Church of the Ascension of Christ, Eastern Orthodox church in Magnitogorsk, Russia.
The Cathedral of the Ascension of Christ is a seven-domed church on the right bank of the Ural River in Magnitogorsk, built between 1989 and 2004 to a design by local architect Anatoly Volobuyev. It draws on 14th–15th-century cross-domed churches of Old Rus; the dome reaches 42 metres, or 52 metres with its cross. Its 15-metre-high, 25-metre-wide iconostasis holds 108 icons painted at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Construction started in 1989 but stalled over financing and resumed only in 1998, largely funded by the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works; from 1999 more than 300 local enterprises and organisations contributed. The central chapel was consecrated at Christmas 2003, and a fire on 10 December 2003 damaged the iconostasis, the paintings under the central dome and the altar. The cathedral was nevertheless consecrated on 16 July 2004, ahead of Metallurgist's Day and the city's 75th anniversary, and received cathedral status in 2014.
The cathedral is the seat of the Magnitogorsk diocese, established in 2012. Its 15-metre-high, 25-metre-wide iconostasis holds 108 icons painted by iconographers from the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. On 1 July 2005 the Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk re-consecrated the church and gave it a copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
The cathedral stands on the right bank of the Ural River, within a complex covering more than three hectares that also holds a water-blessing chapel, a Sunday school and the diocesan administration. The grounds are entered from the street side; the bell tower and the seven domes make the main church easy to find from a distance.
The cathedral's interior was painted under Sergey Solomatin of the Russian Artists' Union, and its 15-metre-high, 25-metre-wide iconostasis holds 108 icons made by painters from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. A fire on 10 December 2003 damaged the iconostasis, the paintings under the central dome and the altar, yet consecration went ahead on 16 July 2004, timed to the city's 75th anniversary and Metallurgist Day.
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