The Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration () is the main church of

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It has been the seat of the Tambov Eparchy of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

almost since its inception. The original wooden church honoring the

Feast of the Transfiguration The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian communities in honor of the transfiguration of Jesus. The origins of the feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of three basilicas on Mount Tabor.' ...

was built in 1636 — the same year when the town of Tambov was founded. The

eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

was established in 1682 as part of a string of new bishoprics that were meant to promote Christianity in the sparsely populated

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

region formerly known as the

Wild Field Wild Field ( Russian: Дикое поле) is a 2008 Russian film directed by Mikheil Kalatozishvili from a well-known 1990s script by the late Pyotr Lutsik and Aleksey Samoryadov, and stars Oleg Dolin, Roman Madyanov, and Yuriy Stepanov. ...

. The first bishops decided to replace the wooden church with a bigger stone building patterned after a new Baroque cathedral in

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

. Construction works started in 1694 at the instigation of Bishop Pitirim and, due to a lack of funds, took 90 years to complete. The five-domed cathedral — the first brick church in the city — was decorated in the late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style and was consecrated in 1783. The church contained the tombs of St. Pitirim and other local bishops. It boasted several precious icons, some of them painted by Pitirim. Between 1929 and 1991, the church was closed to worship and used as a regional museum. The free-standing Neoclassical

belltower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church (building), church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many ...

was constructed in the 1810s. It was pulled down by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in 1931, only to be rebuilt 80 years later. At 42.5 meters, it used to be the tallest building in the Governorate of Tambov. The statue of Bishop Pitirim in front of the campanile was designed by Aleksandr Rukavishnikov, a well-known sculptor from Moscow. It was unveiled in 2014.

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Transfiguration Cathedral (Tambov) Tambov Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Russia

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Churches completed in 1783 Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance Cultural heritage monuments in Tambov Oblast