History of the construction of the Bogolyubsky Cathedral in the city of Michurinsk

Abstract

Today, the Bogolyubsky Cathedral is the main temple of the city of Michurinsk. The article examines the history of the construction of this temple. The history of the creation of the Bogolyubsky Cathedral dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when the Kozlov city society made a special decree in January 1848, deciding to erect a temple in honor of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God, and to found an orphanage near it. According to the plans of the townspeople, the thirteenth church of Kozlov was to surpass the magnificence of the twelve previous ones. They chose the project of the architect K.A. Ton - the Church of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, built in 1834-1842, with the agreement that the dimensions of the temple being erected in Kozlov should be slightly larger than the Vvedenskaya Church. The Church of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos was located in the city on the Neva. The Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple served as a prototype not only for the Kozlov Bogolyubsky Cathedral, but also for the largest Russian cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, built in 1889-1889 and designed for 10,000 people. The St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kozlov churches by architect K.A. Ton were the embodiment of a single architectural idea - a five-domed church in the "Russian-Byzantine style." In 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was blown up. The Vvedenskaya Church of the Semenovsky Regiment in Leningrad was demolished in 1933. Of this series of talented architectural works by K.A. Ton, only the Bogolyubsky Cathedral in Michurinsk has survived to this day. The Bogolyubsky Cathedral in Kozlov and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow have much in common in their architecture, combining features of ancient and new church architecture. The Moscow and Kozlov churches were distinguished by a two-tiered circular bypass, perceived as a monument of Christian antiquity. Both cathedrals have a composition in which the dominant role is played by a huge central helmet-shaped dome. The site for the construction of the Kozlov Bogolyubsky Cathedral according to the model project of K.A. Ton was chosen to be the Red Square at the intersection of Monastyrskaya and Lebedyanskaya streets. In 1771, as a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God for delivering the city from the plague, the Red Chapel with an inextinguishable lamp in front of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God was erected here.