Photo credit: Chad Husby / wikipedia.org (CC BY-SA 1.0)
May marks the 120th anniversary of the laying in New York of the foundation stone for St. Nicholas Cathedral, which is called the center of Orthodoxy in North America. The first contribution for the construction of the cathedral was transferred by the Russian emperor Nicholas II, according to the website of the Month of Russian-American History in New York.
The decision to build the temple was made at the end of the 19th century, since the first and at that time the only Orthodox church in New York could not accommodate all the parishioners. In the fall of 1899, a plot of land was purchased for the construction of a temple with a capacity of 900 people and a Sunday school.
The permission to raise funds for the construction of the temple was issued by the Russian emperor Nicholas II, who on his own behalf sent 5,000 gold rubles for this purpose. The collection was also attended by the legendary priest John of Kronstadt.
The foundation stone of the church was laid by the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon. The structure was built by an American firm under the supervision of a Russian architect. The first service in the new church took place in 1902.
Russkiy Mir
