Saint-Znamensky Cathedral. Khasavyurt. Dagestan

Dagestan Khasavyurt, along with many Russian cities, can also boast of its magnificent Orthodox churches. One of the largest and most beautiful Orthodox churches in the North Caucasus, which is a monument of architecture of the beginning of the XX century of regional importance, is the cathedral in the name of the icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin, located along the street of Toturbieva, 121. It was created in neo-Byzantine style, which gained popularity in the late XIX century. The rector of the church today is Priest Valery Galkin. He said that this temple became the prototype of the Istanbul Temple of St. Sophia, but only in a reduced form.

Saint-Znamensky Cathedral (Khasavyurt)

This parish belongs to the Deanery of the Makhachkala Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The temple reaches a height of 45 meters and is named after the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Sign". It has an artistic symmetrical architecture, which is a huge and majestic cross-dome structure with nine domes, towering in honor of the angelic ranks.

Znamensky Cathedral of Khasavyurt was built for the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty. The jubilee celebration was later celebrated by the royal family in 1913. This grandiose construction was entrusted to the engineer of the construction department of Dagestan A. Kovalev. The draft with drawings was prepared by the deputy head of the construction department I. Ryabikin. Despite the subtlety and complexity of the external architecture, the masonry work went consistently, quickly and on schedule.

The construction of the Znamensky Cathedral (Khasavyurt, Dagestan)

The cathedral was built by the Cossacks of the Terek army from 1903 to 1904 for charitable funds collected by the residents of the settlement and Khasavyurt district. All the necessary building material (stone, brick and ceramics) was harvested in place.

Very quickly built the Cathedral of the Sign. Khasavyurt was preparing in all its glory to appear on the anniversary of the royal family. In the first years of construction, the temple sparkled with its splendor, as it had rich decoration, stucco and painting. But, like many churches in the country, it suffered a tragic fate. In 1939, in a hard day, the temple lost all its majestic decoration, it was closed, and then handed over to warehouses for fuel and lubricants.

Time of destruction

But the most terrible blow to the Znamensky Cathedral was a fire due to the careless storage of petroleum products in 1943. As a result of this tragic event, the whole interior was burned out, all wall murals were destroyed.

In 1945, he was returned to believers who, in a short time, managed to bring the temple in order and resume worship services with its own strength. During the time of Soviet power, the architecture of the ensemble of the cathedral was severely damaged and the whole of the territory was built up. In the 1990s, due to the outflow from Dagestan's cities and regions of the Russian-speaking population, the number of parishioners in the church was significantly reduced.

Restoration

In 2015, the work on the study of cultural and historical information at the state level was completed, which were necessary to ensure that the Znamensky Cathedral of Khasavyurt in 1903 was registered as an object of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation of regional importance. And at the same time, the process of transferring the church to federal ownership was completed. Then it was planned to create design and estimate documentation for the restoration work of the Cathedral of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin.

Conclusion

And finally, in October 2016, the Dagestani authorities announced the beginning of the restoration of the cathedral. On the official website of the Committee on Freedom of Conscience and Interactions with Religious Organizations it was reported that all the necessary preparatory work had already been completed. In the course of it, an agreed project documentation was developed and received, an account card, a photo-fixation of the monument was made.