Resurrection Cathedral, Shuya

Resurrection Cathedral, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is the cathedral church of the Shuya diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The complex of the Resurrection Cathedral of the early 19th century is famous for its 106-meter bell tower - the first in Europe among belfries standing separately from churches. In 1891, the seventh largest bell in Russia (weighing 1,270 pounds) was raised to the third tier of the bell tower. It was cast in Moscow at the expense of the large manufacturer M. A. Pavlov.

On March 15, 1922, on the square in front of the Resurrection Cathedral, clashes occurred between Orthodox believers who opposed the removal of church valuables from the temple and government forces; Four believers were killed, several dozen believers and Red Army soldiers were wounded or beaten. These events went down in history as the Shuya affair and became the beginning of increased repression by the Soviet authorities against the Russian Orthodox Church.

Since 1991, the Resurrection Cathedral has been the courtyard of the St. Nicholas-Shartom Monastery - the Shuya Orthodox monastery, known since 1425.

Background
The well-known compiler of scribe books Athanasius Vekov in the inventory of the city of Shuya in 1629 says that the wooden and very poor Church of the Resurrection was a parish.

For this church in 1655, the icon painter from Shuya Gerasim Ikonnikov painted the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The Church of the Resurrection was made a cathedral in 1667 because of the miracles that at that time began to be performed from the newly painted icon, since then called the Shuya-Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. Soon after the renaming to the cathedral, instead of the previous wooden church, through the diligence of citizens, the five-domed stone Resurrection Cathedral Church was erected. In the inventory of the city of Shuya, compiled in 1709 by governor Yakov Sytin, it is said about the Shuya Cathedral: “yes, in Shuya on the settlement there is the cathedral and Apostolic Church of the Most Holy Lady of Shui, and the Church of the Great Wonderworker Nicholas, made of stone.”

Both churches were destroyed during a fire on May 12, 1770. After that, the cathedral was rebuilt again, and 22 years later it was broken due to dilapidation.

History
The construction of the modern church continued in 1792–1798 at the expense of parishioners. On September 19, 1799, Bishop Victor of Vladimir and Suzdal consecrated the cathedral. The miraculous image that survived the fires was transferred to the temple. Soon after the consecration, the cathedral was decorated with paintings, and the iconostasis with carvings and gilding, costing 12,000 rubles. The cathedral is crowned with five domes covered with gilded brass. The crosses on the heads are eight-pointed from the same metal.

In 1810, the Italian architect Jacob Maricelli began construction of the bell tower of the Resurrection Cathedral. In 1819, the bell tower, built to the fourth tier, collapsed. Construction was completed only in 1833 by a peasant from the Vladimir district, Mikhail Savateev, under the leadership of the provincial architect Evgraf Petrov. The height of the bell tower from the base to the tip of the cross was 49 fathoms 2 arshins, the spire - 10 fathoms 1 arshin. The spire was upholstered in white iron, and the apple and cross on it were gilded.

In 1912–1913, the temple was expanded: a new refectory appeared, and a three-domed church was erected above the western entrance.

At the end of the 19th century, the clergy consisted of an archpriest, two priests, a deacon, and three psalm-readers. There was a parochial school at the cathedral, opened in 1889.

Soviet years and current state
Monument to the clergy and laity killed while resisting the seizure of church liturgical valuables. The square in front of the bell tower of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov During the next stage of persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1922, Lenin, under the pretext of fighting mass famine in the Volga region and other regions, announced the seizure of valuables and relics from cathedrals and churches. A county commission was created to seize valuables from the Resurrection Cathedral. On March 15, 1922, a crowd of agitated believers resisted the seizure of valuables. Special forces units and Red Army soldiers opened machine-gun and rifle fire on the crowd. As a result of the collision, four were killed and ten were injured. On May 10, 1922, after a trial organized by the Bolsheviks, Archpriest Pavel Svetozarov, Priest John Rozhdestvensky and layman Pyotr Yazykov were shot. These events became known as the Shuya affair.

On October 2, 1937, the cathedral was closed by a resolution of the Ivanovo Regional Executive Committee.

In the summer of 1989, the Resurrection Cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. For several years, the cathedral was considered the courtyard of the St. Nicholas-Shartom Monastery for the Ivanovo-Voznesensk diocese. Daily services are held, paintings and iconostasis have been restored. In 2012, the Shuya diocese was formed.

The rector (as of January 1, 2018) is Abbot David (Semenikhin).