Tula, Tula Province, Russia, July 2, 2026
Photo: patriarchia.ru
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the rite of great consecration of the restored 18th-century Dormition Cathedral in the Tula Kremlin, on Sunday, June 28.
The Patriarch was joined by five bishops, including the local hierarch His Eminence Metropolitan Alexei of Tula, and other clergy from the Tula diocese and Moscow, reports Patriarchia.ru.
At the end of the Liturgy, Met. Alexei of Tula greeted the Patriarch and presented him with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The Patriarch in turn presented the cathedral with a Znamenny Icon of the Mother of God and awarded Met. Alexei a commemorative Cross and Panagia.
He also gave copies of the Passion Gospels to churches of the Tula diocese. All present received icons of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos with the Patriarchal blessing.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
Pat. Kirill also offered a primatial word reflecting on the survival and revival of the Russian Orthodox Church after the persecutions of the Soviet era, recalling his own childhood memory of witnessing a monk walking openly in the street as a sign that the persecutions were ending. He emphasized that the Church’s endurance through exile, imprisonment, and execution in the 20th century was owed not to any particular generation of Church leaders but to God’s mercy through the prayers of Martyrs and Confessors.
While expressing joy at the restored cathedral and the presence of many young people and children, he cautioned clergy and bishops against complacency, warning that believing “everything is already accomplished” is a sign of spiritual decline. He called on the clergy to continually set new goals suited to the changing needs of the people, to remain vigilant rather than settle into comfort, and to see themselves not only as pastors but as missionaries responsible for strengthening the faith of their flock through both word and personal example.
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Photo: patriarchia.ru
The Dormition Cathedral of the Tula Kremlin is an outstanding monument of Russian architecture from the 1760s. Its comprehensive, phased restoration began in 1966, with a second phase carried out from 2001 under the federal program “Culture of Russia,” and a final phase completed as part of preparations for the 500th anniversary of the Tula Kremlin.
The cathedral’s murals are the only work of the icon-painting workshop of Afanasy Andreyevich Shustov to survive in such volume. The cathedral was painted over two summer seasons in 1765 and 1766 by a team of Yaroslavl masters under Shustov’s direction, using tempera glue painting technique. The historical and cultural value of this painting extends beyond regional significance and holds considerable artistic importance for Russian art as a whole.
The murals cover the walls, pillars, vaults, and drums of the cathedral. The iconographic program of the wall paintings spans a cycle of Biblical events, including rare subjects. The central motif of the painting is the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The cycle also includes depictions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils on the north and south walls, along with a series of Gospel parables. Four scenes from the Old Testament Song of Songs, placed on the west wall, carry deep philosophical and theological meaning and have no parallel in Russian Church painting.
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