Majestic St.Sophia Cathedral turns 450.
28.08.2018 09:48
Today the majestic St. Sophia cathedral located in the centre of the Vologda Kremlin turns 450. Constructed between 1568 and 1570 under personal supervision of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the St. Sophia Cathedral Museum is a state-preserved architectural and historical monument located in the centre of Vologda. In the panorama of Vologda’s historical centre the dominant feature is presented by the city's oldest building - the St. Sophia Cathedral.
The St.Sophia Cathedral with its gigantic Bell Tower is the symbol of Vologda. Built under the order of Ivan the Terrible, five – domed St.Sophia cathedral is the first stone temple of the town. It is modelled on the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin. A bell-tower next to the cathedral rises to a height of over 78 metres (256 feet).
The St. Sophia cathedral was built in the pure Byzantine style, while the church tower nearby was built by a European architect in the Gothic style. It is topped not with the Gothic steeple, but with the Orthodox "onion" cupola.
The Sophia Cathedral frescoes rank among the highest examples of 17-century Russian art. The most spectacular display is on the west wall, which contains a vivid "Last Judgment," with Christ enthroned and Satan seated in hell at the bottom right. The frescoes inside the cathedral were made between 1685 and 1687 by a group of painters from Yaroslavl under the direction of Dmitry Plekhanov.
Vologda's St. Sophia Cathedral remains the most important exhibit for sightseeing. It attracts an endless flow of excursion groups from all over Russia and from many countries abroad.