Photo: architectural monuments, temples and places of worship, cathedrals and churches, other places, St.NicholasCossackCathedral, Omsk

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St. Nicholas Cossack Cathedral Erected in Omsk Instead of St. Petersburg

Architectural Monuments • Temples and places of worship • Cathedrals and churches • Other places

St. Nicholas Cossack Cathedral is the successor of Nicholas Cossack Church, the foundation of which was laid in Omsk in June 1833. It received the cathedral status in 1916. The original project of the proposed St. Nicholas Church, created for St. Petersburg by famous Russian architect Vasily Stasov in 1826, was taken as its basis. Local architects finalized Stasov’s drawings, changing some details of his project: such creative copying was normal in those times. The church was consecrated in June 1840. Three years later, the main altar was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas. This saint was considered the patron of the Cossacks; therefore it is not surprising that the Cossack church is named after him.

The cathedral construction was financed by Cossacks. In it they blessed those who served on the front and read a funeral service for the victims. During his trip to Omsk in 1891 the future Emperor Nicholas II called at the cathedral. The latter, one of the largest temples in Omsk, survived in Soviet times, but was long used for other purposes. In 1920 it was closed. After the war, the cathedral building housed the Builder Club, Victory Cinema, and at one time it was even a public toilet. In 1960, the intercession of the local intelligentsia saved the temple from demolition. By the end of the 1990s, the temple was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. And in 1991, during the celebration of Omsk’s 275th anniversary - new bells were installed in the cathedral.

St. Nicholas Cossack Cathedral Erected in Omsk Instead of St. Petersburg

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