The Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration (Спасо-Преображенский собор) is the main church of

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 293 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. It has been the seat of the

Tambov Eparchy The Diocese of Tambov (russian: Тамбовская епархия) is an eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. It combines parishes and monasteries in the Tambov Oblast. The main church is the Transfiguration Cathedral. History The Tambo ...

of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

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 ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

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 trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslan ...

region formerly known as the

Wild Field : This article can be expanded from the in the Russian Wikipedia 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 Samo ...

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

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest 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 Cens ...

. 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 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, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towe ...

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

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

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

Alexander Rukavishnikov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Ale ...

, 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 that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

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