The Temple of Peter and Paul

The Church in the Name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (Petro-Pavlovsk Cathedral) is the cathedral of the Simferopol and Crimean diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The cathedral has a special place in the history of the city and Orthodoxy in the Crimea. Like many temples, it survived the period of ruin in Soviet times and the period of reconstruction. The first “Catherine Church” (the temple of Saints Helena and Constantine) in the fast-growing city of Simferopol ceased to accommodate all parishioners. At the request of Simferopol, the issue of building a new, more spacious temple was raised. The Holy Synod issued a building permit in 1801, but the church itself began to be built in 1805.[3] The construction of the wooden temple lasted about 1 year. On November 8, 1806, the church was consecrated. The church was a wooden building in the shape of a rectangle. Above the western side was a bell tower. The main beauty of the wooden church was the iconostasis. There were no paintings in the temple. Copper bells were cast from the remains of the Ak-Mosque mint. The church lasted about 20 years. Over the years, the temple has deteriorated and closed. Soon a new Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built in the city, in which bells, church utensils, sacristy were transferred. In 1865, the inhabitants of the city decided to revive the Petro-Pavlovsk temple. The project of the new temple was developed by St. Petersburg architect Konstantin Lazarev. The old wooden church was dismantled, in its place on June 29, 1866, a new church building was laid. Already in August 1866, the construction of the church was completed, but until 1870 finishing work continued. On August 16, 1870, the first service was held in the cathedral. There were two schools at the temple since 1868 - male and female.[5]

In 1890, the church courtyard was surrounded by an openwork metal fence. Mass events took place in the square in front of the temple. The area around the Peter and Paul temple and square was gradually built up with low houses. This was a special condition: buildings should not be higher than the temple.[6] In 1902-1903, artists at the expense of the church elder painted the dome of the cathedral. In the center was depicted the Lord of hosts surrounded by heavenly forces. The walls were painted with floral ornaments. On the belt of the drum were written 12 medallions with images of the holy apostles. In 1924, after the establishment of Soviet power, the street Petropavlovskaya, leading to the temple, was renamed October.[8]

In 1937, the dome and bell tower were dismantled, a warehouse was arranged in the temple. The cathedral had a miserable appearance: without a dome, stripped, with a concrete ramp for the entrance of trucks inside the temple. There was a tree on the roof. A drinking establishment was opened near the temple. After more than 40 years, in the 1980s, the restoration of the Peter and Paul Cathedral began. The author of the project was the architect O. I. Sergeeva. In the archives of the Synod, S. L. Belov was able to find projects according to which the bell tower and the dome of the temple were restored. In 2003, Peter and Paul Cathedral was given the status of a cathedral [10].

On August 23, 2008, in the Petro-Pavlovsk Cathedral of Simferopol, church celebrations were held on the occasion of the glorification of Archbishop Guriy (Karpov) in the form of saints. The solemn glorification of Archbishop Guria as saints was personally headed by the Primate of the UOC His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Vladimir (Sabodan). In 2008, the city authorities of Simferopol restored the historical name of the square in front of the temple – Petropavlovskaya. The historical name of Petropavlovskaya Street was also returned. The architectural style of the temple combines elements of different styles: classics are combined with forms of ancient Russian architecture. White-stone casings frame high windows. The upper part of the building is decorated with a stepped cornice. The building is crowned by a drum with 12 windows. The dome has the shape of an “onion” of black color. At the entrance to the temple there is a papert, a stone staircase, above which the bell tower rises. The main entrance is framed by thin semi-columns, and on the facade you can see bright mosaics depicting Jesus Christ and the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The temple has two side aisles: in the name of John of Kronstadt and Seraphim of Sarov.According to the testimony of Bishop Hermogenes (Dobronravin) in the Cathedral of Peter and Paul, “a remarkable ancient icon of the Most Holy Trinity with part of the Lord’s robe in the ark and with particles of the relics of the holy saints depicted on the icon, in a silver-gold cross, with the inscription 1693.” According to legend, during the Crimean War, an unknown officer left the icon in the church on the condition that at the end of the war he would return for it, but if not, it would remain in the temple. The war ended, but no one came for the icon.