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St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod - a thousand-year-old masterpiece

Veliky Novgorod is an ancient city, for 12 centuries it stands on the shore of Lake Ilmen. Sights to suit the city: the Kremlin red-brick tower, the walls with loopholes double the age of the Moscow Kremlin. Museum of Vitoslavlitsy in the open air, where wooden huts and houses from previous centuries are collected, Yaroslav's Court on the other bank of the River Volkhva, the Church of the Savior-Transfiguration with the immortal frescoes of the iconographer Theophanes the Greek - in these sights the art of Veliky Novgorod is concentrated.

The main attraction is the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, a white-stone masterpiece of church architecture. There is a temple in the middle of the Novgorod Kremlin from 1050, almost a thousand years, since it was built by Kiev masters by order of Novgorod Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaroslav the Wise. The history of the creation of the St. Sophia Cathedral is connected with a wooden temple burnt in the fire about 13 domes, built of oak in 989. He called Vladimir's father and Princess Irina right after the fire, waited for their arrival and with the parental blessing laid the future temple, St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod.

Built the cathedral for five long years and consecrated the temple immediately, without delay, although there was no interior decoration - no icons, no iconostasis. The paintings were made in 1109, and the icons were collected at different times. In general, these were icons of the 14th-16th centuries. At present, there are three full-scale iconostases in the Sophia Cathedral, the main icon is the "Sign of the Mother of God". Then three icons of the festive series: the Great Anthony, Sanctified Sawa and the Great Euphemia. A special place is occupied by Sofia - God's Wisdom, dating from the 15th century, and Tee The icon of the Virgin of the XVI century.

St. Sophia's Cathedral in Novgorod is a five-domed cathedral with one staircase tower, which also carries a dome. The central dome is gilded, the others are leaden. Their form is traditional for Russian churches: it precisely repeats the contour of the hero's helmet. The cathedral is surrounded by galleries from all sides, except the eastern, altar side. On the eastern side are three apses: pentahedral in the center and two lateral semicircular. Galleries carry in themselves side-altars: the south - the Nativity of the Virgin, the northern - the John the Theologian. In the western wing of the northern gallery is another chapel - Beheading of John the Baptist.

The upper part of the cathedral combined, the roof is divided into semicircular pommel - zakomary and gable, the so-called "forceps". As for the church interior, because of the massive pillars inside it is rather cramped, although the tightness in the temple is a relative concept. The cathedral gives the impression of a monolithic structure, and this is understandable, since all the walls of Sofia have a thickness of 1.3 meters, which is not found in any Russian temple. St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is unique in many respects, but most importantly - it is the oldest surviving church built by the Slavs.

At the highest point of the temple is a dove, cast from lead. He "sits" at the top of the central cross, at an altitude of 38 meters, and symbolizes the guardian of the St. Sophia Cathedral. According to legend, the dove should not leave the cross, for then the prosperity of the city will end. St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is the tallest of all such temples.

There is no belfry in the cathedral. All the bells are located in the bell tower, which stands a little further away. The main bell weighs two hundred poods, and the alarm bell is twice less, a hundred poods. In addition to large bells, there are several small bells in the belfry, whose task is to call on holidays.

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