I.Metshin on the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan: “The historical connection of times and justice are being restored”

On July 21, Orthodox Christians will celebrate the feast of the appearance of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan – one of the most iconic of the Russian Orthodox Church. This year, the holiday will be marked by a long-awaited event – the consecration of the recreated Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Guests from other regions will visit the feast, including Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

“The consecration of the cathedral is a landmark in the life of the city, it is a finding of the sanctuary revered in Russia and far beyond its borders. We are witnessing the return of the cathedral to its historical place, this is a great holiday for us,”- Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, said today at the Business Monday.

“Regardless of whether we are Orthodox or Muslims, we equally hold sacred, we honor Mary, Holy Mother of God, or according to the Koran – Maryam, - said Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan. – In pre-revolutionary Russia, the place where the icon of Our Lady of Kazan was found was a place of pilgrimage for believers. We hope that this will continue. From the bottom of our hearts, we are happy that the historical connection of times and justice are being restored thanks to the construction and consecration of the cathedral”.

On July 21, a prayer service will begin at 7:00 in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin. Then the believers will perform a Cross Procession. The consecration of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan will begin at 8:00.

In 1808, a cathedral was established and consecrated at the site where the icon of Our Lady of Kazan was found, which became part of the complex of the Bogoroditsky Monastery, founded by the decree of Ivan the Terrible. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan was lost almost a hundred years ago – in 1932, the head of the administration of the Vakhitovsky and Privolzhsky districts Marat Zakirov reminded.

In Soviet times, like many religious sites, the Bogoroditsky Monastery was used for other purposes. Only a few buildings of the architectural complex have survived to this day.

“The first steps towards the restoration of the Bogoroditsky Monastery began in the millennium anniversary of Kazan, when the icon of Our Lady of Kazan returned to the city from the Vatican”, - reminded M.Zakirov. The reconstruction of the cathedral began on the initiative of Metropolitan Feofan of Kazan and Tatarstan, State Adviser of Tatarstan and the first President of the republic Mintimer Shaimiev and Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov. In 2016, the memorial stone for the foundation of the cathedral was laid by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The reconstruction of the cathedral was preceded by a long preparatory work: the appearance of the cathedral was restored by specialists by old photographs and drawings. Construction works were carried out from 2016 to 2021 on the territory of more than 4.5 hectares, the building area was 1,656 square meters.

The best experts of the republic and Russia were involved in the work on the restoration of the cathedral.

“We are very grateful to everyone who took part in this work – restorers, artists and philanthropists. This is the case when the cathedral was restored by the whole world – I. Metshin said. – I would like to express thanks to our inspirers-the first President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev and the current President Rustam Minnikhanov. We hope that this will be the spiritual center not only of the capital of Tatarstan, but also of the whole of Russia. I sincerely congratulate you on the feast of the appearance of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan and the consecration of the cathedral”.