St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kislovodsk

St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kislovodsk is the main church of the city. It is located in the historical center of Kislovodsk. A huge temple with five domes towers over the surrounding buildings. Since the beginning of the 19th century, there has always been a church on this place. 

The temple was built next to the Local History Museum of Kislovodsk, which is located inside the Kislovodsk fortress. It was founded in 1803 as one of the strongholds of the Azov-Mozdok defensive line. Tsar Alexander I understood the inevitability of the Caucasian war with the highlanders, and also planned the development of southern resorts on mineral water springs.  

The first wooden St. Nicholas Church was built next to the Kislovodsk fortress. The stone St. Nicholas Cathedral on this site began to be built in 1883. In 1887, it was consecrated and church services began. In 1900, a five-tiered bell tower was erected in front of the cathedral. The cathedral was built in the Byzantine style and very much resembled a Greek temple.  

The cathedral was painted with frescoes by famous artists who came to Kislovodsk. The Vasnetsov brothers, Vasily Polenov, Mikhail Nesterov worked here. Many frescoes of the cathedral were painted by the artist Nikolay Yaroshenko. He was born in 1846 in Poltava, but since 1885 he has lived in Kislovodsk. His house was called "White Villa", and it is located 100 meters from St. Nicholas Cathedral. Nikolay Yaroshenko died in 1898 and was buried near the altar of the cathedral. Now a Museum-Estate of Nikolay Yaroshenko has been created in White Villa.

In 1936, St. Nicholas Cathedral of Kislovodsk was blown up. The local authorities did the same with all the cathedrals in the cities of Mineral Water region. Then a garden was made on the site of the cathedral and a monument to Lenin was erected.  

In 1991, the parish of St. Nicholas Church was recreated in Kislovodsk, which immediately began work on restoring the cathedral in its former place. The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1993, and in 2000 it was consecrated and church services resumed. Visually, the cathedral is significantly different from what it was here in the 19th century. The height of St. Nicholas Cathedral reaches 54 meters. This is the largest cathedral among all the temples in the cities of Mineral Waters.  

There are two museums near the cathedral: the Museum-estate of the artist Yaroshenko and the Museum of Local Lore. There is a garden along Koltsov Street, where monuments to soldiers who died in WWII are installed. On the other side of the garden, a mosque has recently been built.