The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Kargopol, Russia.

© Karasev Viktor/Shutterstock

Nativity Cathedral

Top choice in Northern European Russia


The five-domed, 1562 star of Sobornaya Ploschad sports intriguing timber-encased corner buttresses and houses a splendid iconostasis on the 2nd floor (only open in summer). On a pillar, the superb 18th-century Starshni Sud (Judgment Day) icon is a who’s who of saints on what looks like a heavenly snakes-and-ladders board.

On the 1st floor, 19th-century wooden 'skies' from the region's churches depict Adam and Eve hiding their shame, Isaac about to be killed and other biblical scenes.

Like many of Russia's churches, the cathedral was used as a warehouse during the Soviet era. Restoration is ongoing.


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