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Andreyevskaya Church


Address: 199034, St. Petersburg, Vasilievsky Island, 6th line, 11

Transport: metro station "Vasileostrovskaya" or trolleybuses 10, 11; buses 7, 41, 128, 152, K-124, K-186, K-309.

Andreyevskaya Church in St. Petersburg

Andreyevskaya Church on Vasilyevsky Island is one of the very first cathedrals of St. Petersburg. Interestingly, before it was built, divine services for the congregations of this region were held in the home church of A.D. Menshikov. It was from the Menshikov church that the iconostasis was transferred to the Andreyevskaya church built in 1732.

The church in the “new and about to become the main district” of St. Petersburg - Vasilyevsky Island - was implied from the very beginning of the development of this territory. Peter I planned to put here the Temple Andrey Pervozvannyy, but the plans stopped a little after the death of the emperor, and the first wooden church designed by Trezzini, which builds the Island`s Strelka, was built only by decree of Catherine I.

Interestingly, one of the first gentlemen of the Order of St. Andrey Pervozvannyy (the very first Order of Russia, established by the great Peter I) - Count F.M. Apraksin bequeathed a large amount of money to build a church. Since 1744, Andreevskaya Church becomes a cathedral, and a cemetery is located near it. There is a legend that Prince Dolgoruky, Princess Dolgoruky and petrovsky associate A. Nartov are buried there. In the St. Andreevskiy Cathedral professors V.K.Trediakovsky, M.V. took the oath. Lomonosov.

During a thunderstorm in 1761, the wooden building of the temple was burned by lightning. The iconostasis save, and from 1763 they begin to raise funds for the construction of a stone building. Empress Catherine and Grand Duke Paul donate substantial sums. However, the misadventures of Andreevskaya church do not end there. In 1766, a dome collapsed on an almost finished cathedral, architect A.Vista was arrested, and A.Ivanov was charged with leading the construction. The charges against A.Vista are subsequently removed (they prove that the cause of the crash was a brick of poor quality), but the opening of Andreevskiy Cathedral is constantly postponed for technical reasons. It will take place only in 1780, and in 6 years the belfry will be erected next to it.

Paul I commanded to strengthen the sign of the order above the entrance of the church, and from 1797 Andreevskiy Cathedral became the Order Church of St. Andrey Pervozvanny.

In the middle of the 19th century, donations of the merchants Timenkov and Frolov overbuilt the iconostasis in one tier and extend it, and the chapels are attached to the main building - Nikolsky and Uspensky.

In the late 70s. 19th century Andreevskaya Church is united with the Church of the Treh Svyatiteley, according to the project of A. Krakau, a chapel is replaced and a common fence is erected.

Since the second half of the 19th century, the largest parish charity organization, the Society for the Aid to the Poor, operated at Andreevskaya Church.

The October 1917 coup led to the desolation and partial destruction of Andreevskaya Church, and in 1938 its closure. As it was in those years - the room was used as an industrial warehouse, then as a repository of the Library of the Academy of Sciences and the funds of the institute and museum of ethnography.

Since 1992,Andreevskaya Church has been restored in its Orthodox status; now services are held here, which can be visited from 9 to 19 hours.

Church decoration

The temple was built in a mixed style, close to the Renaissance style. The main dome of Andreevskiy Cathedral is framed by four domes, the refectory connects the main body with a two-tiered tent bell tower (1784–1786). The walls are treated with pilasters and cut through with high semi-circular windows. The temple has not only a very beautiful appearance, but, according to art critics, its best decoration is a carved gilded three-tier iconostasis on Rastrelli's taste, 17 meters high (8 sazhen). In one of the periods of the history of the cathedral, even its roof was painted green (green - the color of the order mantle).

From the sights of the church at the beginning of the 20th century, allotments in the main altar were made of pure silver, weighing 115 kg (7 pounds), costing 26,000 rubles, the Gospel in a silver salary, weighing 14.5 kg (35 pounds), and the altar image of the Lord of Savaof, an excellent artwork (the author has not been established), as well as the icon of the Exaltation (XVII century) in the main altar above the southern doors with images of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Queen Maria Ilyinichna and Patriarch Nikon.

The ceiling of the church until 1897 was picturesque, it depicted God the Father. When repairing the church ceiling was painted over and the painting was lost. In the vaults, as well as in the central apse, a large number of iron hooks (loops) were fixed, the purpose of which is unknown. Experts suggest that they were used to hang lamps, citing the existence of such a custom in many churches.

On April 5 (16), 1797, by the decree of Emperor Paul I, the Andreevskiy Cathedral was given the name: “Cavalier I class”. Until 1813 there was a special royal place in it, besides, it became the Order Temple of the Order of St. Andrey Pervozvanny. In this regard, over the entrance to the temple were placed signs of the order, supported by angels (winged carved figures).

In 1848–1850 side chapels were attached (architect N. P. Grebenka), in 1857–1858 the interior was finished (architect A. M. Gornostaev).

In the 1870s, a heating and ventilation system was carried out in the cathedral under the project of D. D. Sokolov and A. R. Geschwend.

In 1878–1879, architect A.I. Krakau built a chapel and a fence at the cathedral (not preserved).

In 2001, an obelisk was opened near Andreevskiy Cathedral in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Order of St. Andrey Pervozvanny (authors: A. A. Kazakov and Yu. V. Gorevoy). In 2002-2003, restoration work was carried out.

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