Chisinau Municipality, Republic of Moldova

https://csf.md/

The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior is a place of worship and a monument included in the Register of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Chisinau Municipality and in the Register of State-Protected Monuments of the Republic of Moldova as an architectural monument of national importance.

The building was built in 1898-1902 under the direction of the diocesan architect Mihail Serotinsky and with the financial support of the state councilor Constantin Namestnik, who was buried in this church in 1905 according to his will. It functioned as a chapel (with the patronage of "St. Emperors Constantine and Elena") of the gymnasium no. 2 for boys - in the interwar period the "Mihai Viteazul" Military Lyceum. Thus, simultaneously with the construction of the building intended for classrooms, the construction of a house church next to the gymnasium was also planned. But funds for this purpose, half of which were private donations, were scarce - only 15 thousand rubles. Therefore, it was proposed to build a modest annex in the courtyard, the lower floor of which would serve as a gymnasium, and the upper - a house church. But another benefactor from Chisinau appeared, the honorary tutor of the gymnasium, Constantin Namestnik, who donated an amount of money twice as much as the church had. However, he put forward some conditions: that this church be erected in honor of the Holy Emperors and Rightly Apostles Constantine and Elena, as well as that he be buried in the crypt under the church. The locals agreed, both conditions were fulfilled (one immediately, the other after the death of Konstantin Namestnik, in 1905). The construction work was entrusted to the diocesan architect of Chisinau, Mihail Serotinsky. And so it appeared in our city, built in the form of a Greek cross, surrounded by a dome and elegantly decorated in the Russian-Byzantine style, the chapel of the boys' gymnasium No. 2 - the church of Saints Constantine and Elena, with a porch with sturdy columns built in front of the entrance. The famous iconographers Vasnetsov and Nesterov, invited from Kiev, exactly copied the original icons of the famous Cathedral of St. Prince Vladimir in Kiev. The bells of the church were purchased from the bell-casting factory in the city of Yaroslavl. On May 19, 1902, the gymnasium church was solemnly opened and consecrated. It was visited not only by schoolchildren, but also by many residents of the capital.

In the interwar period, the gymnasium was reprofiled, becoming the military high school "Michael the Brave", and the church continued to have the same purposes. After the war, the KGB building appeared on the site of the destroyed high school. The church was preserved. It lost its original purpose. Thus, in April 1962, on the anniversary of the first manned flight into space, the building was redeveloped into a planetarium. The planetarium was an institution for the propagation of science about the Universe, but also for the propaganda of atheism. It was led by a Scientific Council, headed by academicians Tadeuș Malinovschi and Sergiu Rădăuțanu. Among the collaborators of the planetarium were associate professors Aurel Marinciuc, Dumitru Fetescu and others.

Among the details added to the building are the ceiling of the hall, painted with various constellations, a model of the Earth with a diameter of 2 meters, a model of the Moon, a full-size model of the first artificial satellite and a copy of a Soviet lunar rover. The main projector was directed upwards, towards the dome of the church.

In the early 1980s, the issue of its demolition was discussed, as the believers asked the higher party and state courts to return it to the church. In 1989, after the demonstrations for the independence of the Republic of Moldova, a fire broke out in the building, as a result of which the dome collapsed and the projection device was destroyed. The building was restored in 1991 and handed over to the Metropolitanate of Chisinau and All Moldova.

It has a plan of an inscribed Greek cross, with four pillars on which the circular drum of the dome rests. The exterior is decorated in the spirit of the Russian-Byzantine style. A porch with sturdy columns is built in front of the entrance.

The Church of the Transfiguration with a history of over 120 years is a spiritual oasis located right in the heart of Chisinau, with its doors always open for believers. The parish priest of the holy place, starting from 1997 and until today, is the archpriest Metropolitan Ioan Plămădeală.