The Holy Virgin Cathedral
If any of you have ever traveled on Geary Street between 26th and 27th avenues and have wondered what that huge building is with the giant golden domes, that is the Holy Virgin Cathedral. The cathedral is the center for the Russian Orthodox community on the west coast. There a hundreds of Russian Orthodox churches all over the west coast but what makes this one extra special is that his Eminence Archbishop Kyril of San Francisco and Western Diocese serves here. What's so great about that? Well, he represents the entire Russian Orthodox people of the west coast and that's a big job (the head quarters being in NYC). The Holy Virgin Cathedral was built/completed in 1966 by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco and frescoed by iconographer Archimandrite Kiprian of Jordanville (in New York). Today, at the cathedral, one can venerate St. Johns holy relics. The cathedral has three alters and three choirs, the main choir is considered one of the best outside of Russia, a Russian high school and an Orthodox Academy. Many important church events have happened in this church including the glorification of two saints, St. John and St. Herman of Alaska. On big holidays like Orthodox Easter (celebrated at a different time than catholic easter), you can be one of over a thousand people in the church to pray and celebrate the holiday.
There's not too much about the cathedral online so I couldn't find any hidden histories, however, growing up, in and around this church I can say that it has offered peace to many different types of people from all around the word. The building outside can look boring and ugly but once you step inside the doors, your breath is completely taken away. The walls are covered head to toe in gold and amazingly beautiful frescoes, and if you have the patience to stand for at least a half hour during a service your ears will greatly thank you for the singing is wonderful. I know for many people, this Cathedral isn't just a church but an extended home for a very strong community that has established itself here.
Maybe imperialistic in a Russian Imperialist way, however I'd like to think of it as non imperialistic in a Brechin way because the fact that it's an Eastern Orthodox church. However, building wise, it's massive and it has these huge 24k plated gold domes, it's size alone signifies power.
So, if anyone is ever around 27th and Geary and is in a peaceful mood and wants to see some great art work, I strongly suggest taking a stroll inside the church.
Question: I know religion can be a sensitive subject but I feel that a lot of the churches in San Francisco play an important role in defining some of the people in the city culturally, ethnically etc. like the church in Washington square Ferlinghetti uses in some of his poems and its connection to the italian immigrants in North Beach. Do you agree or disagree?
2 comments:
I absolutely agree. The variation in types of church directly aligns with the variation in types of people. So culturally, ethnically, and personally, there are so many meanings to any particular church, and the congregation thereof.
N... this is a really interesting profile of the Cathedral. Is there any particular reason for making the west coast center for the Russian Orthodox community in San Francisco? Why SF and not another West Coast city? What sorts of cultures have developed around the church, and how have they been shaped by the region?
yes, it's curious that SF has such a legacy with the church and religion...and yet there's a popular perception that religion is a sensitive subject in the area. Which one could say, of course, is another one of SF's wonderful paradoxes. But this does invite some interesting questions about religion in San Francisco - what can religion be in San Francisco? What is the balance between orthodoxy, tradition, heritage, and the various cultures of liberalism that are prevalent there today? It'd be a really interesting project to trace these questions in the Beat years and in other movements earlier/later...
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