Dumenko marks 130th anniversary of Rivne cathedral built by Russian Tsar

The Resurrection Cathedral in Rivne, postcard dated 1912. Photo: open sources

On December 9, 2025, the head of the OCU Serhiy (Epifaniy) Dumenko led a prayer service at the Resurrection Cathedral of Rivne on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of its consecration by the Russian Church.

In his speech during the religious event, Dumenko noted: "We know about the different pages in the fate of this cathedral: there was a time of construction and consecration, there was a time of flourishing, but there were also times when the church was turned into a museum of atheism. We can ask: where are these godless people now? They are gone, and we are in a renewed, beautiful church," noted Serhiy Dumenko. At the same time, he did not mention either the Russian Emperor Alexander III, who laid the foundation of the cathedral, or the historical circumstances of its construction.

The Resurrection Cathedral has a remarkable history. In 1890, large military maneuvers took place near Rivne, and the Russian Emperor Alexander III with his family chose the city as their temporary residence. On August 30 of the same year, on his name day, the Emperor personally laid the first stone in the foundation of the new cathedral. The laying was performed by Archbishop Modest of Volyn. As historians note, such an Orthodox celebration had not been seen in Volyn for many centuries.

The consecration of the cathedral took place on October 8, 1895. At the same time, a side chapel in the name of Saint Alexander Nevsky was consecrated. In 1897, the Alexander-Nicholas Brotherhood was established at the cathedral, named in memory of the laying of the church by Tsar Alexander and Tsarevich Nicholas.

In Soviet times, in 1963, the church was closed and turned into a museum of atheism. For almost 27 years, no services were held there. In 1992, the upper church was transferred to the structures of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

Notably, the lower church of the cathedral, consecrated in the name of Archangel Michael, still serves as the cathedral of the Rivne Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the OCU excluded Alexander Nevsky from the list of saints.

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