What St. Volodymyr's Cathedral looked like almost 150 years ago: a historical photo of Kyiv

St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv was built in 1862-1882. It was built in the Neo-Byzantine style. The original design was developed by Ivan Strom and Pavel Sparro and later redesigned by architect Alexander Beretti.

The cathedral was built in honor of the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Rus by Prince Volodymyr. The network showed what the cathedral looked like 150 years ago.

St. Volodymyr's Cathedral is a traditional Old Russian six-pillared tri-apisidal church. Construction began in 1862 and was completed in 1882. Ivan Shtorm's project envisioned that the church would be crowned with thirteen golden domes.

Given the shortage of funds, the building committee commissioned architect Pavel Sparro to redesign Strom's project. Sparro removed the side naves, effectively changing the cruciform base to a cross-shaped base, and instead of thirteen domes, he left seven.

The final drawings and direct supervision of the construction were entrusted to Alexander Beretta.

The grand opening of the cathedral took place on August 20, 1896. The event was attended by Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra.

It is surprising that in Soviet times the cathedral remained an open church despite anti-religious campaigns.

During the Nazi occupation in 1941-1943, the cathedral was even restored.

In 1992, after the formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, St. Volodymyr's Cathedral became the property of this denomination.

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