St. George`s Cathedral in Novgorod

St. George`s Cathedral in the St. George Monastery was founded in 1119. It is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Russia. In those years, most of the churches in Novgorod and Pskov were low, but St. George`s Cathedral impresses with its scale and grandeur.  

Russian statehood was founded in Veliky Novgorod when Prince Rurik was called to Russia. His son Prince Igor moved the capital to Kiev, so the first stone churches were there. In 989, the Tithe Church was founded (it has not survived to this day), and in 1017 St. Sophia Cathedral was built. In Veliky Novgorod, the first stone cathedrals were laid in 1045 (St. Sophia Cathedral) and in 1113 (St. Nicholas Cathedral). The construction of St. George`s Cathedral in the St. George Monastery began in 1119.  

 St. George `s Cathedral was founded by order of Grand Duke Mstislav I. He was the son of Prince Monomakh and the English Princess Gita of Wessex. At the beginning of the 11th century, he was a prince in Veliky Novgorod. However, by the beginning of the construction of the cathedral, he occupied the Kiev throne, so the construction was led by Mstislav`s son, Prince Vsevolod. 

The construction of the temple lasted 11 years. In 1130, the cathedral was consecrated in honor of St. George. After the construction was completed, all the walls of the cathedral were painted with frescoes in the 12th century. In 1830, the rector of the Yuriev Monastery, Archimandrite Photius, started repairs in the cathedral. All the ancient frescoes of the 12th century were knocked off the walls and the temple was painted anew. The frescoes of St. George`s Cathedral, which had exceptional cultural value, ceased to exist. Frescoes of the 12th century were preserved only in the small Church of the Savior on Nereditsa on the banks of the Volkhov River, but it was destroyed by German artillery during World War II. 

In the 11th century, there were no architects in Russia capable of building cathedrals of this scale, so architects from Byzantium were almost always invited. St. George`s Cathedral in Novgorod was built taking into account the cultural characteristics and architectural traditions of the Russian north.  

St. George`s Cathedral was built using a mixed technology of stone and brick. The massive cathedral building has a height of 32 meters. The size of the cross-domed structure of the cathedral is also impressive: 26x24 meters. Inside the cathedral, the masonry of the 12th century has been preserved at the base. In the early years, St. George`s Cathedral became the tomb of the Novgorod princes. Alexander Nevsky`s mother Theodosius and his brother Fyodor, Prince Dmitry Shemyaka of Moscow, were buried here.