Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is one of the first brick buildings of Novosibirsk (Novonikolaevsk at the time of the cathedral construction) designed in Neo-Byzantine architectural style. The construction works continued from 1897 to 1899. The cathedral was closed in 1937 during the Bolsheviks’ struggle against the religion. There were attempts to blow it up that lead only to the collapse of some walls.
The West-Siberian Documentary Film Studio occupied the building in 1957. The new owners reconstructed the inner premises to satisfy their needs. The inside was divided into 3 floors, the wall decorations were removed and the dome was turned into a room. In 1989 the city authorities decided to return Alexander Nevsky Cathedral to the believers. Regular services have been conducted since that time.
After the cathedral was returned to the Church, it underwent a global reconstruction and is now close to its original look. To be precise, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral lost the partitions and was again decorated with magnificent wall paintings by modern artists. A bell tower was built, the domes were re-roofed and gold-plated, an iconostasis was mounted. The new baptistery has a baptismal font for full immersion. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral possesses relics of several saints, including a relic and a piece of the schema of Alexander Nevsky placed in the iconostasis of the left side-altar.
Nikolay Tikhomirov, one of the railway bridge constructors and the head of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral construction was buried on the territory of the cathedral. In 1971 his remnants were reburied at Zaeltsovskoye cemetery.
Address: 1a, Krasny Prospect (Rus: Красный проспект, 1а). The closest metro stations, “Oktyabrskaya” and “Ploshchad Lenina” are located 3 km from the Cathedral.
GPS:
Latitude: 55.019596
Longitude: 82.9227
Check out the full list of the most interesting tours in Russian cities.