Description Sampsonievsky Cathedral. Sampsonievsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg has something to surprise the tourist. Broken bridges, granite embankments and the cold ripples of the Neva created him the glory of the Northern Palmyra. Quite a lot in the city and various monuments of architecture. The northern capital, unlike Moscow, can not boast of a history that goes back to the depths of centuries, but there are also antiquities here. The focus of this article will be the Sampsonievsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg. This is one of the most ancient churches that have survived to this day. In addition to interesting architecture, the cathedral attracts attention and sincere believers, because you can worship the relics of the Monk Sampson. This is an active cathedral, the rector of which is appointed to the rank of archpriest Alexander Pelin. But the church also functions as a museum. The unique iconostases of the cathedral represent not only the value for Orthodox Christians, but also a certain historical and cultural interest. The monument to Peter the Great was also not accidentally placed near this church. After all, the cathedral is closely connected with the history of our Fatherland and its glorious victories.

Prehistory

For a long time Russia has been building churches dedicated to significant events. And these saints were dedicated to the saints, on whose day this date happened according to the Orthodox calendar. As an example, you can lead the church of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon. The day of honoring his memory is marked by the Orthodox on July 27. It was on this day in 1714 and in 1720 that Peter the Great won in the battles of Gangut and Grengam. By the same logic was laid and Sampsonievsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg. But the victory won by the troops of Peter the Great on the day of the Battle of Poltava (June 27, according to the old style - July 8) in 1709, was much more significant. In fact, it broke the course of the entire Russian-Swedish war. So historians assess the significance of the battle of Poltava. And since on June 27 Orthodoxy commemorates the Reverend Sampson of the Wanderer, the name for the temple was already predetermined long before its construction. Peter the Great did not wait for the end of the works and the consecration of that temple, which we see today. Finished it under the rule of Empress Anna Ioannovna.

History of the Cathedral

Peter the Great rightly believed that the memory of the Battle of Poltava should remain in the memory of the entire Russian people. Therefore, immediately after the victory, he gave instructions to build the Sampsonievsky Cathedral. The place for him was chosen with a hint. A year later, on the side of the road leading to Vyborg - towards Sweden, a wooden church was erected. In the same 1710, it was consecrated and named after Sampson the Stranger. Now on the site of this original church there is a chapel of the cathedral. Since it was located outside the city of the eighteenth century, it was decided to establish a new cemetery. Eighteen years later, in 1728, the construction of a new stone building began. However, as often happens in Russia, the money allocated for building the building was not enough. The construction was frozen and continued only under Anna Ioanovna. The building was consecrated in 1740.

Sampsonievsky Cathedral-Museum

Before the October Revolution, the building of the church was repeatedly repaired. So, in the 1830s, the church interior was reconstructed, during which the cast-iron floor was replaced by a stone one. The cathedral complex suffered during the revolution. In 1933, all the bells were removed from the belfry except one, which was later damaged, in February 1942, because of the impact of the projectile. In 1938 the cathedral was closed. For a long time there was a store of ready-made clothes. In 2000, the museum-monument "Sampsonievsky Cathedral" was finally opened. The next two years the restorers worked on restoring the decorative painting of the walls of the main nave. We have already mentioned that the Sampsonievsky Cathedral is an active Orthodox church. The first Liturgy was held following the re-consecration of the church on May 21, 2002. Now the divine services are held there daily.

Sampsonievsky Cathedral: how to get

Anyway, a church built outside the city became one of the oldest preserved in St. Petersburg. It, as well as the monument to Peter the Great, located nearby, are among the top ten "mast" objects of the Northern capital. What is the address of this landmark? Where is the Sampsonievsky Cathedral on the map of the city? St. Petersburg, Bolshoy Sampsonievsky Prospekt (now called the Vyborg Tract), 41. To get to a church that has long become urban, not marginal, is very simple. The easiest way to get there by metro. We must go to the station "Vyborgskaya". This is the north-west direction from the center. At this time Sampsonievskaya church is administratively part of the museum at the St. Isaac's Cathedral. It is a whole architectural complex. It includes the cathedral itself, the bell tower, the chapel and the mass grave - all that remains of the once vast cemetery.

Stone church

The whole architectural complex is painted harmoniously in light blue color. However, the buildings are built at different times and different styles. The stone building of the Sampsonievsky Cathedral and the bell tower were completed in 1740. The architect remained unknown. Scientists can only assume that the author of these structures was either Mikhail Zemtsov or Giuseppe Trezzini. The uniqueness of the cathedral building is a mixture of styles. It traces both pre-Petrine architectural forms, as well as elements called specialists of the "Annenian Baroque" (named after the Empress Anna Ioannovna). Originally, the temple was crowned with one large dome on a faceted high drum. But in 1761 four small chapters were stuck to it. Such a roof - five onion domes - look rather unusual. The building is built of bricks on a limestone foundation. The height of the cathedral to the eaves is eight meters, and to the crest crowning the dome is thirty-five meters. The refectory adjoins the temple.

Bell tower

It is, most likely, the brainchild of the same architect who built the Sampsonievsky Cathedral. The belfry is unique for St. Petersburg, because it bears elements of the Russian style of the pre-Petrine era. The building is divided into three tiers. The lower one seems wider due to two lateral annexes. It has an opening in the form of an arch. The upper tiers are made in the Tuscan style. On the second floor there are decorative "false windows". In the third tier of the belfry there is a bell of the 18th century. Crowned all this structure is a tent with eight facets. There are also false windows on it, over which the bulbous makowa with a cross towers. This bell tower is absolutely atypical for St. Petersburg, but very familiar to the inhabitants of ancient Russian cities - Yaroslavl, Moscow, Solikamsk and others.

Chapel

It stands at the site of the original Sampsonievsky Cathedral in 1710. When the wooden building was dilapidated, and the population of the diocese increased so much that it could no longer fit into a small church, it was decided to build a stone church. The wooden cathedral was dismantled, and the site was cleared. But only in 1909 it was built a chapel. This building is noticeably different in style from the cathedral and bell tower. It was built by the architect AP Aplaksin, to which the works of FB Rastrelli served as a model. Specialists call this style Elizabethan baroque and note that it was applied much later than its time. The bell tower looks older than it really is. The appearance of the eighteenth century building is given to it by a pair of corner columns, a rounded pediment with the "All-Seeing Eye of the Lord," and a lantern with a bulbous dome. Perhaps such a fake "under the old days" was dictated by the need to place the chapel directly near the cathedral of the eighteenth century.

Cemetery

Since the temple dedicated to Sampson was outside the city, it was reasonable to establish a cemetery there. Previously, people were buried around their parish church. The suburbs' suburbs were small, and the place was empty. Then it was decided to bury there foreigners who died in Russia. After all, they are a kind of wanderers who left this world in a foreign land. Hence, they must be custodian of Sampson's Wanderer. Thus, here found the last refuge of famous masters who built and decorated Petersburg. Sampsonievsky Cathedral was the place of rest of the architects Giuseppe Trezzini, A. Schluter, G. Mattarnovi, J.-B. Leblon, sculptor K. Rastrelli, painters S.Torelli and L.Karavak. Unfortunately, the cemetery is not preserved. In 1885, by decree of the Empress Catherine the Second, it was liquidated, and in its place was left only the mass grave of the opponents of Biron, P. Yeropkin, A. Khrushchov and A. Volynsky, executed on June 27, 1740. On the site of their burial there is a monument with a bas-relief of the work of the architect M. Shchurupov and sculptor A. Opekushin.

Iconostases

The mixture of styles, characteristic of the exterior decoration of the temple, is observed in its interiors. "Annensky Baroque" can be traced in the three iconostases of the Sampsonievsky Cathedral. Of particular value is the main one, located in the central nave. It is an amazing masterpiece of Russian icon painting of the early eighteenth century. The main frame is made of pine, and the details of the decor are made of lime. In the southern side-chapel (Archistrategus Michael) and northern (John the Theologian) there are small iconostases on four tiers. They are more modest in size, but not inferior to the main in terms of artistic value. Visitors are wondering how such iconostases could have survived at the cathedral with a difficult history, which was visited by a vegetable warehouse and a clothing store. Almost two thirds of the paintings for the church gates were returned to the temple by A. Suvorov's museum.

Monument to Peter the Great

On the day of the celebration of the bicentenary of the Battle of Poltava (1909), it was decided to open a sculpture to the winner in this battle. For this, the remnants of the Sampsonievsky Cathedral cemetery were cleared. The monument to Peter the Great was made by the sculptor M.M. Antokolsky and the architect NE Lansere. At the same time, memorial plaques were opened on the southern and northern facades of the church, where the words of the king were carved out to their soldiers before and after the Battle of Poltava. However, in 1938 the monument to Peter the Great was dismantled. And only many years later, in May 2003, this sights of St. Petersburg were again cast by the author's model and placed in the same place - in front of the bell tower. Money for this was allocated by the museum "St. Isaac's Cathedral".

Interior decoration

In addition to the iconostasis, interesting wall paintings of the church were preserved. The most vivid picture is in the main nave. She depicts Peter the Great as the winner of the Poltava battle. Also interesting are the graphic compositions "God of Hosts" and "The Symbol of Faith", located on the eastern and western walls of the refectory. These paintings date from the end of the eighteenth century. Until the end of the nineteenth century, it was possible to see fragments of the icon of the Sampsonievsky Cathedral, in which were placed pieces of the Robe of the Lord, a stone from under His feet and the relics of holy saints. These shrines were housed in silver ark. And the icon was crowned with crayfish, on which were depicted the faces of those whose relics are kept in the temple.