Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris

For other similarly named cathedrals, see Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (disambiguation).

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky
Cathédrale Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky de Paris
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
48°52′39.3″N 2°18′7.1″E
Location	Paris
Country	France
Denomination	Russian Orthodox Church
Website	cathedrale-orthodoxe.com
History
Founder(s)	Joseph Vassiliev, Alexander II of Russia
Consecrated	11 September 1861
Architecture
Heritage designation	Monument Historique PA00088807
Designated	11 May 1981
Architect(s)	Roman Kouzmine, Ivan Strohm
Architectural type	Cathedral
Style	Byzantine
Groundbreaking	3 March 1859
Administration
Archdiocese	Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe
Clergy
Archbishop	John of Dubna

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky, Russian: Собор Святого Александра Невского, romanized: Sobor Svyatogo Aleksandra Nyevskogo) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral church located at 12 Rue Daru in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The closest métro station is Courcelles .

History

The first Russian Orthodox church in Paris was a small oratory constructed on Rue de Berri in 1816. As the population of Russian immigrants in Paris grew during the 19th century, a larger church was needed. In 1847, the chaplain of the Russian Embassy in Paris, Father Joseph Vassiliev, received permission from Emperor Napoleon III to construct a larger church. The program was moved forward by a grant of 200,000 French francs from Czar Alexander II, whose patron saint was Alexander Nevsky (1219-1263) Nevsky had contributed to the unification of Russia as well the establishment of the Russian Orthodox church throughout the Russian empire.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in 1870

Work on the church began in 1859 under Roman Kouzmine, chief architect of the Russian imperial Court, and the chef engineer Strohm. The cathedral was established and consecrated in 1861, making it the first Russian Orthodox place of worship in France.

The church was formally given cathedral status in 1951. During the Soviet period, it was the headdquarters of an archbishop who supervised the other Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe. Following the downfall of the Soviet Union, the church was returned to jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, established in 1931, located in Istanbul. The cathedral became the see of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe.

It should not be confused with Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, which is a provincial cathedral of the Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe (Moscow Patriarchate).

Exterior

Image of Christ over the church entrance

The exterior of the church is a good example, of what its builder, the Russian diplomat to France Joseph Valliliev, called "Byzantine Muscovite". It used the Byzantine form of Greek cross and a semi-circular fronton with a mosaic image of Christ giving a blessing. The distinctly Russian element was the group of five bell towers which symbolised Christ and the four evangelists. The towers are topped with gilded bulblike domes, which symbolise the flames of candles carried by the worshippers, which lift their prayers to heaven. The central tower is topped by a Russian Orthodox cross, and has three traverses, representing Christ and the four evangelists.

The church is supported by a crypt, known as the "Lower Church". dedicated to the Holy Trinity, In 1963 the crypt became the official place of worship of the Russian Orthodox Church in France.

Associated notable people

• Nikolai Aleksandrovich Semashko, the first People's Commissar for Health of Soviet Russia, married Nadezhda Mikhailovna Nelidova (née Sokol’skaia) here on 13 August 1909.
• Gabriel Attal, prime minister of France, attended services as a child.
• Artist Pablo Picasso married Olga Khokhlova here on 12 July 1918; the witnesses were Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, and Guillaume Apollinaire.
• Henri Troyat’s first marriage was conducted here in 1938.
• Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik married here in 2006.
• The funerals of several noted Russian artists, writers, and other cultural figures were held here: Ivan Turgenev in 1883, Fyodor Chaliapin in 1938, Wassily Kandinsky in 1944, George Gurdjieff in 1949, Ivan Bunin in 1953, Andrei Tarkovsky in 1987, and Henri Troyat in 2007.
• Alexander Schmemann, noted Russian theologian and writer, and future dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (1962-1983) in New York, served here as an altar boy and sub-deacon in the 1930s.
• Vassily Voskresensky aka Colonel Wassily de Basil, impresario of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo (and its iterations) was buried here in 1951.

Representation in other media

The 1956 film Anastasia, about one of the daughters of the imperial Romanov family, features the Cathedral in one of its first scenes.

Gallery

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Bibliography

• Dumoulin, Aline; Ardisson, Alexandra; Maingard, Jérôme; Antonello, Murielle; Églises de Paris (2010), Éditions Massin, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, ISBN 978-2-7072-0683-1
• Nicolas Ross, Saint-Alexandre sur-Seine, édition du CERF.