Russian Cathedral of Christ the Savior" Toronto

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Toronto belongs to the oldest Russian parish in Canada. It was built in 1915 by the first Russian emigrants. The most difficult period for the church was in 1917, when the revolution took place in Russia. At that time, many turned away from the Church, believing in a new future. The Russian parish in Toronto collapsed in 1918 and was re-established only five years later. By that time, parishioners had taken seriously the creation of their own church, because there was no space for service in the church house.

For this purpose, an abandoned Lutheran temple on Glen Morris Street was purchased with public funds. In the autumn of 1930, Metropolitan Platon consecrated the hastily restored church. Restoration work continued until 1980. There was no support from the state, so the decoration of the temple was made on the tiny salary of a priest and the funds of parishioners, who then became practically impoverished due to the Great Depression.

The most precious relic of the temple is the image of the Mother of God of the XVI century, transferred to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior by the Board of the Royal Museum. The temple was visited by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and her husband Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky. The princess took great care of the temple, always attended divine services and painted icons for the second tier of the iconostasis. Together with her husband, they are buried in the Russian section of the York Semeteri cemetery in Toronto.