St. John’s Cathedral

The ruins of the cathedral destroyed during the defense of Leningrad are preserved on the territory of the Oreshek fortress. After lengthy shelling, fragments of brick walls and the lower tiers of the bell tower remained. Inside the destroyed cathedral there is a monument to the heroic defenders of the fortress. Red brick ruins are part of the composition. But even in the ruins, the cathedral attracts the eye, you can see how beautiful it was in old photographs.

A new stone temple in the fortress was built on the site of an old, dismantled church. The temple was built in 1826-1831. under the guidance of architect A.E. Shauuberta.

In the temple for a long time preserved the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. This icon was revered during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. It was in the fortress chapel.

When in 1611 Oreshek was laid siege to the Swedes, the shrine was hidden, walled in the wall of the church. There it lay for about a hundred years. The icon was miraculously found again in 1705 and transferred to St. John the Baptist Church.

In the 19th century, a new Cathedral of the Nativity of John the Forerunner appeared on the site of the church.

In 1917, the temple was closed. The last mention of the miraculous icon was in the documents of the 30s of the XX century. During World War II, the traces of the icon were completely lost. Currently, the fate of the image is unknown.

You can learn more about the history of St. John’s Cathedral by going to Oreshek fortress for a tour