Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos

St. Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos is the largest church in the Crimea. It has great religious and cultural significance, as it was built on the site of the baptism of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun in 988. After that, he baptized the inhabitants of Kiev in the waters of the Dnieper. The Baptism of Russia is an epochal event that forever defined the history of the country. 

For the first time, the proposal to build a cathedral on the site of the baptism of Prince Vladimir in Korsun was made by the commander of the Black Sea Navy, Admiral Greig, in 1825. In the same year, archaeological excavations began on the site of the ancient Greek Chersonesos, which during the Byzantine era was the center of Christianity in the Crimea.  

Several early Christian temples were found in Chersonesos Tauric, and one of them was located on the ancient Greek agora, the main square of the ancient city. In the Tale of Bygone Years of Nestor the Chronicler, the place of Vladimir`s baptism is called the church "in the middle of the city, where Korsun residents gather for trade." Thus, the city authorities decided to build the St.Vladimir Cathedral on the site of the ancient agora. The ruins of the Byzantine basilica on the agora, where Prince Vladimir could have been baptized, are located near the entrance to the cathedral. 

The Uvarov’s Basilica is located near the seashore. This name of the temple was named after Count Uvarov, who conducted here excavations in 1853. The basilica has a very large size for a temple of the early Middle Ages: 50x22 meters. In the center of this basilica there is a Baptistery, where a stone font for ablutions has been preserved. According to one version, the Kiev Prince Vladimir could have been baptized not in the agora, but in this font. An openwork rotunda has been erected above the font.  

The wooden church on the site of the agora was laid almost immediately, with the beginning of excavations in Chersonesos, but the stone cathedral began to be built only in 1850. In 1848, another St.Vladimir Cathedral was founded on the shore of the Southern Bay, which later became the necropolis of the admirals. To distinguish these two cathedrals, they are called: St.Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos and St.Vladimir Cathedral Necropolis of Admirals. 

During the Crimean War of 1853-56, the Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos was destroyed. After the storming of Sevastopol in 1856, almost the entire city lay in ruins. According to historians, there were only 14 intact buildings left in it.  

Immediately after the end of the war, in 1857, the city authorities began to prepare a project for the restoration of the Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos. On August 23, 1861, the new cathedral was laid in the same place, in the presence of Tsar Alexander II and his wife Maria Alexandrovna.  

The new Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos was built by architect David Grimm in the neo-Byzantine style. The height of the huge temple reaches 36 meters. The area of the cathedral is 1700 m2, which allows to accommodate more than a thousand worshippers. The thickness of the lower walls reaches 1 meter. Many famous artists of that time worked on the painting of the temple.