The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, Ivano-Frankivsk

One of the most famous landmarks in Ivano-Frankivsk is the Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, formerly a Jesuit church. The history of the church is quite interesting.

The name of the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection is deeply historical, as it was the name of the main Ukrainian church in the city of Stanislaviv from the beginning of its existence and was built in 1601 in the village of Zabolotia on the site of the present synagogue. It was mentioned by the traveler Ulrich von Werdum, who visited Stanislaviv in 1672.

In the early eighteenth century, Jesuit fathers appeared in Stanislaviv.

In 1720, the rector of the Jesuit college, Fr. Tomasz Zelenski, began construction of a Jesuit church on the site of the church that had been burned down (during a Turkish attack).

When digging a pit for the foundation of the church, they found a treasure - 14 thousand zlotys, of which half went to the construction of the church. The church also received financial assistance for its construction from Victoria Leszczynska, the wife of Joseph Potocki. The first Jesuit church was opened on St. Victoria's Day in 1729. However, due to problems with the weak foundation, the walls began to crack, and the church had to be completely dismantled in 1752. A year later, construction of a new church began, which lasted 10 years.

The project of a military engineer from Kamianets-Podilskyi, Christian Dalke, and architect J. Karszycki was more thoughtful than their predecessors, and as a result, their creation took a worthy place among the sights of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The church was built in the Austro-Bavarian Baroque style with elements of classicism.

The slender silhouette of the main façade of the Cathedral is complemented by the tent-like tops of the two towers, whose shapes are borrowed from Hutsul wooden architecture.

The cathedral has the form of a three-nave brick eight-pillar basilica with a heavily flared façade.

The decor of the rich interior is complemented by baroque sculptures on the main altar, namely figures of angels, saints, and apostles.

The construction lasted until 1763. A year later, in 1764, during the siege of the city by the Russian army, the church's tower was destroyed.

In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, Ivano-Frankivsk came under the rule of Austria-Hungary. The Jesuit Order was banned from the territory of the Habsburg Empire, and in 1773 the new city administration closed the Jesuit monastery and transferred its premises to the city community. The building gradually fell into disrepair.

After the Austrians stopped the activities of the monastic orders in 1774, the church was used by gymnasium students and the Greek Catholic community in turn. During the worst fire of 1868, the cathedral was miraculously spared. At the request of the Ukrainians, the Austrian government transferred the church to their ownership in 1849. A little later, in 1885, the Stanislaviv Greek Catholic Diocese was founded, and the former church received its modern name, the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection.

The interiors of the cathedral can be characterized as made in the Byzantine style, and the five-tiered iconostasis, installed in 1901, impresses with its beauty and craftsmanship. The icons and paintings on the walls of the cathedral belong to the famous artists Juliusz Makarowski and Modest Sosenko (1875-1920), while the iconostasis was painted by Anton Monastyrski (1878-1969). From 1946 to 1989, in connection with the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church, the church was Orthodox. January 28, 1990 - The Holy Resurrection Cathedral was returned to the UGCC and the status of the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection was restored.

In 1993, a high relief of A. Sheptytsky was installed on the facade, and in 1997, sculptures of Princess Olha and Volodymyr the Great as the high priests of Rus, as well as the blessed martyr Hryhorii Khomyshyn, Bishop of Stanyslaviv (1904-1945), were placed in the niches. The author of the works is V. Dovbeshok.

Today, the parish has five choirs that sing at five Sunday liturgies. There is a Sunday Catechetical School "Resurrection", which teaches the truths of faith not only to children and youth, but also to adults. The "Marriage Encounters" movement is active and premarital catechesis is conducted. Recently, a "Christian cinema" was organized where the faithful have the opportunity to watch religiously instructive films.

Prayer meetings of the Mothers in Prayer and the Apostolate of the Good Death communities are regularly held. All of this is just a small part of what the clergy of the parish, consisting of nine priests led by Met. Yurii Novytskyi, is doing to revitalize the life of the parish of the Cathedral.

The material side is not overlooked. Restoration work in the cathedral's premises is ongoing. Through the efforts of the church rector and with the assistance of donors, the interior of the shrine has been restored, the crypt where the faithful of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archdiocese (Bishops Sofron Dmyterko, Sofron Mudryi and others) rest in peace has been arranged, and minor facade work is underway, as the shrine has its age and needs constant care.

The latest work that the city's residents are not ignoring is the restoration of the roof on most of the cathedral. More than 50 years ago, the cathedral was covered with galvanized tin. Today, it has already reached the end of its service life in many places and has begun to leak. The shrine that our great-grandfathers built was under threat of destruction. It was decided to restore the roof with copper to maintain harmony with the domes, which are made of the same material.

Thanks to the efforts of donors and patrons and the efforts of the Cathedral's rector, Fr.