus, the overall height of the Cathedral is approximately 103 meters. The walls are up to 3.2 meters thick and the overall size is 524,000 cubic meters. Over 22,000 meters of walls are frescoed, out of which more than 9,000 alone are gilt.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior commemorates the Divine Intercession that lead to the Russian victory over Napoleon. Thus, it is both a religious and a historical monument. Therefore, the frescoes include both religious and historical figures and events. The two-story galleries surrounding the main church are devoted to the history of Russia and the War of 1812, specifically. Marble boards on the first floor commemorate the participants of the War of 1812. The frescoes in the second-store gallery depict various historical events and personages that played a decisive role in the Orthodoxy Church or in Russian history.

Clergy: The Patriarch is Rector of the Cathedral. Father Mikhail Riazantsev is the assistant rector and representative of the Patriarch. In addition, there are two priests - Fathers Nikolai Gostev and Andrei Ovchinikov and two deacons - Fathers Aleksandr Ageikin and Andrei Marushak.

Schedule of Services: Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy are conducted in the main Cathedral on Sundays and feast days. Daily services are conducted in the Church of the Transfiguration on weekdays.

Choirs: the main choir if the Cathedral under the direction of N. Georgievsky, a well-known church conductor and a youth choir under the direction of S. Koltsova, a graduate of the Moscow Theological Academy's School of Choir Directors.