Rostov-on-Don is a multinational city located in the south of our country. In its place in 1761 the construction of the fortress began, which already in 1797 was given the status of a city. It got its modern name in 1806.
This is one of the most beautiful cities in southern Russia, which harmoniously combines modern buildings with magnificent architectural monuments. They undoubtedly include many churches and temples of the city. Today there are more than seventy of them. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.
Rostov-on-Don, temples: Cathedral
We recommend that you start exploring the places of worship of the city with the magnificent Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was built according to the project of the famous architect, the author of the project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow - K. A. Ton. All tourists visiting Rostov-on-Don are brought to this magnificent building. The temples of the city have their own characteristics, but the main cathedral impresses with its size and magnificent interior decoration.
The Russian-Byzantine silhouette of the temple is an architectural symbol of the city. The temple has five domes, and its general layout in shape resembles a cross. Of particular interest in the interior is the painting of pylons, vaults and walls, which was made by the artist K. Volkov.
The main iconostasis, made in the form of a chapel, crowned with a chapel and a cross, is also magnificent. The same magnificent altar partitions can be seen in the Preobrazhensky and Peter and Paul chapels. During its history, the temple had to go through a lot. For example, in the thirties, a menagerie was located on the territory of the beautiful cathedral. Today the Rostov Cathedral is undergoing a massive reconstruction, but does not stop working.
Staro-Pokrovsky temple
If you visit Rostov-on-Don, the temples of the city will undoubtedly amaze you with the variety of architecture. In the very center of Rostov, on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, is the Pokrovsky Square and the beautiful Staro-Pokrovsky Church. This is a new cathedral built in 2005. It is located on the site of a church lost in Soviet times.
Pokrovsky temple impresses not only with its magnificent appearance, but also with its exquisite interior decoration. The height of the cathedral is thirty meters; its shining gilded dome is ideally combined with snow-white walls and seven columns. Mosaic decorates the entrance to the temple, and handmade carvings - the front door. The interior of the temple, the iconostasis are made of white marble.
The old Church of the Intercession, located on this site, was visited by Emperor Alexander I, the great Russian commander Alexander Suvorov.
Temple of the Great Martyr George the Victorious (Rostov-on-Don)
In 1994, a rather modest one-story church appeared in a residential quarter of the Soviet district of the city. In the same year, the first service in memory of St. George the Victorious was held in the church. Since 1994, Priest Vladimir Ter-Arakelyants became the rector of the parish.
Over the next five years, the parish held talks with the city authorities on the full ownership of the building and the land adjacent to it. When the issue was successfully resolved, reconstruction began in the church building. In 2003, the Church of St. George the Victorious (Rostov-on-Don) found a new major extension to the old building. Until 2007, its decoration was carried out - painting the vaults and the altar with canonical images, decorating the vaults and walls with stucco molding, installing a metal fence around the temple.
Then, a second floor was erected over a part of the temple, where today there is a reception room and the abbot’s office, Sunday school auditorium, library and reading room.
Annunciation Greek Temple
As we have already said, the multinational city of Rostov-on-Don. His temples were created for different faiths.
On the main pedestrian street of Rostov (Pushkinskaya), next to the modern building of the Don Public Library, is the Annunciation Greek Temple, made in the Neo-Byzantine style. In 1909, it was built on the territory of the Hellenic charity. This is the place where the Greek church used to be, but in the sixties it was destroyed, and the Rostov State Puppet Theater appeared in its place. Today, the construction of the temple has not yet been completed.
Temple in the name of the Presentation of the Lord
Residents of the city and guests visiting Rostov-on-Don are especially trembling with ancient religious buildings. Temples of architectural and historical value are found in almost all areas of the city.
They say to the Don: "A Cossack without faith is not a Cossack." In the former village of Alexandrovskaya (now the district of the city of Aleksandrovka) there is a magnificent temple, the first mention of which dates back to 1778. Surprisingly, the temple building has been preserved in its original form. Only the bell tower was destroyed during the war.