The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos (Russian: Кафедральный собор во имя Рождества Пресвятой Богородицы) is the main church of the city of Rostov-on-Don and the Orthodox Diocese of Rostov and Novocherkassk. It succeeded the Novocherkassk Cathedral as the main place of Christian worship in the Don region.
Nativity Cathedral is a five-domed stone church, the building itself has a shape of cross. It was built in Russian-Byzantine style. Three-tiered iconostasis in the eastern part of the cathedral is made in the form of a chapel, topped with hipped roof and cupola.[2]
In the courtyard of the cathedral there are also situated a small Church of St. John the Baptist and the baptistery of St. Nicholas, as well as the bell tower and several office buildings: the diocesan administration, the residence of the Metropolitan of the Rostov diocese and diocesan departments and commissions; spiritual and educational center of St. Dimitry, Metropolitan of Rostov; printing house of the diocese; church utensils and spiritual literature shops.
The bell tower
In 1875, the west side of the bell tower of the Cathedral was founded. It was built on project of architect-engineer Anton Campioni[1] and artist-architect Dmitry Lebedev. Construction was carried out at the expense of merchants P. Maksimov and S. Koshkin, of tobacco manufacturer and philanthropist V. Asmolov, and of I. Panchenko, who already then had become a churchwarden. The bell tower was completed in 1887.
The bell tower has a height of 75 metres. It also has Classicist and Renaissance features. The top of the dome is blue, decorated with gold stars. In the top tier there were installed clocks. In the middle tiers there were placed bells It is believed that the ringing of the bell tower was heard over 40 kilometres.
During World War II there were fears that the bell tower can be used by the Germans as a reference point for artillery and bombers. In July 1942 the top two tiers were blown up. In 1949 the second tier was also demolished.
The bell tower was restored in 1999. Architect N. Solnyshkin was the author of restoration project. New bells differ from their predecessors with names and their smaller sizes.
