In 2011, the construction of the Spassky Cathedral, which stood here in previous years and was blown up during one of the anti-religious campaigns, began on one of the main squares in Penza, which was called Sovetskaya from the old times. About the history of this once revered shrine, our story.
Good initiative of the diocesan ruler
In October 1799, the head of the new, newly formed diocese, Bishop Gaius, arrived in Penza. His residence was a huge, empty until this time governor's house, opposite which the Cathedral Square is located. She clearly did not justify her name at that time, since there was no cathedral on it, and only in the middle the bell tower stood lonely, silent for the simple reason that there was nowhere to call for ringing bells.
At the place where the Spassky Cathedral (Penza) was subsequently erected, there was only a foundation, but of such a huge size that the arriving bishop doubted the reality of constructing such a grandiose structure on scarce county-level soil. As a practical man, he urged city men to reduce their ambitions and approach the matter more soberly.
With the world on a string
After the stone foundation of the future shrine was brought into proper proportions, its construction began. The Diocese of Penza and Saratov, on the territory of which the work was unfolded, was only shortly before that formed and was not able to provide any serious financial assistance to this good undertaking. No funds were found in the city budget.
It’s bad, since there is no money, but Mother Russia is holding on, over the centuries, overcoming this everlasting misfortune with the generosity of its merciful merchant. So this time, the Bishop of Penza did not lose heart, but, turning to the trading people, he himself was the first to set an example for them, introducing a hefty sum, at that time.
The beginning was made, and the merry merry chervonets flowed in a full-flowing river, and behind them a peasant's pennies, with a discreet but plentiful stream. To this day, parish books have survived, in which, among other benefactors, the two most zealous are indicated - Mikhail Semenovich Lyubovtsev, who contributed a thousand rubles, and Nikifor Petrovich Somov, who donated (for a joke!) Ten thousand.
The construction of the cathedral, which took three decades
Thus, by the grace of God and the cares of His zealous servant Bishop Gaius, the financial issue was successfully resolved, after which the Spassky Cathedral (Penza) began to be built next to the bell tower that had been erected before.
The work, which began in 1800 and was carried out without fuss and haste, stretched for three whole decades, but the main throne of the lower church was consecrated much earlier - already four years after the start of construction, and then regular worship services began in it.
The next important stage in the construction of the cathedral was 1812, when the right chapel was added to it, consecrated in honor of the Great Martyr Catherine. The choice of this holy heavenly patroness was due to the suffering that the Napoleonic invasion brought Russia. Nine years later, the construction of the upper church dedicated to the All-Merciful Savior was completed, and in 1832 a left chapel appeared in the lower church in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God.
After that, the Spassky Cathedral (Penza) found its final form. The only change to it was made at the end of the XIX century, when the bell tower was built on, making it more harmonious and corresponding to the general architectural composition.
Cathedral, which has become a spiritual and cultural center
The cathedral, once erected by the works of Bishop Gaius, for many years was not only a worthy decoration of the city and its spiritual center, but also became a kind of art gallery. Its interior was decorated with eighty large-scale murals on biblical subjects. Before the eyes of the parishioners, moving from the entrance to the altar, the whole Old Testament and New Testament history presented.
The creators of such an impressive exhibition were the head of the Saransk Art College Kuzma Aleksandrovich Makarov and a group of his pupils. The artist’s son Ivan Kuzmich also took part in the work, in later years, after the death of his father, repeatedly updating the painting and making certain changes to it.
The shrine bestowed by the sovereign
The Spassky Cathedral (Penza) was largely famous for the fact that it housed one of the most revered shrines in the city - the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, presented to Penza by Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich and miraculously saved her from the raid of nomadic tribes in 1717. Thanks to this, manifested through prayers before her, the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, as well as the many healings of the afflicted, the icon began to be considered miraculous, and crowds of pilgrims invariably went to her.
Wandering the shrine and its rebirth
When the turbid wave, raised by the October Revolution, reached Penza, most of the city's churches, including the cathedral, were closed. The Bolsheviks who seized power tried to establish a new religion based on the infallibility of the ideas of Marxist-Leninist ideology, and everything that did not correspond to its dogmas was mercilessly eradicated.
In 1934, by the decision of the city council, the Spassky Cathedral (Penza), whose address was 1 Sovetskaya Square, “at the request of the labor collectives”, was blown up. In place of the former architectural landmark, which was at the same time an adornment of the city and its spiritual center, there was only a dusty mountain of broken brick and construction waste.
In the years following the announcement of perestroika in the country, the Diocese of Penza and Saratov did a lot to revive their former shrines, partly taken from her, and most of them ruthlessly destroyed. Among them was the cathedral so famous in the past.
Spassky Cathedral (Penza): phone number and address
In 2000, the Spassky Chapel was built on the site of the destroyed shrine, and then they began to raise funds for the implementation of the main building. To this day, work has not yet been completed, and parishioners are gathering for prayers in the temporary wooden Annunciation Church at the Spassky Cathedral. Her photo is presented above. In it, everyone has the opportunity to make donations to the Spassky Cathedral (Penza). Phone by which you can obtain information on the progress of construction and the schedule of services: +7 (927) 289 23 04. The address of the cathedral under construction is the same: Sovetskaya (former Cathedral) Square, 1.