The metropolitan cathedral of the saint righteous warrior Theodore Ushakov is on the hill near a park named after А. S. Pushkin. The cathedral was built in the style of Byzantine Revival and is one of the most beautiful sights of Saransk.
At the beginning of the 1990th the Saransk and Mordovia metropolitan was separated from the Penza metropolitan. The church of John the Evangelist was made the metropolitan cathedral of Saransk. However, the church was very small and could not seat all people who wanted to visit the religious services.
The former metropolitan cathedral of Saransk, which was destroyed in the 1930th, was on Lenin Square. In 2003 it was decide to build the new metropolitan cathedral on the slope of a hill, several hundreds of meters from the place of the old cathedral.
In 2001 a Russian naval commander Fyodor Ushakov was canonized. Fyodor Ushakov is very honored in Mordovia so the cathedral was named after him – the cathedral of the saint righteous warrior Theodore Ushakov.
Patriarch Alexy II consecrated the cathedral on August 6, 2006. The main dome of the cathedral reaching the height of 62 meters is surrounded by 4 bell towers. One can have a wonderful view of the center of the city from the bell towers. The bells of the cathedral were cast by old technologies in Tutayev, Yaroslavl region.
The cathedral can simultaneously seat up to 3000 people. The iconostasis of the cathedral was made from precious species of wood and covered by leaf gold. The main chapel of the cathedral was consecrated in honor of St. Fyodor Ushakov. The side chapels were consecrated in honor of Seraphim of Sarov and the New Martyrs of Mordovia.
