1125 Great Prince Vladimir Monomakh sends to the cathedral the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir. This icon painted by St. Alypius of the Kiev Cave Monastery has become the shrine of the cathedral and the city.
1253 Bishop Cyrill has visited the Tatars' capital to settle the matters connected with the Church needs. During his visit he healed Great Khan's son and was given the bill according to which the annual tribute of Rostov Princes was to be given "to the Most Pure Theotokos Home" - Ouspenie Cathedral.
1280 "Bishop Ignatius has
covered the cathedral temple of Rostov with tin and paved its bottom with marble".
1314 June, 11 - the
memory of holy apostles Vartholomey and Barnabas - a 40 day baby Vartholomey, a son of the Rostov gentry Cyrill and Maria, is christened in the cathedral. This baby became the most revered Russian saint - St. Sergius of Radonezh, "the Succourer of Russia". St. Sergius promoted, personally and through his disciples, the spiritual rebirth and renewal of the entire land of Russia thereby liberating her enthralment to wild Asiatic hordes.
1368 St. Stephen, the future Bishop of Perm and the enlightener of the Zyrian people, is tonsured in the St. Gregory monastery at the Bishop's Yard. This monastery was a major scholar center famous for its library. St. Stephen lived here for ten years preparing for his mission. Here he has created the Zyrian alphabet and translated the Holy Gospel.
1390 The Patriarch of Constantinople confers the title of Archbishop on the ruling bishops of Rostov. The first Archbishop of Rostov was Theodore, nephew of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
1408 June, 21 - There was a great fire in Rostov. "... the cathedral was burnt with all its ornament; and the icons and plentiful old books, as well as golden and silver plate and the vestments and pearls; and the stones have collapsed of that fire, and the church vaults have fallen in".
1411 Archbishop Gregory (1396-1416) "spared no expence for the church construction of the Dormition cathedral": he has put the walls and the vault to rights, paved the floor with stone plates, and covered the cupola and the roof with lead. On the 1st of October the temple was sanctified.
1508-1515 Archbishop Vassian (Sanin) ordered to pull the old building of the cathedral down and to erect a new one. This building is almost 500 years old. Now it is the oldest historical building of Rostov.
1589 The title of Metropolitan is conferred on Archbishops of Rostov. The first Metropolitan of Rostov Varlaam (Rogov) was a connosieur of church singing. He was "a pious and very wise man, skillful in singing and composing all kinds of church hymns". Metropolitan Varlaam is buried in the cathedral next to St. Theodore in 1602.
1609 October, 13 - the Polish detachments together with traitors from Pereslavl took the city and burned it. Metropolitan Philaret (Romanov) was closed in the cathedral
with the last defenders of Rostov. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated and everyone received Holy Communion. The Metropolitan was "like a lamb ready to be slaughtered". When the doors were broken, everyone was slain. Metropolitan Philaret was sent to the camp of the"Toushino robber" and then to Poland where he was a prisoner till 1619.
1619 Czar Mikhail Romanov (elected in 1613), son of Metropolitan Philaret, has visited Rostov on a pilgrimage. Metropolitan Philaret, having returned from the captivity, is elected Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.
1652-1691 The Metropolitan of Rostov Iona Sysoyevich has built the new Metropolitans residence (now called the Kremlin of Rostov), the new cathedral belltower and ordered to cast 12 bells weighing from 24 to 32000 kgs. The cathedral was painted with frescos and
a new iconostasis was made.
1690-s Metropolitan Ioasaph has adorned the cathedral with a baroque iconostasis and various utensils. Old windows have been widened. The cathedral square is surrounded with a wall possessing the Holy Gates.
1702-1709 A renowned Church writer St. Dimitriy is the Metropolitan of Rostov.Each Sunday he would deliver his God inspired sermons in the cathedral.
1730 The great fire in the cathedral. In 1736 Archbishop Ioakim ordered to erect the new iconostasis. The exterior of the cathedral is modified to the artistic preferences of that time: the arches on the roof (zakomaras) have been covered with plain pitches, the slam like cupolas substituted with onion-like ones.
1778 The frescos of the cathedral are renewed with oil-paint.
1788 The bishop's residence is moved to Yaroslavl.
1831 Most part of the wall around the cathedral is replaced with a row of stalls with a small chapel in the middle of them. This chapel has been used as a passage to the cathedral square. The cathedral bookshop is situated here as well now.
1843 Oil paint in the cathedral is renewed.
1879 A stove was made in the northern church-porch. The cathedral has become a heated temple since then.
1883 October, 28 - on the St. Dimitriy memory day the restored White Chamber of the Kremlin is sanctified and the Church Antiquities Museum opened in it.
1884 The 12th century side chapel of St. Leontius is restored in the altar part of the cathedral. During the excavations, the white-stone sepulchre of St. Leontius sent to the cathedral by Great Prince Andrey of Bogolyubovo in 1160-s has been
found.
1922 All the precious ornaments and utensils have been taken from the cathedral by the Bolshevist city authorities.
1930 Playing the bells is forbidden according to the City Council decree on February 28th. All the monasteries and most parish churches of Rostov have been closed. Some of them destroyed completely. Destroyed practically all the bells in the city and the district of Rostov (total weight 800 000 kgs). The cathedral belltower set of bells has been the only one remained intact.
1935 The cathedral is closed and used as a storehouse of the chicory and coffee grinding mills.
1939 Archaeological excavations in the cathedral.
1953 August, 24 - the cupolas and the roof of the cathedral are damaged with a hurricane. The new cupolas and crosses have been installed. The old zakomara arches of the roof as well as the slit-like windows are restored as they were in the 17th century. The interior of the cathedral is being slowly destructed due to the inaction and neglect of the museum officials.
1963 Mosfilm cinema studio has got a special permission to and record the chimes of the cathedral bells. Later on, the bestselling "Rostov chimes" disc has been issued.
1986 The beams for hanging the bells have been changed at the belltower. Larch has been specially brought fron Siberia.
1987 1125th anniversary of Rostov is celebrated. It is allowed to perform "bell music concerts" for tourists.
1990 October, 11 - the constituent assembly of the Ouspenie Cathedral religious community under the chairmanship of Archbishop Platon of Yaroslavl and Rostov. Hegumen Sylvester is appointed Rector of the Cathedral, Vera Vakhrina is elected Church Warden.
1991 The interior of the small chapel of Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem is being restored. The regular church services have commensed in June. June, 4 - he Holy Relics of St. Dimitriy have been returned from the museum reserve stock. After a prayer service in the cathedral they have been taken to the Spasso-Yakovlevskiy monastery with a festive Cross-procession.
1992-1993 A 1 meter layer of soil is removed from the cathedral square. Archaeological excavations are performed in the cathedral and around it. Many fragments of white stone walls of the 1213 cathedral have been discovered. The draining system of the cathedral square is restored.
1993 May,13 - His Holyness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexiy II has visited the cathedral and the city of Rostov.
1994 March, 4 - Priest Roman Vitiouk is appointed Rector of the Cathedral. May, 4 - a weekly "Orthodox corner" column edited by Fr. Roman appeared for the first time in the "Province" local paper. Summer - the white stone basement of the cathedral is repaired. July - 140 books from the cathedral library have been given to the city library in order to organise the section of Orthodox Christian books. New books are added regularly. August 28th - Dormition of the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. The feastday divine service have been celebrated in the half ruined cathedral for the first time after a long break. December, 11th (November 29th acc. to the Church calendar) 600 years since St. Theodore died. The Dean of the Moscow Simonovo church (founded by St. Theodore before he became Archbishop of Rostov) has brought an icon of the saint to be kept by his tombstone in the cathedral.
1995 March 26th - the chapel under the bells was robbed late into the night. Several icons, the plate and the Gospel have been stolen. June, 5 - the city authorities have decided to erect a monument to St. Prince Vasilko by the eastern wall of the Kremlin. A memorial stone to mark the site of the future monument was sanctified by the Rector of the Cathedral. August, 26 - the grilles of the Holy Gates have been restored. A month later, the cross for the chapel in the stalls has been made and erected.
1996 March 17th (4th) - St. Prince Vasilko memory day - the Divine Liturgy in the chapel under the bells was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Mikhey. This was the first service of the ruling bishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov in the cathedral since 1930-s. May 26th - the sound of the cathedral bells have been recorded by the Moscow bell center and "Orthodox Video" charity fund. The chimes have been performed by the cathedral bellers headed by Dimitriy Smirnov. July - the Moscow St. Tikhon's Theological Institute students from the Ecclesiastical Arts Department have been working in the cathedral restoring icons. Their practicing in the cathedral has become regular since then.
1997 During the summer, the restoration of the cathedral square was completed (look what it was like before), the west porch was made anew. The floor of the cathedral was paved with cast-iron plates (look what was before), doors and windows frames were inserted, electrical equipment was installed. The restoration of the side chapel of St. Leontius has progressed sufficiently. May 24th - the cathedral icon- and bookshop is opened in the row of stalls Chapel after major repairs. July - the icons of Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem, Our Lady "the Sovereign" and St. Sisoes the Great have been installed into the iconostasis of the Chapel under the bells. August 23rd - the 1135th anniversary of the city of Rostov celebration. The Divine Liturgy in the cathedral is celebrated by His Holyness Patriarch Alexiy of Moscow and all Russia. Since then, all the summertime (May-October) church services are celebrated in the cathedral. October - the bellers school was organised by Dimitriy Smirnov.
1998 March 17th - 760-th anniversary of the battle on the River Sit and St. Prince Vasilko's death - the Divine Liturgy in the chapel under the bells was celebrated by Archbishop Mikhey. April - the Sunday school of the cathedral was organised. June, 21 - the feastday of All Saints of the Russian Land -the Great Sanctification of the cathedral was performed by Archbishop Mikhey. August 30th - the feastday Divine Liturgy in the cathedral was celebrated by Archbishop Mikhey. September 17th - the first weekly telecast "Rostov Evangelist" prepared by Fr. Roman was issued by the Rostov telecasting company with the blessing of Archbishop Mikhey. October 20th - the Czar Gates of the cathedral iconostasis have been returned from the museum reserve stock. Thorough restoration is needed.
1999 March - the Cathedral Website is opened. June, 5th (May, 23 - acc. to the Churh calendar) - the St Leontius Feastday Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the Cathedral by Archbishop Mikhey. Several fragments of the Holy Relics of stt. Isaia and Ignaius, bishops of Rostov, kept previously in Yaroslavl, have been returned to the Cathedral. Deacon Victor Nisamov is ordained priest. There was a feastday Cross Procession. August 28th - Dormition of the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary - the Feastday Divine Liturgy in the cathedral was celebrated by Archbishop Mikhey. December 11th - St Theodore of Rostov - the Divine Liturgy in the Chapel under the bells was celebrated by His Grace Bishop Iossif of Ouglitch, the Vicar of the Yaroslavl Diocese.
2003 June, 27th - protopriest Eleutheriy Kolodeznoi is appointed Rector of the cathedral.
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