Holy Transfiguration Church, Kėdainiai, Lithuania

Holy Transfiguration Church is an Orthodox church in Kėdainiai. The first, wooden Orthodox church was constructed in 1643. From 1652 it belonged to an Orthodox monastery of the Holy Transfiguration, which was destroyed by fire in 1771. After this event the monastery was never rebuilt and the monks moved to the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius. In 1798 it was officially closed. Despite the advice of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the remaining church was not made a parish church because of the tiny number of Orthodox Christians living permanently in Kėdainiai. The services were held there only occasionally, wherever a Russian military unit arrived to the town.

In 1841 this situation changed together with the arrival of more Russians to the town. In 1895 the church also turned out to be too tiny and it was replaced by the one which was preserved up to today. During World War I, the church was abandoned. Only in 1918 new parish clergy arrived to Kėdainiai. It was registered as an active parish by the Soviet government in 1947, with 230 parishioners at this moment.

References:

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User Reviews

Mila P. (3 years ago)

Simona Vadauskaite (3 years ago)

Wit N (Vito) (3 years ago)
Orthodox church. Nice outside. But kiejdany is the former capital of Lithuania Radziwiłów. It

Krzysztof Kalinowski (3 years ago)
The origins of the Orthodox parish in Kyedani date back to 1645, when Janusz Radziwiłł married the second wife Maria Lupu. In 1854 Count Marian Czapski, the owner of Kiejdan, gave the Orthodox community a brick building, which was rebuilt into an Orthodox church according to the design of architect S. Ikonikow. After the fire in 1893, Piotr Stołypin helped raise funds for the renovation of the church. At the beginning of the 20th century, a foreman from Saint Petersburg was invited to paint the walls and ceiling of the church. Currently, the church works, inside there are pictures from the 20th century, as well as several valuable icons. A memorial plaque was erected near the church in memory of Piotr Stolypin - the most prominent member of the orthodox community of Kyedani. The board was unveiled on September 21, 2012. Bas relief was created by the sculptor Romas Vilčiauskas, while the author of the composition is Arvydas Urbelis. The church is open during services.

Benediktas Balčiūnas (4 years ago)

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