Catholic Temple

Catholic Temple

The Catholic temple is the only one in our city. It's non-working. This unusual piece of architecture is a decoration of the city, attracting its citizens and tourists by its majestic elegance. Now it is used as the Organ Hall.

The history of the building dates back to the end of the 19"' c. The fact is Vyatka was a place of exile. And at the end of the 19"' c. a lot of Poles were exiled here for their participation in revolutionary events in Poland. Many of them didn't return to their motherland after serving the sentence, and stayed to live in Vyatka. They tried to keep the customs and traditions, the religion of their motherland. That's why they addressed Emperor Alexander III with a petition to build a catholic church in Vyatka. The Emperor gave his permission. So in 1899 the temple was laid. The construction lasted till 1903. The church was designed by architect Wojcechovsky and it was built under the guidance of famous Vyatka architect I.Charushin. The church was named after Alexander, the angel, in honour of Emperor Alexander III.

Its western facade is attractive by its decorations. The cathedral has 2 high towers, rising to the height, as in any Gothic construction. 2 pilasters, a triangle pediment, niches with sculptures are characteristic features of the Romanesque style. The 2 sculptures depict apostle Peter with a book in his hand and Paul with the keys from the Heaven. The original sculptures haven't preserved till nowadays. These ones were made in 1993, when the cathedral was restored, by sculptor L.Ledentsova. In the centre of the facade there was a stained glass window symbolizing the God's eye. After restoration on this very place there's a bas-relief depicting the sun. The central entrance is closed to keep permanent temperature in the organ hall. You can enter the cathedral through the chapel in the yard. The underground staircase from the Chapel leads to the organ hall. The interior of this cathedral is executed in Gothic Style as in all catholic churches. Stained glasses are bright and give the hall particular light and volume. Some scenes from the Bible are depicted in them. One of them depicts how Jesus entered Jerusalem, the second one - the Annunciation. In the four round glasses you can see 4 evangelistic symbols: the Eagle, the Lion, the Ox, and the Angel. The hall is illuminated with hand-made chandeliers, called in old French "Fiery-Wheels" (In ancient times candles in a church were placed on a cart's wheel). The Hall is spacious. The eastern part of it is occupied by the organ. At the beginning of the 20century services took place in the cathedral. In the 20-s it was closed for services. Some offices were housed in it. In the 90s the cathedral was restored. The organ was installed in it in 1993.

As for the organ, it is a unique complicated mechanism. It was invented in the V-IV centuries B.C. by a Greek engineer from Alexandria. At that time organs consisted of pipes, keys and water-pumps with the help of which they sounded. Later it was improved and bellows were introduced instead of pumps. But it was forgotten in the Vth century when the Barbarians destroyed the Roman Empire, the drafts were lost, and people forgot how to build organs. Later monks tried to reconstruct the organ according to drawings but they mixed something up and the organ lost keys and slide-valves appeared. They made pipes of different metal. Soon the organ becameachurch musical instrument. In the 11-12 centuries gigantic organs were made for huge Gothic temples. Keys appeared but they were so large (30-40 cm) that musicians had to play with lists. Bellows were fanned by 10-70 people. In the 14c monks intro­duced the second keyboard to enrich the sound of the organ. They put it at the bottom. It was called a pedal. Then the organ became a secular musical instrument.

Masters made toy organs, the organs, which could be carried from place to place and the organs which they played standing. The 16-18 centuries were the golden centuries of organic music. The organ became instrument № 1. Now some words about the structure of the organ. An ordinary organ consists of 3 levels. The highest level is represented with pipes. One pipe plays one tone. There is a special key for every pipe. The shorter the pipe- the higher the sound it gives. The pipes vary in form and material they are made of. The second level is a control desk. It consists of keyboards: manuals, pedals and registers for switching on different timbers. The third level is an electrical engine fanning the air automatically. There are not two similar instruments in the world. Here you can see a traditional organ stylized to the Hall. This Organ is made by German firm “Mayer” (you see, in Russia organ are not made). This firm is young, it is 10 years old. The organ was installed in March 1993. Group 1:

- look through the text “Catholic Temple”

- divide it into logical parts

- discuss the unknown words

- make a summary of the text .

Group 2:

- look through the text “Catholic Temple”

- divide it into logical parts

- discuss the unknown words

- make a short retelling of the text .

Group 3:

- look through the text “Catholic Temple”

- divide it into logical parts

- discuss the unknown words

- make a rendering of the text .

Адрес публикации: https://www.prodlenka.org/metodicheskie-razrabotki/168481-catholic-temple