The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection, which is impressive in its size, is located in the heart of the city. It stands on one of the highest points of Mariupol, and therefore its outlines can be seen from almost all areas of the city.
The history of construction of the largest cathedral in Mariupol dates back to 2007. The site chosen for construction was empty for many years. In 2007, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the church and the deacon of the Mykolayiv district, Archpriest Mykola Markovsky, consecrated the construction site. Archpriest Gavriil Agabekov, the rector of the Holy Trinity Church, and Stanislav Stoliv, the chief architect of the project, were appointed curators of the construction work by the clergy.
In the spring of 2008, the builders began preparing for the future site. After waterproofing the area and preparing the foundation, the construction of the walls began. The architects planned to build two levels of the temple at the same time: the lower and the upper.
The project is truly unique. The pride of the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection is the main dome, the construction of the foundation of which required 550 cubic meters of concrete and 110 tons of reinforcement. The height of the tallest dome in Ukraine was 30.4 meters. The first four bells and the largest one were installed in 2012. The weight of the main one is 4.2 tons, and the smallest one weighs 18 kilograms. Now the bell tower of the temple has ten bells. The weight of the largest cross, located above the central dome, is about two tons, and the side cross is 730 kilograms.
Despite the fact that the interior has yet to be improved, passing by the temple under construction, you can feel its power and grandeur. The height (including the cross) of the Cathedral is 84.3 meters. This temple is the tallest in the Donetsk region and the second tallest in Ukraine. The height of the main dome is 30.4 meters, which is one and a half meters above the dome of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. Now you can regularly hear the voice of this majestic building – the ringing of its bells.
