St. Michael the Archangel (Nizhny Novgorod): description, history of the church

You can admire Orthodox churches in almost every city in Russia. And here is one of the most ancient temples - the Michael-Archangel Cathedral. Nizhny Novgorod is the most beautiful ancient Russian city founded by Prince George Vsevolodovich in 1221. The cathedral became the burial vault of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod princes. The temple operates today, the services are every day - the morning at 8.00 and the evening at 17.00, the rest of the time it is open for excursions.

A bit of history

Since the foundation of the city the cathedral in all its glory was located in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, built in the period from 1500 to 1518 years. Throughout history, no one has succeeded in conquering it. The inhabitants of the city under its walls, under the leadership of Prince Dimitry Pozharsky and his village elder Kuzma Minin, collected money and organized a people's militia in 1611 against the Polish interventionists who captured Moscow. The city has become an important trading hub in Russia since 1817. In Soviet times, he was renamed Gorky (after the writer M. Gorky). During the Great Patriotic War he was subjected to mass bombings, as he supplied the front with military equipment and ammunition.

How Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cathedral was built (Nizhny Novgorod)

The history of the temple is several centuries old. At first it was a wooden building in honor of the governor of the Heavenly forces of Archangel Michael, who in Rus was considered the patron of the Russian army. In 1221 it was consecrated, but four years later, in 1227, on the same foundation was built a white stone four-pillar and three-white stone cathedral, in which were three porches.

The building of the cathedral was once again rebuilt in 1359, and three centuries later, under the decree of the Russian Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, new construction was resumed. It was erected on an ancient foundation in memory of the feat of Minin and Pozharsky and about the Nizhny Novgorod militia. The cathedral was completely ready in 1631, and it survived until today.

After the coronation, almost every representative of the royal dynasty of the Romanovs came to the grave of Minin, because they believed that they owed him to Pozharsky, and if they did not save Moscow then the royal throne would not have been their ancestor Mikhail Romanov.

Great architects

The Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod) was created under the leadership of the architects Lavrenty Semyonovich Vozoulin, his stepchild Antipas and A. Konstantinov in a style quite rare for Russia, which was called a hipped roof. Its height reached 39 meters, and in shape the structure resembled a monument-obelisk with a four-sided volume, the walls were completed with three ornamental arches by kokoshniks. Directly on top of the faces, called zakomar, a tent with faces with a long drum and a small head was erected. The windows of the cathedral are slit-shaped. The belltower and the command post have still preserved the ancient crosses and their scaly outfits from figured tiles. The cathedral is quite good acoustics, thanks to earthenware jugs - voice (they were specially built into the thickness of the walls).

Test Time

During the fire in the Kremlin, which arose in 1704, the Archangel Cathedral suffered completely, and the services were restored only in March 1732, and was consecrated again by Archbishop Pitirim.

In the Soviet years the cathedral was closed, the building was turned into a branch of the historical museum. In 1962, a tomb of Minin was brought into the building, which was taken from the ruined Spaso-Preobrazhensky church.

The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel (Nizhny Novgorod), photos of which are presented above, in 2008 the monument was decorated with a monument to Bishop Simon of Suzdal and Prince George Vsevolodovich. On February 17, a lot of people and guests gathered for the solemn opening and festive liturgy, which was served in all the temples of Nizhny Novgorod, Archbishop Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod consecrated the monument.

In 2006, in February, the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod) was visited by President Vladimir Putin. In the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, he laid flowers to the tomb of the cathedral, where Minin Kuzma's ashes rest now.

The Michael-Archangel Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod, Avtozavodsky District)

In the middle of the spring of 2009, nine bells were donated from the Nizhny Novgorod deputies to the cathedral, of which the largest - Lawyer - weighed 530 kg, and he began decorating the belfry. Icon with a part of the relics of St. Prince George Vsevolodovich - this is the main shrine of the ancient cathedral.

In 2009, the St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod) was visited in September by Patriarch Kirill, who performed the funeral lithium, honored the memory of Kuzma Minin and presented the icon of the Virgin, named "Kazan".