Every Kazan citizen, including religious and secular people, orthodox believers and Muslims, admires the Epiphany Cathedral's bell tower or, as it is simply called, the "Epiphany Tower". Just like the Sujumbike Tower, it is very memorable and is recognised by all Kazan visitors. It is one of the cit'y's symbols and the main decoration of Bauman Street (the former Bolshaya Prolomnaya Street). The 63 meters (206.5 ft) high Tower is the highest ancient building in the city. There is no other high bell tower in Kazan or in other cities along the Volga River for that matter. Likewise, nothing else compares to the Tower's fantastic brick ornaments.
In Soviet times, Kazan Epiphany Cathedral, which is three times as old as its famous bell tower, was hardly out of the ordinary. In fact, it did not have any domes back then. The low building's white stone walls were covered with mould and moss and were hidden in a yard. During the final years before its rebirth, someone has inscribed a clearly visible message: "Hand back the Cathedral to the believers!!!" However, nobody paid any attention.
But, nonetheless, the Cathedral was and still is very important to Kazan. It was listed as an ordinary parish for 200 years. Its cathedral status was granted as late as the 20th century, even though, its large size it has always made it a cathedral type church. Moreover, after being reborn, it became the biggest in square and the most spacious temple in Kazan.
A wooden Epiphany church at the same location was first documented in the late 16th century.
The now-existing cathedral, a wonderful architectural monument, was built in the style of five-dome cathedrals of the 15th and 16th centuries. However, it was not actually constructed not in the 16th century, as many would be led to believe. Instead, it was built in 1741 with support from the merchants I. Mikhlyaev and S. Chernov. A refectory was added in 1756 and this doubled the Cathedral's volume. At the same time, a large, heated side chapel was built from the north, but was completely destroyed during the Soviet era. In 1909, a hipped-roof bell tower of the same period was demolished after falling into decay. This bell tower was an architectural wonder and the best hipped-roof building in Kazan.
The Epiphany Church was brilliantly decorated before the 1917 Russian Revolution. Brick blind arcade belts rounded all six drums and all three altar apses. They extended dozens of meters under the roof of the enormous building. Exterior walls were partially painted with images of Saints. Five domes on the east and one dome on the western side, which was above the refectory, passionately burned with gold adornoments. Crosses glittered with "snowflake" and "star" decorations against the sky. The white-stone church was buried in verdure and rounded by a massive classical fence with a small smart chapel near the gate.
Construction of the large bell tower from the south-east, which is the first thing seen today, was one of the most important events in the late 19th century Orthodox life in Kazan. It took only two years, from 1895 to 1897, for architect Mikhail Mikhailov to build the bell tower. It was financially supported by the merchant Ivan Krivonosov, who died in 1892 before the construction even started. Thanks to its brick decorations, it not only excelled the Cathedral itself, but also elevated all other all Kazan buildings constructed both before and after. This type of decoration style was called "pseudo-Russian" in Soviet guidebooks. Now, the scornful prefix "pseudo" is not used in most art reports and, the 19th and early 20th century style is now refereed to as simply "Russian".
The ground floor of the bell tower had always been occupied by trade outlets. This was a common occurance for old Russian churches and belfries endowed by merchants.
In 1901, a violent thunderstorm passed over the city, and the bell tower was struck by lightning. Newspapers of that time wrote: "The bell tower was lit up with many colourful sparks for a moment, and suddenly the third-tier ceiling caught fire. At the same time, beams under the big bell were blazed up. The lightning made a big hole in the wall, which was a quarter and a half deep (about 30 cm or 12 in) and 71 cm (30 in) wide. Stone chips and whole bricks covered the stairs and floor of the second tier and broke two columns. Brickbats were thrown all the way to Prolomnaya Street."
A year after the incident, a small church dedicated to Saint Andrew the Apostle was consecrated on the destroyed second tier. Later, a chamber choir named after Feodor Shalyapin, a famous Russian opera singer, was placed there.
Shalyapin himself was baptised in Epiphany Church on 2 February 1873.
The true flowering of the temple, its "Golden age", fell at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, few decades before the 1917 Revolution.
Then, the Revolution broke out. The Kremlin's Cathedral of the Annunciation and many parishes were shut down. So, the Epiphany Church became a cathedral for almost 20 years (1920–1939). Since then, it has held cathedral status, which was not forgotten after its restoration. It was inevitable that sooner or later the parish had to be transformed into a cathedral, especially taking into account its city centre location and enormous proportions.
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As early as the end of the perestroika period, locals begin to fight for the return of the Cathedral. The movement lasted for many long years, up until the the late 1990s. Religious processions and protest actions were held. Inscriptions were made on walls... Finally, in 1996, a decision was made. The Cathedral was handed back to the believers, but the bell tower was not.
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