No wonder that the name “Irkutsk” can be literally translated from the ancient Turkic language as “eternal”. From Mongolian “эрхYY” the name of the city could be interpreted as “wayward”.
Now let’s walk up from the embankment to the monument towering over the place where in the summer of 1661 Cossack’s rowboats docked on the bank with the intention of building a new city. It was installed in 2011 in memory of the founders of the city of Irkutsk: Yakov Pokhabov, Petrushka Tyulshin and the Yeniseisk commander Berezovsky. They did not choose this place occasionally, but made that because it was surrounded by water on all sides: from the north – the Angara River, from the east – the Ushakovka River, from the south – a small lake, from the west – impenetrable swamps. Since then, the landscape of the settlement has changed a lot and today only waterways limit the heart of the city.
Monument to the founders
Once on the site of this monument there was a picturesque Tsaren Pavilion, installed on the day of the arrival in Irkutsk of the heir to the Russian throne, Prince Nikolas, on June 23, 1891, who stayed in Irkutsk for two days. Besides him from the royal family, the city was visited by Alexey Alexandrovich Romanov in 1872 and Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov in 1909.
Tsaren Pavilion
Epiphany Cathedral
And so, we are standing at one of the main temples of the Irkutsk-Angarsk diocese and the first church built outside the wooden fortress – this is Epiphany Cathedral. To this day, it is one of the most unusual religious buildings in Russia.
Epiphany Cathedral
Let’s start with the fact that creating of that temple began in 1718, when officially any stone constructing was prohibited without a special buyout, because all the material went to the making of St. Petersburg, but the Irkutsk residents did not spare almost 3 thousand rubles for bricklayers. However, since they paid, they decided that they could be content with the principle: “it’s too high to God, and too far to the Tsar” – and started to build this temple in violation of all the rules and regulations of Orthodox architecture.
Epiphany Cathedral
First of all, a tent-roofed bell tower appeared, which became a forbidden fruit for builders already at the end of the 17th century. But here the nature was not on the side of the architects. And in 1742, just a year after the completion of the work, during a strong earthquake, the tent roof collapsed and a wooden “onion” with a spire was arranged in its place in 1746.
Epiphany Cathedral
A second moment is that the temple has two bell towers, one of which was built as a result of the fact that the old belfry, located above the main temple, could not bear the weight of the largest bell in the history of Irkutsk weighing 12.5 tons, which was cast especially for it in 1797. And Irkutsk people who were responsive to any charitable cause, without hesitation, decided to build another bell tower nearby, which was consecrated in 1816.But the bell did not served long. On December 31, 1861 in the afternoon, it rang out for the last time, when the echoes of the Kudara earthquake on Lake Baikal (about 7 Mw) reached Irkutsk. The bell fell off the yoke, split into pieces, and, since material was required to restore many other structures in the sufferer city, it was poured onto metal.
Map of Lake Baikal before 1862
Thirdly, on the walls of the temple you can see the most interesting ornaments that gravitate towards the traditions of Buddhism and even paganism. In addition, the Epiphany Cathedral is one of three churches in Siberia, where you can find glazed tiles with images of Slavic mythology: basilisks, unicorns, centaurs and even the famous bird Gamayun.
Tiles at the Epiphany Cathedral
The church suffered very seriously from the activities of the Irkutsk bakery, which had been located here since 1934. Therefore, in 1967—1985, during the restoration of the church by the Moscow architect G.G. Oranskaya, it was decided to remove the most damaged later layers, dismantle the bell tower and return the monument to its original appearance. At the same time, began restoration of the paintings, which continues to this day.
Before restoration of the Cathedral
Opposite the cathedral, you can see busts of the most famous saints of the city of Irkutsk, because ten holy men blessed this land with their steps: Righteous Elder Gerasim of Irkutsk, St. Innocent Kulchitsky, St. Sinesy Ivanov, St. Sophronius Crystalevskiy, St. Innocent Veniaminov, St. Meletius of Kharkov, St. Gerasim Dobroserdov, St. Meletius Yakimov, Holy Martyrs Bishops Parthenius and Ephraim.
Today, there are only three sculptures here, but every year a new monuments appear, starting in 2017, when it was 220th anniversary of the birth and 40th anniversary of the canonization of “Apostle of Siberia and America” Saint Innocent of Moscow. In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the glorification, a bust of St. Sophronius Crystalevskiy appeared, and a year later, on the 215th anniversary of the canonization – the image of St. Innocent of Irkutsk. I would like to believe that this will become a good tradition.
Busts to Saints of Irkutsk
Moscow Gate
We will continue driving along the downer embankment of the Angara River. On the way, we will meet a monument to the teacher by the sculptor I.E. Stavsky, which appeared here in 2016 directly opposite the building of the Pedagogical Institute of Irkutsk State University (ISU). The faculties of this educational institute occupying many old buildings in the city. For example, this faculty received for use the building of Old Irkutsk Theological Seminary, built in 1790, where graduated such people as St. Innocent Veniaminov and St. Gerasim Dobroserdov. In the past, this entire quarter was covered by a huge Bishop’s Courtyard, on the site of which several residential houses and buildings of the Irkutsk bakery factory were built in Soviet times.
Monument to the teacher
From time immemorial and up to the end of the 19th century, two ferries operated on this part of the Angara embankment, which in fact connected Irkutsk with the rest of Russia, as soon as there was no other way to the East. Since 1731 at this point ended the longest road on Earth of that era – Moscow Tract (5672 km). Further from Irkutsk started the tracts to Okhotsk on Pacific Ocean (3988 km) and to Beijing (3216 km).
Moscow scow
In memory of this and on the occasion of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the reign of Russian tsar Alexander I in 1811, a triumphal gate was laid here. Although the authorship of this amazing construction for the province is attributed to the provincial architect J.A. Kruglikov, but he could hardly have guessed such an interesting decision himself.
Moscow Triumphal Gate
And,