Transfiguration Cathedral, Dnipro
The Transfiguration Cathedral is the main Orthodox church of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The foundation stone was laid in 1786 by Catherine II of Russia and Emperor Joseph II.[1] The event is described in the memoirs of comte de Ségur. Prince Grigory Potemkin envisaged the church as one of the spiritual centres of New Russia.[1] Ivan Starov submitted to Potemkin his designs for a Roman-style basilica, but construction was postponed until the end of the Russo-Turkish War.
In the early 19th century, Potemkin's plans were revived and updated by Duc de Richelieu, but construction did not start until 1830. The cathedral was built on a smaller scale than originally planned and was consecrated in 1835. The design is attributed to Andreyan Zakharov, chiefly on the ground of its similarity to Zakharov's cathedral in Kronstadt.[1]
The church was closed to worshippers in 1930 and housed a museum of atheism between 1975 and 1988. The building was damaged by an earthquake in 1888 and by bombs during the Second World War.[2]