The Exaltation of the Holy Cross Cathedral stands on Castle Hill, in the most ancient part of Zhytomyr, on Katedralna Street. This Byzantine-style church is visible from many points in the old town, and its fate in the 20th century is one of the most dramatic among Zhytomyr's shrines: it served as both a haberdashery warehouse and a nature museum with a mammoth.
From a wooden church to a stone temple
A wooden Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church had stood on this site since the 17th century. By the late 19th century, it had become completely dilapidated, and the rector, Archpriest Oleksandr Seletskyi, began collecting donations for a new stone temple. The parishioners were poor and raised a little over 3 thousand rubles, so the rest — almost 63 thousand — was allocated by the Most Holy Synod.
The project was designed by Professor of Architecture Arnold Yensh. The foundation of the church was laid in 1897, and on December 10, 1900, it was consecrated by Modest (Strilbytskyi), Archbishop of Volhynia, in the presence of a large gathering of Zhytomyr residents.
Haberdashery warehouse and nature museum
In the 1930s, the church was confiscated from the community. In 1942, during the German occupation, services resumed; in 1943, the occupation authorities transferred the church to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and in early 1944, it was returned to the previous community. However, later that year, the church was closed again: the property was transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral, and the building was turned into a haberdashery warehouse.
In 1970, the church was handed over to the regional local lore museum, and starting from 1987, the Nature Museum operated here. In the former altar, a corner of Polissia nature was recreated with stuffed birds and animals, while a mammoth skeleton and a collection of minerals from the Zhytomyr region — originally started by Volhynian Governor Mykhailo Chertkov — were placed on the site of the lower church. The collection of taxidermy mounts was created by the renowned taxidermist Vsevolod Bruhovskyi, and in 1990 the exhibition was recognized as one of the best among natural history museums in Ukraine.
Return to the community
For several decades, three Orthodox communities competed for the church. On September 8, 2011, the regional council transferred the building to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church community, while the Nature Museum was left without a permanent home — its future fate is discussed in our article „Nature Museum in Zhytomyr”. The cathedral is an architectural landmark of local significance.
How to get there
The cathedral stands on Castle Hill in the city center, next to Castle Hill, St. Sophia's Cathedral, and the local lore museum. From here, it is a few minutes' walk to the Transfiguration Cathedral and the Seminary Church. Read about other churches in the city in the article „Architectural Pearls of the Zhytomyr Region”.
