History of creation and basic directions of pastoral and missionary activity of the Assumption Cathedral in Biysk
The inclusion of Biysk historical and cultural monuments into the routes of educational excursions requires the study of history of every object. One of the little-studied monuments of the historical centre, defining the unique landscape, is the Assumption Cathedral. Its weak level of study is confirmed by the analysis of the historiography of the object. It is a very serious problem, which does not give the guide an opportunity to make a good excursion of one of the main attractions of Biysk for the participants. The level of perception of the monument is reduced by the ignorance of the material, and it means that the excursion becomes less intensive in terms of information. The identified sources allowed to restore the most important pages of the Cathedral's history. At the end of the 19th century, a necessity of the construction of a spacious Cathedral appeared. The project was drawn up in Russian-Byzantine style and was approved by Khaba-rov, a Tomsk Province architect. Makariy (Pavlov), the Bishop of Biysk, consecrated three thrones in 1903. Archpriest Dagaev became its first Father Superior. He served in the Assumption temples of Biysk for 47 years and 2 months. The house Church in the name of Saints Constantine and Helen in Pushkin City School, Church-Parish Men's School, Parish Male and Nikolaev Female Schools were in charge of the temple in 1908. In 1918 the temple became known as the Cathedral, in the 1920s it was handed over to the updaters and became a Duomo Cathedral. In 1932, the Church was closed and used as a granary. The Church was opened the second time after the changing of the state policy in 1947. In the post-war years the Assumption Church became one of the three functioning on the territory of the region. The Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexey II visited the Assumption Church on May 12, 1991. Anthony, the Bishop of Barnaul and Altai region, ordered to call the temple a Cathedral in 1994. And it received the status of a Duomo Cathedral in 1998. The author of the article started collecting exhibits and documentary materials for the creation of an exposition ''The Centuries-Old History of the Assumption Cathedral'' from 2008 according to the concept of the Museum of the History of the Altai Spiritual Mission. On January 1, 1913 there were 418 exhibits in the thematic exhibition: the dome crosses, liturgical vestments, books with notes of hymns of the Church choir, etc. Having identified and studied archival materials, collected exhibits, oral memories, we managed to find out the centuries-old history of the Assumption Cathedral, which played a crucial role in the Orthodox life of the city and the whole region of the preservation of the Christian traditions during the years of Soviet atheism. Analyzing the above facts, it could be argued that in spite of the severe ordeals of time, the Assumption Cathedral was and remains the standard of temple architecture. It is a real decoration of Biysk, the stronghold of Orthodoxy and spirituality.