For centuries, the Volga cities have been famous for their many Orthodox churches. The mighty river, which was the main navigable artery of the country, brought considerable income and made it possible for pious residents to erect marvelous monuments of Orthodox architecture on its banks. One of them will be our conversation.
Intercession of the Queen of Heaven
One of the most revered shrines in Syzran is the icon of the Kazan Mother of God , and this is no coincidence. In 1830, a terrible misfortune fell on the city - an epidemic of cholera, and only the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, revealed by her after the procession of the Cross carried out with her honest image, put an end to the disaster.
Since then, in the city on the Volga it has become a custom to make religious processions annually on October 22 in memory of that momentous event. The icon itself was stored in a small wooden church, on the site of which in July 1866 a new stone Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) was laid. The need for construction was caused by the extreme dilapidation of the old church and the fact that, due to the rapid growth of the city, its main church of the Nativity of Christ at that time did not accommodate all pilgrims. The remaining three churches in Syzran did not save the situation. A large and roomy cathedral was required.
Solving financial and other problems
To implement the plan, a board of trustees was established, which, in addition to the rector of the future church, included the most respected and influential citizens. Among them were representatives of the bureaucracy, able to assist in the event of administrative difficulties, and the merchants, who embodied the material basis of the entire enterprise.
When, after six years, the Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) was completed and consecrated, the final calculation of the funds spent during this period showed that of the seventy thousand rubles spent on construction, almost ten percent were received as a result of a circle collection. This is a fairly large amount, given that it was made up of dimes and dimes brought in by ordinary citizens and the local poor. The bulk of the expenses fell on the diocesan treasury and voluntary donors from among the Volga merchants, which for centuries have been famous for their zeal in matters of piety.
The picturesque design of the temple
At that time, when the Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) was still acquiring its future outlines, the creation of eighty-seven icons to decorate its interior and main facade began. This grandiose work was entrusted to N. M. Safronov, an icon painter from the village of Palekh. At the same time, a carved iconostasis was created, which was to accommodate the work of a Palekh master.
In 1880, when the walls of the newly erected cathedral gave the necessary shrinkage, Moscow painters E. Antonov and A. Storozhenko were invited to the city on the Volga. They painted the walls of the interior of the temple, combining the usual biblical scenes in such cases with a rich decorative ornament.
Further coming plans
Upon completion of the work, Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) became one of the most visited in the city. As the surviving temple record testifies, at the end of the 19th century, his parish numbered almost nine hundred people, among whom were representatives of various social strata of society. Mentioned even a few schismatics.
Pious parishioners decided to give their cathedral even greater splendor, and for this purpose in 1882 they undertook the construction of a bell tower and an extension to the main refectory building. Money was again collected by the whole world, and the missing amount, like the previous time, was made by rich donors.
The disaster that befell the city
Both buildings were completed and consecrated eight years later, but the transfer of the bells from the old bell tower to the new one for a number of reasons was carried out only in May 1906. On the day of the celebrations held on this occasion, no one suspected that in only two months the city would suffer the greatest misfortune in its history.
On July 5, 1906, a terrible fire broke out in the city, destroying a significant number of its buildings and costing the lives of many residents. Fortunately, the Lord did not let the fire spread to the newly erected shrine, and the Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) was not injured.
In the years of timelessness and modern life
After the revolution, Kazan Cathedral (Syzran), whose history in many respects resembles the fate of most churches and monasteries in Russia of those years, was closed. But the atheistic power did not stop there - in the following years, the remaining fifteen city churches also stopped working. Only during the war years, along with a small number of Russian churches, the Kazan Cathedral (Syzran) was reopened. The schedule of services reappeared at his door, but it was extremely difficult to carry out, because after two and a half decades of desolation, only walls remained intact in it.
Over the next fifty-two years, this temple was the only one operating in the city, and it was only during the years of perestroika that churches and cathedrals that had been taken from believers began to open one after another. Today they reunite people in faith and serve the search for truth and good. As before, the main temple of the city, which Syzran is rightly proud of, the Kazan Cathedral, amazes everyone with the majestic beauty.
The schedule of services posted on its doors and presented on the Internet resources notifies that during the week morning services begin at 8:00, and evening at 17:00. On Sundays and public holidays, two liturgies are held: early at 7:00 and late at 9:00. The schedule of evening services remains unchanged.