Ulyanovsk, Russia, May 29, 2018
Photo: pravmir.ru The local authorities of the city of Ulyanovsk, located 150 miles south of Kazan, along the Volga River, adopted a resolution on April 24 to officially change the name of the eastern part of Lenin Square to Cathedral Square, the city administration’s press service reported to IA REGNUM.
In the city of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov’s birth, named after him (it was known as Simbirsk before 1924), the decision was controversial, but as the administration noted, this is not merely a change, but rather, “the return of the historical name” of the square.
The decision was made by the Committee for renaming streets and signed by acting city head Vadim Andreev.
The call to return the historical name of Cathedral Square was first made in December by the regional branch of the “A Just Russia” party and was supported by the Deputy Secretary of the “United Russia” party, Vasily Gvozdev.
An historical view of Cathedral Square, before Holy Trinity Cathedral was destroyed. Photo: ulpressa.ru They noted at that time that Cathedral Square was the original name, as until 1936 the square was home to Holy Trinity Cathedral. The church was built in 1824-1841 in honor of the Russian army’s victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, and stood on the square until it was destroyed by Soviet authorities.
Opponents of the renaming noted that the city is named after Lenin and that the square still has a monument to him, and that the change could be met with a negative reaction from society.
While many cities, streets, monuments, etc. dedicated to Lenin and other infamous communists remain in Russia, there is a growing movement to correct this historical and moral injustice.
Speaking before the Moscow State Duma in Moscow 2016, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia urged them not to justify the utilitarian preservation of names of city objects which perpetuate the memory of murderers and terrorists, arguing that prudent changes in the names of city streets and other objects will shape the moral consciousness of the society.
“I do not encourage the demolition of monuments and I support a healthy approach to the matter of renaming city streets and other objects. We should not touch the memory of people who served their motherland in one or another period of history,” the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted.
“But that does not apply to those individuals who stained their hands with innocent blood,” he added, stressing that it is impossible to explain to young people the reasons for perpetuating the memory of wicked men.
In August 2016, “Voikovskaya” train station, named for one of the men involved in the murder of the Holy Royal Martyrs—Tsar Nicholas II and his family—was renamed “Baltic.”
In January of this year, Deputy of the Tyumen city Duma Igor Raksha proposed renaming Khokhryakova Street in the regional center, given that one of the “accomplishments” of the revolutionary sailor Pavel Khokhyrakov was the organizing of the murder of Bishop Germogen (Dolganov) of Tobolsk and Siberia, canonized as a New Martyr, in 1918. Before the communist era the street was named Dormition, in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos.
In the same month, His Grace Bishop James of Naryan-Mar and Mezen argued for the renaming of the “communist” islands of Severnaya Zemlya for the centenary of the July 1918 Romanov martyrdom, noting that the islands were opened in 1913 by an expedition sent by Tsar Nicholas.
“We must follow the path of historical and Divine truth… Geography and the naming of lands should record the path of creation, not of destruction. It’s comical to see these names in the Russian Arctic: Komsomol, Bolshevik, Pioneer. We must have a more serious attitude towards our own history, and respect and love our land. Do we have so few heroes-explorers that we can be proud of?” Bp. Jacob asked.
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