The Kazan Cathedral

      The Kazan Cathedral was erected between 1801 and 1811 by the Russian architect Andrei Voronikhin. It was sanctified on the 15th of September, 1811. The cathedral was consecrated in honour of the icon of the Kazan Virgin. The Kazan Virgin was the Patroness of the defenders of the Motherland against enemies. It was a monument to Russia’s victory over Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812. There is a tomb of the great general Mikhail Kutuzov in it. He was buried in the cathedral in 1813. There are two monuments to the military leaders M. Kutuzov and M. Barklay-de-Tolli. They were installed in front of the cathedral in 1837. These statues were the work of the sculptor Boris Or­lovsky and the architect Vasily Stasov.

        The cathedral overlooks Nevsky Prospect with its northern facade. The height of the building is 71.6m. The length is 72.5m. There are 96 thirteen-metre-high columns in the facade of the cathedral. There are bronze sculptures in the niches of the northern portico. The sculpture of John the Baptist was created by the sculp­tor Ivan Martos. The sculptures of Prince Vladimir and Alexander Nevsky were created by the sculptor Stepan Pimenov. Christianity was adopted in Russia in the period of Prince Vladimir’s rule in Kiev in ap­proximately 988. The sculpture of St. Andrew was cre­ated by sculptor Vasily Demut-Malinovsky.

        The central entrance door is an exact copy of “The Paradise Doors”. “The Paradise Doors” were created in the middle of the 15th century by the Italian sculp­tor Lorenzo Giberti for Florentine Baptistery. It took Giberti 27 years to create his work. Michelangelo said that they were splendid enough to serve as the gates of paradise. Gypsum models of the doors were pre­served in St. Petersburg in the Academy of Arts. The founder Vasily Yekimov made the bronze doors for the Kazan Cathedral.

         The cathedral’s interior is the work of Vladimir Boro­vikovsky, Orest Kiprensky and other Russian artists of the beginning of the 19th century.

        The Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism was founded in the Kazan Cathedral in 1932. Now services are held in the cathedral.

 

Vocabulary

academy - академия

adopt - принимать, усыновлять

atheism - атеизм

approximately - приблизительно

architect - архитектор

artist - художник, мастер своего дела

bury - хоронить

cathedral - кафедральный собор

column - колонна

consecrate - посвящать, освящать

сору - экземпляр, рукопись

defender - защитник

design - проект

enemy - враг

enough - достаточно, довольно

entrance - вход

erect - прямой, сооружать, устанавливать, создавать

exact - точный

founder - основатель, плавильщик, литейщик

found - плавил; past u p.p. отfind

gate - ворота

general - генерал, полководец

gypsum – гипсовый

height - высота

held past u p.p. от hold - держать, владеть

honour - честь, слава; in honour - в честь

house - помещать

icon - икона

install - помещать, устанавливать

interior – интерьер

leader - руководитель, лидер

length – длина

military - военный

motherland - родина, отчизна

niche - ниша

overlook - возвышаться, обозревать, выходить

paradise - рай

patroness - патронесса, покровительница

patriotic - патриотический, отечественный

portico - портик, галерея

preserve - сохранять, оберегать

rule - правило, управлять

sanctify - освящать

service - служба

serve - служить

splendid - великолепный, роскошный

tomb - могила

(the) Virgin - дева Мария