Epiphany Cathedral

"One of not so many attractions in Orel"

Dimi Koan

"A very beautiful place, you can feel the special atmosphere. Maybe because the Epiphany Cathedral houses the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow", which is considered its main shrine. It appeared in the first wooden church. According to legend, a parishioner asked to bring here all the icons that were in the Gostiny Row of Orel shortly before a fire occurred there. During the Soviet years, the townspeople hid the image, returning it in the 90s. On October 14, 2016, on the 450th anniversary of Orel, a monument to the founder of the city, Ivan the Terrible, was unveiled behind the Cathedral. The Tsar is depicted on horseback, raising an Orthodox cross with his right hand, and with a sword in his left, pointing to the place where the Orel fortress was founded in 1566 to protect Russian borders. The angle is amazing!"

Ксения Хлыстун

"The Epiphany Cathedral is the only surviving building at the spit of the Oka and Orlik rivers — the historical core of the city, where the Oryol Fortress once stood.

In 1636, by decree of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the restoration of the city of Oryol, burned by the Lithuanians and Poles during the Time of Troubles three decades earlier, began. During this period, in 1646, a wooden version of the Epiphany Church was built. Soon, the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb was built nearby, and the Epiphany Monastery for men, known from documents since 1665, arose around the two churches. After the fire of 1680, the monastery was moved a mile up the Oka, to a higher place. There it initially retained the name of Epiphany, but was then renamed the Assumption Monastery — subsequently the largest complex of churches in the city.

The construction of the stone church was apparently completed before Peter I issued a decree in 1714 prohibiting stone construction throughout the country in connection with the construction of the new capital, St. Petersburg, where masonry specialists were being recruited.

In 1837, the building of the Epiphany Church was completely rebuilt and expanded. The church began to combine features of Baroque and Classicism. In 1900, the bell tower at the church was dismantled and a new one was built no later than 1912. The bell tower was built in the neo-Russian style, which was widespread at the time. Thus, the church combined features of three main architectural styles in the history of Russian church architecture.

With the advent of Soviet power, the cathedral was not subject to total looting. Moreover, in 1923, the Epiphany Cathedral was not among the 17 churches in Orel that were closed. But in 1937, an anti-religious museum was set up here. As is known, services in most of the churches closed by the communists were permitted by the German occupation authorities. Thus, the cathedral operated until 1962. In 1964, the cathedral building was adapted for the city puppet theater. The dome of the church was dismantled, the crosses were removed, the interior under-dome space was covered with a flat ceiling, and the interior paintings of the 19th century were plastered over. In 1994, the cathedral was returned to the believers and its restoration has been underway for more than 20 years."

Дядя Фёдор