Photos

This is Uspenskiy (Assumption) Cathedral, #2 in the list of the Seven Wonders of Kharkiv.

It is situated at the place where Kharkiv was established in year 1655. Now this is the very center of the city. The center is formed by conjunction of three squares (Proletarian, Rosa Luxemburg’s and Constitution sq.), which make something like the letter “U” on the city’s map. As the cathedral is located exactly in the center inside of this “U”, it can be considered as the most central building of the city. In addition, till 2006 it was the highest (89.5 m) building of Kharkiv. Now there are two 25-storied apartment houses (91 and 95 m) in the city.

The first wooden church was built at this place in 1657. The new stone cathedral was constructed in 1685 – 1687. On July 8, 1733 the cathedral suffered from a fire. In 1734 it was reconstructed and new gilded crosses were mounted. In 1821 – 1833 the new very high bell tower was constructed. It was higher than the highest belfry of the Russian Empire (Ivan the Great Bell Tower in Moscow, 80 m).

The hardest period of the cathedral’s history began under communist rule in 1924, when the antenna of the first Ukrainian radio station was mounted on the belfry. The radio studio was located nearby, and for preventing the tolling of the bells to disturb the radio translation the cathedral was closed. Latter the radio studio was moved inside the cathedral. At that the valuable wall painting and the unique wooden iconostasis (made according to Rastrelli’s drawings) were destroyed irretrievably. The radio station was working till 1941.

In 1959 the cathedral’s belfry was partly restored, and the new tower clock (the dial plate diameter is 3.7 m, the minute-hand length is more than 1,5 m) was installed. In 1975 the belfry cross was bent with a storm. The cross was restored only in 2006. Since 1986 a part of the building is used as an organ and chamber music hall, another part being as a church recently. Now the cathedral is still under reconstruction.

This cathedral is also shown in another my photo.

As #2 in the list of the Seven Wonders of Kharkiv the Assumption Cathedral along with State Industry Building (#1), Shevchenko’s Memorial (#3), Annunciation Cathedral (#4), Mirror Stream (#5), House with Spire (#6) and Pokrovskiy (Intercession) Cathedral (#7) will be reproduced as a statuary model in the new Architects’ square, which is now under construction to be completed by August 2009.

GPS coordinates: 49.99000 Lat, 36.23000 Long