The majestic Transfiguration Cathedral is of considerable age. It was built over 120 years ago in the then fashionable "Russian" style. Today, the Transfiguration Church is one of the few architectural monuments that have survived in Ivanovo, representing this architectural trend. In the XX century for 45 years the temple was the only functioning church in the regional center. In addition, for several decades it served as the main temple of the diocese. The townspeople fondly call the cathedral the White Church.
Cathedral history
By the end of the 19th century, an architectural style that imitated Russian buildings came into vogue. The architecture of the 17th century, interrupted by the reforms of Peter I, was very popular and was considered the pinnacle of the manifestation of national talents and spirituality. In the works of the old masters, the architects saw the main source of creative inspiration and constantly tried to reproduce in their projects individual elements of ancient Russian buildings, old engineering solutions and rich decoration. A clear revival of pre-Petrine architecture at the end of the 19th century took place not only in large cities, but also in the Russian provinces.
Transfiguration Cathedral from a bird's eye view
The construction of the new Church of the Transfiguration began at the end of August 1889. A wealthy Ivanovo manufacturer Methodius Nikonovich Garelin, the owner of a large textile manufactory, became the sponsor of the expensive construction. And the project of the temple was prepared by the famous architect Alexander Stepanovich Kaminsky. IN Moscow he was a recognized master of the late eclecticism style and was also famous for the creation of the first building of the Tretyakov Gallery and the main church in the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery.
The new stone church was erected for four years and consecrated at the end of August 1993. Three side-chapels were created in it. In the main one, a majestic three-tiered iconostasis was installed, and in the side ones, dedicated to the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and the Monk Martyr Nikon, there are smaller iconostases, in two tiers. The drawings, according to which the master carvers made these iconostases, were also prepared by the architect A.S. Kaminsky. And the icons for the church were painted by the famous master from Moscow Y. Ruchkin. In addition, the Garelin family donated ancient icons to the temple, which were kept in their family prayer house. The walls inside the building were commissioned to be painted by the icon painter I.V. Belousov. Later the churchwarden and his wife were honorably buried in the courtyard of the temple, opposite the church altar.
General view of the Transfiguration Cathedral from Kolotilov street
The new temple was intended for the residents of the village of Rylikha, located on the outskirts of the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk and known from scribes since the 17th century. When the church was built, the village received the status of a village and was renamed into Preobrazhenskoye. This settlement became part of Ivanovo in February 1917.
In the early 30s of the last century, there were many conflicts around the church, caused by the fact that the authorities allowed two parish communities to use this church at once - the traditional and the renovation community. To prevent the situation from aggravating, in 1940 the local authorities closed the church for believers and destroyed its interior decoration. After that, not a single functioning church remained in the regional center. This went on for almost five years.
Holy gates
In 1944, the townspeople turned to the state with a request to open a church, and church services were resumed there. However, this was not done immediately, but only in January 1945, since the premises of the church were in an extremely neglected state.
In 1946, when the local diocese was formed, the Transfiguration Church received the status of a cathedral, and its side chapels were rededicated in honor of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan and Nicholas the Wonderworker. For the next 45 years, the White Church was the only functioning Orthodox church in the regional center. Of course, one relatively small church was not enough for Ivanovo, because about 480 thousand people lived in the city.
Restoration and restoration work in the temple began when the Great Patriotic War ended. Gradually, the painting on its walls was renewed and the necessary liturgical utensils were acquired. In 1956, a beautiful three-tiered gilded iconostasis, carved in the Baroque style, was transported here. Prior to this, the iconostasis was located in the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Sarajevo, located in the Volga region of the region. It is interesting that in the old days this village was owned by the great Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov.
At the end of the 20th century, church life in the diocese was actively reviving. And the Transfiguration Church hardly fulfilled the functions of a cathedral, since it did not have sufficient size and adapted infrastructure. Therefore, since 2014, the Assumption Cathedral began to play the role of the cathedral.
View of the north facade of the church
Architectural features and interior decoration of the temple
The main volume of the temple is a two-height quadrangle, square in plan. It is completed by a low figure eight with five chapters, which are mounted on elongated drums. The central drum is cylindrical, and the side ones have a faceted shape. The semicircular altar apse is lowered in comparison with the main volume.
From the west, the cathedral is connected by a narrow vestibule with a slender hipped three-tiered bell tower, on which twelve bells once hung. The lower tier of the bell tower building is a fourfold, and the second and third are eight. The tent is decorated with two rows of rumors and a small dome mounted on a picturesque faceted neck.
The cathedral is richly decorated. The facades of the temple end with elegant triple kokoshniks, and the corners of the building are finished with graceful hipped-roof turrets. All three entrances to the cathedral are decorated with porches with hipped roofs with domes. All décor elements - expressive platbands on arched and rectangular windows, precisely outlined cornices, a rustic strip running along the plinth, and two-tiered kokoshniks give the temple a very elegant look.
Domes of the Transfiguration Cathedral
The main three-tiered iconostasis, made at the end of the 18th century, has a white background and gilded carvings. One-tier iconostases are installed in two aisles, which were made in the middle of the last century.
The interior of the cathedral is very well lit. It is noteworthy that the old floor has been preserved in the temple. Nowadays, you can see oil painting on the wall, made at the beginning of the 20th century and refurbished in 1986. The plots and painting techniques were copied from the works of famous Russian artists Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov and Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, and the ornamental convoy on the arches, around the windows and picturesque compositions was painted in the Art Nouveau style. The color scheme of the paintings has muted reddish-brown, greenish and white-blue tones. All this was typical for the design of churches that were built in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral
The pentagonal territory on which the temple stands is fenced. An openwork metal lattice was cast in Moscow workshops owned by the merchant M.I. Likhushin. There are also several plastered brick outbuildings within the fence: a two-story house, a parable, a one-story house for a watchman and an office, as well as a building on the south side of the site. All of them are decorated with simple cornices. Of particular interest are the beautiful brick gate located to the west, directly opposite the temple. They have a high arch and end with a small dome on a thin faceted neck. The elegant design of the gate is in perfect harmony with the general decor of the cathedral.
The current state of the cathedral and the visiting regime
The Transfiguration Church is active. Church services are held here daily at 8.00 and 17.00. The church has a Sunday school for adults and children, and a lecture hall.In addition, a women's choir, an Orthodox youth center and the Inexhaustible Chalice sobriety society have been established at the cathedral.
The church is actively working on social service. Parishioners provide material assistance to the poor, visit patients in hospitals and orphans, help those in need with money in case of accidents and serious illnesses. In addition, members of the parish community constantly participate in pilgrimage trips to Orthodox shrines in Russia.
Temple holidays in the cathedral are celebrated on May 22, July 21, August 19, November 4 and December 19.
How to get there
The cathedral is located on the street. Kolotilov, 44.
By car. On the M7 highway from the capital to Ivanovo, you can drive 4.5-5 hours (290 km). From the southern outskirts of the city you need to go along Lezhnevskaya, Bubnova and Arseniy streets. Then turn left onto st. Kolotilov, on which the cathedral is located. It stands not far from the intersection of Kolotilov and Proletarskaya streets.
The interior of the Transfiguration Cathedral
By train or bus. From the Yaroslavsky railway station in Moscow to Ivanovo, the train reaches in 7 hours. The railway station is located in the central part of Ivanovo. In addition, it takes 6 hours to get from the Central Bus Station in Moscow near the Shchelkovskaya metro station to Ivanovo by direct or transit buses. The bus station in Ivanovo operates in the southern part of the city and is 6.5 km away from the railway station. You can get to the cathedral in the city by buses No. 12, 13, 32, 115, 116, 121, 150, trolleybus No. 1 and shuttle buses No. 24, 150 (stop "Preobrazhensky Cathedral").
Attraction rating:
