Vocabulary

1. lime-stone – известняк

2. a cape – мыс

3. a place of pilgrimage – место паломничества

4. a preserve – заповедник

EXERCISES

1 Answer the following questions:

1. Is Rostov Region large? Prove it.

2. What is the Rostov region famous for?

3. What names of famous people are connected with the history of the Rostov region?

4. Starocherkasskaya stanitsa is still the capital of the Don Cossacks, isn’t it?

5. What places of interest can one see there?

6. What famous people visited it?

7. What is Novocherkassk known for?

8. What is the oldest town of the Rostov region?

9. What town was a Greek settlement: Tanais or Azov?

10. Who were the initial inhabitants of Azov?

11. Why is there a monument to Peter I in Taganrog?

12. What places of interest are there in Taganrog?

13. What archaeological preserves are there on the territory of the Rostov region?

14. What towns of the Rostov region would you advice to visit and why?

Text 17 The Cathedrals of the Don Region The Voyskovoy Cathedral of Resurrection in Stanitsa Starocherkasskaya

This Cathedral is the oldest on the Don land. It was laid to commemorate the victory of the Don Cossacks over the Turks in the Azov campaign (1637 – 1641). At first it was made of wood but after two fires in 1671 and 1687 a stone building was constructed. It was built under the personal supervision of Peter I who sent money, iron, icons, books and the objects of cult for it. He even laid several stones in its altar wall.

It was consecrated in February 1719. The inner decoration is magnificent and impressive. It consists of 125 icons, painted mostly in the 18-th century. Among them there is an icon of the Christ’s Resurrection painted by Egor Grek in 1749. The architectural design of the Cathedral is very logical and harmonious. It has 9 domes which compose a Greek cross.

Many members of the czar family, famous Cossacks (M.I. Platov), A.S. Pushkin, A.V. Suvorov, V.I. Surikov visited this Cathedral. There one can see a chain by which Stepan Rasin was riveted in 1671; the Cathedral at that time was still wooden. There is also a tomb of the ataman Korniliy Yakovlev, a godfather of Stepan Rasin, who captured Stepan and brought him to Moscow for execution.

Vocabulary

1. resurrection – воскресение

2. to consecrate – освящать

3. to rivet – приковывать

4. a dome – купол

5. a godfather – крестный отец

The Cathedral of Resurrection in Novocherkassk

When the Cossacks’ capital was transferred from stanitsa Starocherkasskaya to Novocherkassk a new Cathedral was laid. Its construction was started in May 1805 on the day of Christ’s Resurrection. The first design was done by the architect A.I. Ruska. But in 1846 the building crashed down due to the weak foundation made of lime-stone. The second design was worked out by the Academician I.O. Waldprede, but it was not put into effect because the main dome crashed down in 1863 due to some neglections during the construction.

The new design in the so-called «New-Byzantine style» was made by the architect A.A. Yaschenko. But he unexpectedly died before the Cathedral was constructed. In 1905 the Cathedral was at last consecrated. It is 74.6 m high and even nowadays it is the third largest Cathedral in Russia. It strikes by its huge sizes, but it looks very harmonious at the same time. It also has a form of a Greek cross but it has 6 domes. The inner decoration is made of rose and white marble, the icons were painted by Staroborovsky and Gryzhevsky. Besides the paintings based on Old and New Testimonies there are pictures devoted to the history of the Don Cossacks made by the artists I.F. Popov, T.K. Petrusevitch, F.S. Kazachinsky and D.N. Kardovsky. In the basement of the Cathedral there are the tombs of the atamans Platov, Efremov, Baklanov and others.