It is unlikely that anyone would now believe, passing by or passing by this temple, that many, many years ago it was behind a fence without crosses, with tattered domes, on a pile of rubbish and old rusty barrels, with broken glass and a destroyed wall…
“Those who do not know the history of the temple will hardly believe the evidence that befell it,” Elena Pavlovna Logunova, former chairwoman of the public organization “Peterhof Revival,” told me.
where it all started
The construction of the Peterhof Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, which is the full name of the temple, began with an appeal from the townspeople to Emperor Alexander III: the old temple could no longer accommodate all the believers.
Photo: Elena Vasilkova
The Emperor personally assigned him a place in the city centre, near the pond. He organised a competition among architects and chose the design of Nikolai Vladimirovich Sultanov, who was not only a talented architect, but also an art critic, architectural historian, restorer and teacher. The number of tasks he performed is astonishing! He built and restored buildings in many cities of Russia.
As for the future Peterhof Cathedral, Sultanov first completed a painted plaster model. The new Tsar Nicholas II liked everything and work began in 1894. During construction, Sultanov used the latest developments in technological progress. For example, the building was heated and illuminated by electricity. The architect thought a lot about the comfort of both clergy and parishioners. “A person in a church should feel spacious, warm, comfortable and light,” he said.
In June 1905, in the presence of the imperial family, this magnificent monument of ecclesiastical architecture in the so-called “neo-Russian” style was consecrated. Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “The temple is beautiful both outside and inside…”
Hard times
After the revolutionary events, difficult times came for the cathedral. In 1921, an observation post for the Kronstadt uprising was installed in its dome. Later, when the struggle against religion began, some fanatics proposed to blow up the cathedral. But in 1934 it was simply closed and a warehouse was built there. Crosses and bells were removed, the gold coating of the domes was torn off, and all utensils and icons were taken out. Thus, the Peterhof Cathedral, or as it is also called, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, remained standing until the beginning of the war.
When the Germans entered Peterhof and began to mercilessly destroy its unique palaces and sculptures, they did not blow up the cathedral, but set up a barracks and a canteen there. At the very top of the cathedral they set up an observation post for the observer: from the top of the cathedral, Kronstadt and Leningrad were clearly visible. The fascist shells hit their target. This point had to be destroyed. That is what our Kronstadt sailors did – direct fire. Unfortunately, the wall of the bell tower was destroyed. But the cathedral itself survived. And even the retreating Nazis did not blow it up. It was as if an unknown force was protecting the temple.
When the residents of Peterhof returned to their liberated city, they saw: everything was in ruins, and among the ruins there was only the Peter and Paul Cathedral. It was without crosses, with tattered domes, broken glass and a destroyed wall, but it still looked majestic. Although it needed a lot of restoration. As, in fact, did the entire city. But there was very little money for everything.
First restorations
How long would the cathedral wait for its turn, but one day something unexpected happened. Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad City Executive Committee Mikhail Dmitrievich Filonov came to the city economic meeting. When the conversation turned to the restoration of the Peterhof Cathedral, he, a former naval officer, suddenly said: “I promise to help, it is my duty during the war to serve in Kronstadt and for this I had to shoot at the temple in order to “smoke out” enemy observers from there. And now “the time has come to revive the temple.”
I managed to find and communicate with Filonov. From him I learned that two of our battleships fired at the cathedral: the Marat, on which Mikhail Dmitrievich served, and the October Revolution, which Filonov was deeply concerned about all these years. After all, this cathedral is not only a religious building, but also a wonderful architectural monument. But we had to attack it with shells from ships…
First restoration
Filonov kept his promise: on his initiative, the leaders of the district and city executive committees allocated funds and materials for the restoration. It began with the erection of scaffolding. The restoration of the cathedral was carried out by the “Restorer” group, headed by the honored architect Evgeny Pavlovich Sevastyanov, a native of Peterhof. The first drawings were ready in 1974. And suddenly everything froze. We ran out of funds. The cathedral continued to be erected in the woods…
How long would it remain like this, but the upcoming Olympics in 1980 helped. Foreigners were supposed to visit the city. And the money was found. Work was in full swing again. Everything had to be done as quickly as possible. First of all, the bombed-out wall was repaired. Five domes shone with gold. New brass crosses had to be installed on them. The old ones have not survived, but according to the drawings found, Russian blacksmiths made magnificent copies of wonderful crosses stamped with curls, rays and special stars. The main cross weighs 400 kilograms. The rest are smaller. They were lifted one by one using a helicopter and placed in their original places with millimeter precision. The installation of the crosses was watched by a huge crowd – residents and guests of Peterhof. People rejoiced, shouted “Hurray!”, congratulated each other, hoping that the cathedral would be restored very soon. What exactly will it contain: a museum or a concert hall? Or is it a temple?
However, with the end of the Olympics, the work stopped again. And again due to lack of funding. “But the temple can perish!” – the townspeople were indignant. They created the public organization “Revival of Peterhof”, headed by E. Logunova. Believers and non-believers volunteers made monetary donations, cleaned the area around the temple, removed garbage, cleaned, scrubbed… Now on the temple you can see the names and surnames of all the people who voluntarily supported the material life of the cathedral. And the temple continued to stand in the woods for many years.
Photo: Elena Vasilkova
Evgeny Pavlovich Sevastyanov tested his health by running around the authorities. He began to convince officials: “If you cannot save a masterpiece of architecture, return it to the Russian Church!”
The architect’s dream came true in 1989, after the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Russia. Now the restoration work has been continued by the Leningrad Diocesan Administration. On January 19, 1990, after 55 years of silence, the first open-air service was held: the Peterhof church could not accommodate everyone. And in 1994, Patriarch Alexy II consecrated the cathedral. Unfortunately, both Sevastyanov and Filonov did not live to see this day.
Bell ringing
The restoration of the cathedral continued. A difficult task remained: hanging new bells. Unfortunately, the old ones have not survived. The first set of bells was donated to the cathedral in 1990 by the church community of Marienburg near Gatchina. And the former director of the Mikhailovsky Pushkin Reserve, honorary citizen of Peterhof, Semyon Stepanovich Geichenko, donated a triple bell to the cathedral.
“Geychenko is our compatriot, he was born here, worked here, went to the front from here, but he always remembered his Peterhof,” said Elena Logunova.
In 1993, three steel bells were brought from Germany by the Bachmanns. Once they had been on a tour of Peterhof, they heard about the difficult fate of the cathedral and decided to make a gift. They sent us bells made in the famous bell factory in Aachen. The largest of them is a baritone and weighs 1750 kg. The second bell is a tenor and weighs 1100 kg. The third is a viola, weighing 900 kg. The voices of the bells were chosen according to the sounds of the song “Dubinushka” and they could be heard very far away…
To be continue
And now the time has come when you can freely enter the cathedral from an incredibly beautiful and simply fabulous portico. That is what I did. Externally the temple is majestic, but inside it seems small and cozy. The morning service had already ended, there were no parishioners. Near the iconostasis stood only the priest in a brocade robe. “Can I congratulate you?” I asked him. “Is the restoration finally finished?” “Congratulations are early! There is still a lot of work to be done! I am surprised how the temple survived,” he replied. And he suggested going up to the observation deck. Inside the cathedral there is a spiral staircase. Following my father’s advice, I climbed 143 steps. And I saw Kronstadt, the Gulf of Finland, Vasilievsky Island of St. Petersburg. From above, this beauty takes your breath away! Architect Sultanov dreamed of making this site accessible to everyone.
The Peterhof Cathedral is the architect’s swansong, completing his creative career. Sultanov died in a foreign land in 1908. He rests in the cemetery of the Russian Church in Wiesbaden. But the creation of his hands continues to delight all those who appreciate true art.
Ten years ago, funds were found in the St. Petersburg budget for the restoration of the Peterhof Cathedral. Now everything is done not formally, but very efficiently. The scope of the work is enormous, but a lot has already been done. The restoration is being carried out in stages and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
