Co-Cathedral of St. Alexander | |
Other Name: | Співкафедральний собор св. Олександра |
Location: | Kyiv |
Country: | Ukraine |
Denomination: | Catholic Church |
Completed Date: | 1842 |
Metropolis: | Lviv |
Diocese: | Kyiv-Zhytomyr |
The Co-Cathedral of St. Alexander[1] (uk|Співкафедральний собор св. Олександра) also called Cathedral of St. Alexander of Kyiv is a Latin Catholic co-cathedral located in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.[2] [3]
The church was built between 1817 and 1842 in a cruciform plan, with a dome at the intersection of the aisles in the style of classicism. The church is located on the former site of a Polish merchant district, near the present day Independence Square.
To commemorate the visit of Russian Tsar Alexander I in Kyiv the Polish owner Antoni Sawicki built, with the consent of the authorities, a wooden church on the site.
The first wooden church burned down in 1823; the new brick church was not completed until 1842. After 1905, the tsarist authorities eased restrictions on churches other than Russian Orthodox. In Soviet times a planetarium occupied the premises. After the fall of communism the building was renovated and became the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Kyiv-Žytomyr (Dioecesis Kioviensis-Zytomeriensis, Єпархія Київ-Житомир).