Grodno. Holy Protection Cathedral.

At the end of the 19th century, a large group of troops of the Russian Imperial Army was stationed in Grodno. The military personnel made up 40% of the total number of city residents. At that time, the construction of the Grodno Fortress began. Grodno was planned to be one of the most fortified cities of the empire. New barracks were built within the city limits. It became obvious that the concentration of troops would continue to grow over time. The military department began to regularly allocate money for the construction of garrison churches. Thanks to this, the Russian Empire saw an increase in garrison churches. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were a number of factors in Grodno that contributed to the decision to build a fairly spacious garrison church. The decision to build the Grodno military cathedral was made in early 1900. A site near the intersection of Muravyovskaya (Ozheshko) and Kirochnaya (Akademicheskaya) streets was chosen for the future military church.

The construction of the garrison cathedral began in 1904 according to the design of the architect M. Prozorov. The work was supervised by the Grodno engineer-captain I. Savelyev. By the autumn of 1905, the walls were erected, the ceilings and roof were made, and the domes were installed. The work on the construction of the cathedral was mainly financed by the Military Department. Members of the Grodno Sophia Brotherhood provided significant assistance in the construction of the garrison church. The funds they collected were used for the interior design of the church. In the summer of 1907, nine bells were installed in the bell tower. The largest bell weighed almost five tons. By the beginning of autumn of that year, almost all construction work was completed. Thus, thanks to the financing of the Military Department on the one hand, and the active assistance of members of the Sophia Brotherhood and Orthodox residents of Grodno on the other hand, it became possible to build a new garrison church in such a short time. The church was consecrated the day before the feast of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on October 13, 1907 by Bishop Mikhail (Ermakov) of Grodno and Brest in the presence of a large number of local residents, soldiers and officers. In memory of this event, a memorial plaque was erected, which has survived to this day.

The style of the temple, as it is now defined by modern literature, is neo-Russian, pseudo-Russian or retrospectively Russian. The cathedral is a three-nave volume with a pentagonal apse and side sacristies. On the main facade there is a 10-meter octagonal bell tower with a tent-shaped ceiling and a dome. The height of the bell tower is 39.5 meters. Above the altar part there is a small quadrangle with a five-domed ceiling. The sacristies are completed with tents with domes. The interior space is divided into three naves, covered with a flat ceiling, and surrounded by a powerful cornice along the perimeter.

The cathedral houses a miraculous copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which during the First World War they wanted to evacuate deep into Russia. However, when the commission for the evacuation of spiritual values tried to open the icon case, they were unable to do so. The keys broke and even attempts to mechanically open the icon case were unsuccessful, and as a result, the icon remained in Grodno.

The infant martyr Gabriel of Belostok is revered, whose relics were in the cathedral from 1946 to 1992, and were then solemnly transferred to the Bialystok Cathedral. Only a part of the relics remains in the temple, which is in a special ark near the right choir.

Near the left choir there is a copy of the cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk with particles of the relics of Belarusian saints.

In the Nikolsky chapel of the church there is an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a particle of his relics.