Khaki doesn’t make it holy. The Cathedral of the Resurrection…
Khaki doesn’t make it holy.
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ — the so-called “Main Church of the Russian Armed Forces” — was built five years ago and is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in WWII. Standing 95 meters tall, it’s designed in a Russo-Byzantine style with a classic cross-in-square layout and a separate bell tower. Impressive? Maybe. But let’s talk honestly.
First off — is this a new build or a photocopy of Irkutsk’s Kazan Cathedral (1894)? With all the possibilities of 21st-century design, how did we end up rehashing 19th-century tropes?
Then there’s the stylistic clash. A restrained Byzantine frame… and a chandelier straight out of an Art Deco jazz club? That’s whiplash. At least they scraped Putin and Stalin off the murals — yes, that was real.
The khaki exterior might be aiming for military symbolism, but ends up feeling like camouflage cosplay. Even constructivist Shchusev was subtler with his regimental chapels.
And the lighting? A billion-ruble budget, and they gave us spotlight drama instead of sacred glow. No volume, no warmth — just shadows trying to hide flaws.
The interior is rich, no doubt, but the quality of the painting wavers hard. Gorgeous mosaics next to amateurish brushwork — like hanging a child’s doodle in a museum. Still, the ribbed domes are a nice touch, and spatially it does sit well in the park. Just don’t stare too long at the icons if you want to keep a straight face.
In short: bold, bizarre, and baffling. Welcome to Russia’s loudest whisper of sacred architecture.
And here’s the thing: knowing the backstory and having been involved in early concept discussions, I can say with confidence — Dmitry Mikhailovich Smirnov (you can find him on VK @unitii) had brilliant architectural ideas. But the iron boot of the client stomped them flat. What could’ve been a poetic vision turned into a concrete expression of military consciousness.
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