Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Kaliningrad

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Kaliningrad is the main cathedral of the city. The temple was founded in 1995 on the main square of the city – Victory Square. Until 1985, there was not a single Orthodox church in the city. After the war, the new authorities closed most of the Protestant churches of Konigsberg, and did not open Orthodox parishes. 

After 1985, Orthodox parishes began to open in Kaliningrad, but all of them were located within the walls of Protestant churches. The structure of Protestant and Orthodox churches has significant differences, since Russia adopted the canons of worship from Byzantium, and Rome formed its own. 

Orthodox churches have a cross-domed structure, as required by the canons of worship according to the Byzantine rite. In the 1990s, their construction began in all cities of the Kaliningrad region. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Kaliningrad has the same name as the main cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In 1996, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and President Boris Yeltsin laid the foundation of a capsule with earth taken from the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior.   

The project of the cathedral in Kaliningrad was prepared by architect Oleg Kopylov. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Kaliningrad was built according to the modern possibilities of architecture, with large stained glass windows in the walls. Its height reaches 51 meters. Inside the temple is painted with traditional Orthodox frescoes. 

Next to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is an unusual Church of Peter and Fevronia. It is dedicated to the revered Russian saints, the patrons of family and marriage. Their relics are kept in the Trinity Cathedral of Murom. The church has two domes connected in a single composition. Thus, the church symbolizes the merging of two people in marriage.