Pinsk. St. Barbara's Cathedral.

The history of this cathedral, famous for its baroque features, begins in the 18th century during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, when, under the leadership of Hetman Vishnevetsky, a wooden church of St. Michael the Archangel was built in 1712 in the Pinsk suburb of Karolin. The Bernardine priests began holding their services in this temple and founded a monastery here.

In 1786, the wooden church was replaced by a stone one (construction was carried out with funds issued to the mayor). It was a small, single-nave, domeless church with a large semicircular altar apse, and was also dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

The architectural style of the temple borrowed a lot from Baroque. A little later, a bell tower covered with a tiled roof was built, and the adjacent room was completed, as well as the sacristy. After the uprising of 1830-1831, the Bernardine monastery was closed.

In the 1830s, the church was reconstructed into the Orthodox Church of St. Barbara. At the same time, a number of architectural changes were made: the high rafter roof was replaced with a more sloping one; in the center of the ridge a false drum with a bulbous head was erected. At the same time, the late Baroque figured attic pediment was preserved.

During the period when Western Belarus was under Polish rule, the temple continued to function as an Orthodox church. In the middle of the 20th century, the interior of this temple was updated: in particular, a new iconostasis was installed, and the altar part was painted. For a long time, this church, popularly nicknamed “the prayer church,” remained the only Orthodox church in the city of Pinsk. In preparation for the milestone anniversary - the 180th anniversary of the consecration of the temple - repair and restoration work was carried out in it for several years: major repairs were made inside the temple, the floor and heating were replaced, a new iconostasis was installed, and the facade was repaired.

The cathedral contains the following images: the 15th century icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria “Jerusalem”, “Protection” (1732), “Our Lady of Tenderness” (1751), “Three Saints” (1765), “Savior Pantocrator” (“Christ Pantocrator”) ( 1776), “Nicholas the Wonderworker” and “Old Testament Trinity” (XVIII century), feretron image “Entrance into Jerusalem” and “Resurrection of Lazarus” (mid-XVIII century), “The Life of Saints Catherine and Anna” (XIX century), as well as On the altar wall there is a fresco painting of the 19th century - “Our Lady”.

The temple icon is the image of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara with pieces of her relics.