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RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
The Cathedral in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker or St. Nicholas Cathedral is one of the iconic tourist points of Chistopol, an architectural monument of late classicism or pseudo–Russian style. It is perfectly visible from the Kama River from the deck of tourist ships entering Chistopol, and it is definitely the main decoration of this small town and a place worth visiting. There is a church shop at the temple, you can put candles, or just visit the cathedral to get acquainted with the architecture and interior.
The cathedral appeared in 1838, a little later than the appearance in the XVIII century on the banks of the Kama River of a settlement called Clean Field, also known as Arkhangelsk Sloboda. At that time, the city had a cathedral and two parish churches – Spasskaya (1804) and Kazan-Bogoroditskaya (1900-1909), and in 1864 the Assumption Convent with a two-altar church was opened (1859-1869). However, to this day neither the monastery nor the parish churches have survived, only the cemetery Transfiguration Church and St. Nicholas Cathedral remain.
The cathedral was built with the money of merchants Grigory Andreevich and Dmitry Andreevich Polyakov, designed by architect Pyotr Pyatnitsky. The side chapels of the cathedral were consecrated in honor of the patron saints of the Polyakov brothers: the right – in honor of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the left – in honor of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. Later, in the 1840s, a church fence was built by architect Thomas Ivanovich Petondi. In 1901-1902, the interior of the temple was renovated at the expense of the merchant Ivan Leontievich Meshkichev. The project was prepared by architect P. V. Tikhomirov, and the icons were painted by Vasily Poshekhonov from St. Petersburg. The iconostasis was made in the workshop of the Kazan merchant Mikhail Tyufilin.
With the advent of Soviet power, St. Nicholas Cathedral was closed, but in 1932 the services resumed, but not for long. Already in 1936, the temple was closed again, after which it was used as a warehouse, partially destroyed: the bell tower was blown up and one of the domes was dismantled. Only at the end of the XX century the cathedral was returned to the Church, restoration was carried out, and services resumed in the 1990s.
🕐 Working hours
From 07:00 to 17:00.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
St. Nicholas Cathedral is located on a small hill near the embankment, Karl Marx str., 2 (cathedral on the map).
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Chistopol and Tatarstan with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: