All Saints Cathedral Church

The All Saints Cathedral in Tula is visible from almost anywhere in the city center, Zarechye and Proletarsky District. To visit it, you should examine the horizon, find a temple with a green roof and a tall white bell tower and head in that direction. We still suggest you use a map so that you don’t get lost. The All Saints Cathedral in Tula can be found at 79 Lva Tolstogo St.

In 1770, the City of Craftsmen was quite small; it was part of Moscow Governorate and had no straight streets. The only building by which a modern man who arrived in the 18^th century could determine that he was in Tula was the Kremlin.

From 1771 to 1773, a plague epidemic swept across the Russian Empire, including Tula. In order to prevent the spread of infection, the Imperial Senate decided to establish cemeteries only outside the city. So in Tula, in 1771, burial space appeared in the south of the city’s borders, where in 1773 a wooden All Saints Church was built.

Immediately afterwards, a blessed certificate is issued for the construction of a stone church. Three years later, a single-tier stone church was built in the name of the Second Coming of Christ with the chapels of the Resurrection of Lazarus and All Saints. From 1776 to 1890, the temple was completed and reconstructed at the expense of the parishioners. The merchants G.S. Sushkin, I.A. Gerasimov, N.T. Devyatkin, N.I. Chernikov, P.P. Mironov, and others took part in the construction. During this time, the borders of Tula swallowed up both the cemetery and the church. Next to the All Saints Cathedral in the 19^th century Tula, there are the Tolstovskaya outpost, the Noble Assembly, and a block of residential buildings, where the great Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky lived in his youth. During the Soviet era, the temple was not closed, but from 1923 to 1944 its history was overshadowed by the activities of the Renovationists. After this period of schism, the All Saints Church became a cathedral.

Looking at the church, residents and guests of the city can see a harmonious mixture of two styles. From the Baroque, the temple inherited a complex layout and sculpturesque facades. The first tier displays vigorous rustication, that is, there are frequent texture lines along the entire wall. The predominant style of the cathedral is the Classicism of the early 18^th century. The features of this style are expressed in the second tier of the church, completed in 1797: porticoes with columns and pediments standing on them adorn the temple from four sides.

Despite the fact that the 82-meter-high bell tower of the temple was completed by Rossi’s student Vasily Fedoseyev only in 1859, it matches the cathedral perfectly. Trumpeting angels stand above its first tier in four corners. These sculptures, in unity with the columns and the slenderness of the structure, create a magnificent view and make the bell tower one of the dominant sights of Tula.

The voluminous space inside the temple is rich with icons from three centuries. Interestingly, the wall paintings were updated in 1955–1960. It was done by Moscow artists Viktor Golubeyev and Pavel Gladkov. An attentive visitor to the temple will note that the biblical episodes depicted on the walls repeat the Christian cycle of works by V. M. Vasnetsov for the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev. The temple is open to public. In order to clarify the schedule of the Liturgy, please call: +7-4872-36-41-01.