The Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo is an Orthodox church in the Basmanny district of Moscow. It was built in 1845 by architect Evgraf Tyurin. In 1938-1991 it was the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church (officially – since February 25, 1945).
Since 1991 it has been the cathedral church of the Moscow diocese.
The main altar was consecrated in honor of the feast of the Epiphany, the northern aisle – in the name of St. Nicholas, the southern – in honor of the feast of the Annunciation.
The cathedral is the tomb of the Patriarchs of Moscow Sergius and Alexy II.
For the first time, the Epiphany Cathedral in this area was mentioned in 1689 in the books of the Patriarchal State Order. In 1712, by decree of Peter I, the temple began to be rebuilt in stone with a chapel of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
By 1722, the church had remained unfinished, and the parishioners, Colonel Voronetsky and Tsarevna Praskovya Ivanovna, daughter of Ivan V, allocated funds to complete the work. In July 1731, the church was consecrated by Archbishop Leonid.
As a result of the Moscow fire of 1812, which occurred during the occupation of Moscow by the French, almost the entire Bogoyavlensky parish was destroyed: out of 210 courtyards, only six survived. The cathedral was not damaged by fire, but was totally looted.
In 1992, after the Assumption Church received the status of a Patriarch, the Epiphany Church became a cathedral. The significance of the cathedral decreased even more after the consecration in 2000 of the reconstructed Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The Church of the Epiphany is a quadruple raised to a high basement, completed with five chapters. Its height is 56 meters, area – 1164 m², capacity – 3000 people. From the northern and western sides the cathedral is surrounded by wide galleries. Adjacent to the main building is a refectory connected to it, covered with cross vaults standing on four pillars. A three-tiered bell tower 65 meters high with 17 bells is attached to it. The largest of them was cast in 1900 at the Moscow plant of A. Samgin.
In the Epiphany chapel there are especially revered shrines of the cathedral: the miraculous image of the “Kazan Mother of God” and the relics of St. Alexis.
The large altar displays wall paintings by Afanasy Kulikov, made in 1912 and updated in 1947. Among them are the compositions “The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles”, “The Nativity of Christ”, “Descent from the Cross” and others.
The vaults of the refectory are designed with oil paintings. They contain gospel stories: “The Savior’s Instruction to the Disciples”, “The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus”, “The Conversation of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus” and others.
Address: Spartakovskaya street, 15. Metro: Krasnye Vorota, Baumanskaya, Komsomolskaya (radial).
Attractions around: Red gate Stalin skyscraper, Myasnitskaya Street, Academician Sakharov Avenue, Garden Ring, Bauman Garden, Kalanchevskaya Street, Lermontovskaya Square, Stakheev mansion, Hilton-Leningradskaya, Novaya Basmannaya Street, A. S. Pushkin library.
See also architecture of Moscow, churches and cathedrals of Moscow
