A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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Barbara
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A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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Model of the plan for the primary Military Cathedral 75 miles west of Moscow in something called "Patriot Park" -- a Soviet style name
( Pictures selected from the general internet, since many articles included the same picture with a strange statue of St Alexander Nevsky seen from behind. Instead of a valiant warrior, the Saint appears a cross between a gnome and an alien. Surely they could choose a more tasteful design. Where is Alexander Loganovsky, original creator of many friezes from Christ the Savior Cathedral ? )

"The Russian armed forces plan to build their own cathedral in Moscow in record time, and are seeking donations... social media has also seen debate about the unusual look of the cathedral.

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I am not sure where this is but perhaps a chapel slated to be built in the complex. There was a short caption in Russian, but I could not copy it in order to obtain a google translation. Still, for people like me who in the 80s carefully studied the coffee table book, "Soviet Military Power", which covered all types of equipment and weapons used by the Red Army, the look of this church is quite something ! Assumedly it's dedicated to St Barbara, or will be when completed ?

Some liken it to an armoured personal carrier, missile launcher, or air-defence battery...

The Cathedral of the Resurrection will be built at the military-themed Patriot Park in [ near ] the capital, and will also house a museum and virtual-reality display of historic battles...The website...shows plans for a monumental building painted army green, and capped with traditional onion-shaped domes dedicated to the patron saints of all the branches of the armed forces.

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Reaching a height of 95 metres, this will be one of the tallest Orthodox cathedrals in the world, and the fourth-highest in Russia. It will cover 10,950 square metres (117,865 sq ft) in total, with room inside for 6,000 worshippers.

The cathedral will sit in extensive grounds decorated with statues of various Christian luminaries with military connections, ranging from the Prophet Elijah to the medieval Prince Alexander Nevsky...

The green color of the bronze elements of the temple will echo the colors used in the Russian Armed Forces...

The temple will have five altars - the central throne will be named in honor of the main Christian holiday - the Resurrection of Christ. The four thrones are dedicated to the heavenly patrons of the Armed Forces and arms: the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, the patron of the Army, the holy prophet Elijah, the patron saint of the VKS and the Airborne Troops, the holy apostle Andrew the First-named patron of the Navy and the holy martyr Varvara, the patroness of the Strategic Missile Force. In the temple will be placed icons of the patron saints of Russian soldiers, as well as heraldic signs. The main temple will decorate the murals with battle scenes from military history and texts of their Holy Writ...

The extensive temple complex, designed in a monumental Russian-Byzantine style ...[ with ] innovative architectural solutions. Among them, the most spectacular is the large-scale stained-glass glazing of the dome and arches, simultaneously monumental and at the same time lifting the main dome into the sky."

https://vespa.media/en/2018/09/russian- ... in-temple/


Further details come from the BBB article on the building of this unusual edifice :

"...the international ice-hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov...[ asserted that ] completion by 2020 was a "very ambitious timeframe", even though the cathedral will be built of glass and metal as opposed to more time-consuming and expensive stone.

But he assured traditionalists that "all aspects of Russian historic design will be reflected in the interior - from Gzhel ceramics and Palekh lacquer work, to Kasli cast-iron sculpture".

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-fro ... e-45471739

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Barbara
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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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That statue of St Alexander Nevsy is STILL bothering me : I can't stop thinking about how creepy it looked.
I hope that a new classical design for the sculpture will be approved and this futuristic model quietly trashed.

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It strikes me that an important Icon of the Mother of God to have in the Cathedral would be the Pantanasa. Why ? Because members of armed forces everywhere in the world inevitably come in contact with toxic chemicals and such. Therefore, they might be MORE susceptible to that disease beginning with 'c'.

The original Pantanassa Icon came from Vatopedi Monastery on Mt Athos to Russia for a visit [ at least once, in the 1990s ; maybe later, too ], so there is a fairly established link. As everyone is aware, this Icon is particularly famed for Her stopping of 'c'.

In fact, the best idea would be to give the Icon a prominent place in the new camouflage-colored Cathedral. Copies could be given out for free to all military personnel attending services so that the 'c' would never even take root, due to the help of the Heavenly Queen.

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Barbara
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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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Something like 10 percent of the Russian Federation's Armed Forces are women, according to a not-very-recent survey which listed the total in the armed services as nearly a million. By now surely that mark must have been passed.
So the Cathedral stands to benefit quite a vast number of people. Whether it will be open to the public or will be restricted to military people is not evident so far in the English language reports.

The Patriot Park in Kubinka, over which the olive-green Church will preside, is sometimes open to civilians, though how much of the time is also not apparent. It's rather new - opened in 2016 - so much information is not clear ; probably the existence of Kubinka's Park is little known yet outside of Russia. There are both a tank museum and an aviation museum housed here which surely would be popular with the general public.

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The Kubinka Air Show held here in May 2018 attracted 35,000 visitors, according to Russian reports. Thus, one assumes that visitors to such annual events might frequent the new Church ; even foreigners might investigate the intriguing tall edifice out of curiosity and find themselves drawn to Orthodoxy.

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Barbara
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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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I hope there will be monuments - if not chapels dedicated to - the White Army and its rightful resistance to the outlaw Bolsheviks.

And, rather than all the boring never ending emphasis on The Great Patriotic War, instead the focus should include a retrospective look at famous figures who were involved with the military from previous eras.

For example, the marvelous composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov trained as a naval cadet and was stationed on a Russian clipper for a 3 year cruise around the world !

Here is the incredibly talented composer wearing his naval uniform in 1864 :

ImageThe young Rimsky-Korsakov collected music scores at many of the ports he visited aboard a Russian navy vessel, contributing to his future brilliant music career.

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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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I read that is should be the third tallest Orthodox Cathedral when completed in 2020.

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Barbara
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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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That's what the articles said at the time of its consecration in September. However, that figure sounded a little imprecise. One this is sure : now the height measurement has been superseded by a new contender.

For just yesterday, November 25, 2018, the "People's Salvation Cathedral" was consecrated by EP Bartholomew and Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Church. Though the edifice is still unfinished, its towers reach 120 meters [ 394 feet ] as opposed to 95 meters for the projected Russian Military religious center. [ More on the Romanian Cathedral in a separate post. ]

The Romanian cathedral is deemed the largest in the entire world from every point of view.

But size is not all...the quality of the spiritual atmosphere is what matters. As far as external beauty, the plans for this Russian project appear to be original and attractive ; whereas the architects of the Bucharest behemoth did not succeed as well. The imposing national Cathedral appears a little on the ugly side so far.

Perhaps when it's finished it will shine --

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Re: A Cathedral in Army Green for Russia's Armed Forces

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. . .

Last edited by Maria on Sun 2 December 2018 1:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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