Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
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Closed: last Monday of the month
Moscow Museum Guide
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[edit] Description
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour has the official status of the main church of Russia. It is also the biggest one.
[edit] History
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was originally built under the decree of Alexander I, in memory of the victory over Napoleon in 1812. According to the first project by Karl Vitberg the cathedral was planned to be erected on the Vorobyovy Gory but unstable soils prevented this plan from realization. Tsar Nikolay I himself chose a new place and architect Konstantin Ton presented a new project. People from all over Russia donated money for this grandiose edifice and it was under construction for almost 40 years. Ivan Kramskoy, Vasily Surikov, Vasily Vereschagin and other best artists of those times decorated its magnificent interiors. During the Soviet times the Cathedral was blown up (1931) and a huge swimming-pool "Moskva" was built on its place. And after Perestrojka, in 1990s, Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov made a decision to reconstruct this marvelous edifice. Its "second" creation was completed by 2000.
[edit] Museum
The Museum’s exhibition shows the history of construction, demolition and reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, now the Head Church of All Russia. It contains priceless pieses of the exploded Cathedral, some fragments of the memorial boards with the engraved names of the heroes of the War of 1812 and the descriptions of battles, as well as some declassified documents connected with the demolition of the building. The museum is a branch of Museum of History of Moscow.[edit] Photos
