5/5 Inna A. 3 years ago on Google • 625 reviews
When
I
see
cathedrals
of
the
pre-Mongol
period,
I
am
amazed
at
how
they
survived
10
centuries
and
admire
their
beauty.
The
Transfiguration
Cathedral
is
one
of
six
monuments
(of
which
five
are
cathedrals)
of
the
pre-Mongol
era
in
Chernigov.
Its
founder
is
Prince
Mstislav,
son
of
Vladimir,
the
baptist
of
Rus'.
Having
reigned
in
Tmutarakan
(modern
Crimea
and
Kuban),
he
wanted
to
occupy
the
Seversky
“table”
and
for
this
he
went
to
war
against
his
brother
Yaroslav
the
Wise.
Having
won
the
victory,
he
settled
in
Chernigov,
made
peace
with
his
relatives,
and
in
the
early
1030s.
began
to
build
the
cathedral.
He
did
not
live
to
see
the
completion
of
construction
and
was
buried
unfinished.
The
cathedral
also
contains
the
ashes
of
Prince
Igor
Svyatoslavich (the
same
one
from
“The
Tale
of
Igor’s
Campaign”),
Igor
Olgovich and
other
Chernigov
princes
of
that
era.
The
cathedral
has
survived
to
this
day
almost
entirely,
but
was
partially
rebuilt
after
a
fire
in
the
18th
century.
Instead
of
a
baptismal
chapel,
a
round
tower
was
built,
symmetrical
to
the
left
ancient
tower
with
a
staircase
to
the
choir.
Huge
spiers
were
installed
on
both
towers,
which
distorted
the
ancient
appearance
of
the
church.
To
top
it
all
off,
vestibules
were
installed
in
front
of
the
portals,
which
is
not
typical
for
Byzantine
churches.
Take
a
close
look
at
the
façade;
it
is
decorated
with
unusual
and
elegant
brickwork.
During
the
restoration,
some
of
the
walls
were
deliberately
not
plastered
in
order
to
show
the
art
of
the
old
master
masons.
These
various
masonry
and
signs
were
sundials
for
our
ancestors.
The
temple
is
operational,
there
are
ancient
Greek
columns
inside,
they
were
brought
by
the
Byzantines
who
built
the
cathedral.
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