The Saint Nicholas Church () is a 19th-century Eastern Orthodoxy cathedral of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first Chr ...
(UOC) and national monument in
Dnipro
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper R ...
, Ukraine. Additionally, it is the oldest church in Dnipro and situated on land that was formerly Novi Kodaky.
Design
The wooden church, which had stood since 1650, was replaced with the classicism-style stone church. The structure is made of stone and has a cross plan with a semicircular
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
and a substantially extended western section with square additions.
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many c ...
s with four columns adorn the northern and southern facades, while a two-column portico highlights the main entry on the western face. The layout shows a two-tiered, octagonal structure above the western porch. It is completed by a rectangular bell tower and sits over the middle portion of the octagonal dome, which is topped with an onion-shaped top.
2006 saw renovations to the church. The two baths with roofs had their shapes changed during the so-called reconstruction, and the only forged metal crosses that still stood in the
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an oblast (province) of central-eastern Ukra ...
were taken down. These crosses were examples of late 18th- and early 19th-century Ukrainian stained glass art. During the renovations to the church, these crosses were moved from the old wooden church to the newly constructed stone one. The preserved paintings from the early 1900s still sit inside the church.
History
In the settlement of Novi Kodaky, there has been a church from at least from 1640 to 1650. The little wooden chapel was covered with reeds and straw. According to Bishop Theodosius's writings, lyakhov was destroyed when
Zaporozhians
The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...
and
Tatars
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different burnt down the city and the church in 1650. This suggests that the church is most likely
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. The town was reconstructed and the church, now
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
, was rebuilt by the Zaporozhians in 1650.
The wooden Saint Nicholas Church was already referred to as cathedral in 1750. Regretfully, there is currently no information available on the architecture of this building; all that is known about it is that the image of the
Mother of God
''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or '' Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are ...
, which was carried there by an unidentified individual, initially appeared there. The image was allegedly already present in the church entryway in 1736, according to Semen Bardadym, the founder of the Novonikolayevsky Church. The picture was discovered a second time after the old church burnt down and was taken to a newly constructed wooden church, where it was initially placed in the sacristy and then transferred to the altar.
The actual date of construction of the new wooden church is yet unknown. It is without dispute that it was constructed following the previous church's fire in 1736 and before to the erection of the new building. The
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...
took two or three building seasons to complete. It is known that the new church had five priests in 1770 and seven two years later. The throne was reconstructed and the altar vestibule's foundations were refurbished when the temple underwent renovations in 1780.
The wooden St. Nicholas Church needed restoration and was in total disrepair by 1800. The uppermost portion and half of the structure were demolished. The decision was made to stop using wood. However, since building wooden temples was already tightly forbidden by government decree during this time, a prohibition on new materials was also established. Following much thought, discussion, and hesitation, the Novi Kodaky community decided that a new church, made of stone.
It was decided in 1801, instead of building a wooden church, to build a stone one with the consent and blessing of Athanasius (Ivanov), the archbishop of
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...
and
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...
. A charter was issued on 25 August 1804, for the reconstruction of the church. On 23 June 1807,
Ekaterinoslav Governorate
The Yekaterinoslav Governorate (russian: Екатеринославская губерния, Yekaterinoslavskaya guberniya; uk, Катеринославська губернія, translit=Katerynoslavska huberniia) or Government of Yekaterinos ...
priest Archpriest John Stanislavsky dedicated the area under the church, set the cornerstone for its building, and placed a cross on the location of the construction. The church's construction was finished in 1810.
The church was closed and converted into an ammo depot in 1933, according to the available archival data. The old picture of the Mother of God, was housed there before the church was closed. The church was opened in 1943 and remained open during the
Nazi occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
. Although there were smashed windows and shards of shell and bomb debris all over the walls, the monument itself was unharmed. It is believed that an altar dedicated to
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
Seraphim of Sarov (russian: Серафим Саровский; – ), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) �ро́хор Иси́дорович Мошни́н (Машни́н) is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerate ...
was previously consecrated during the post-war era. In the 1960s, the church's status was reinstated.
The church's parish life greatly improved when Archpriest Serhiy Kapov was named abbot on 8 October 1993, by proclamation of Bishop
Agafangel Agafangel (russian: Агафа́нгел) is an old and rarePetrovsky, p. 38 Russian Christian male given name, first name.Superanskaya, p. 24 The name is derived from the Greek language, Greek name Agathangelos, which in turn derives from ...
. It has undergone additional renovations over the next ten years, including the construction of a two-story addition and a baptism room. The church opened a parish school with a three-year curriculum in January 2004.
Mitroforny Archpriest Serhiy Kapov (died 8 January 2004), the temple's permanent abbot, was buried on the church grounds. The chapel was dedicated and ceremoniously inaugurated on 5 January 2010, the anniversary day, in honor of Reverend Seraphim. In the co-service of the temple and municipal clergy, Metropolitan Iriney officiated over the grand consecration ceremony.
Gallery
File:Миколаївська церква в Кодаках.jpg, The church in 2012
File:Миколаївська церква в Кодаках 6499.jpg, The church's main entrance in 2017
File:Памятный знак в честь 200-летия храма.jpg, The 200th anniversary of the foundation of the church in 2020
File:Частина дзвонів.jpg, Bells at the top of the bell tower in 2023
File:Південно-східний вхід.jpg, The church's
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many c ...
s in 2023
File:Фрагмент інтер'єру церкви 5.jpg, The church's interior in 2023