Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God (东正教圣母大堂, Dōngzhèngjiào Shèngmǔ Dàtáng) stands at 55 Xinle Road, on the west side of Xiangyang Park. In the 1930s this was Henry Road, inside the French Concession. The five blue domes are easy to spot from the park.

The cathedral replaced an earlier Russian Orthodox church that was looted and occupied in March 1927, when clergy withdrew during a workers’ uprising. Bishop Simon died in February 1933, and construction began that June, on the day of Pentecost. His successor, Bishop Yiwang, oversaw the work, and the building was finished in February 1936.

The design is Russian-Byzantine, with an exterior modelled on Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, which had been demolished in 1931. The plan is square, and inside it forms a Greek cross that holds more than 2,500 people. One large dome and four smaller ones sit on drums; the main dome is about 35 metres high and painted peacock-blue against cream walls. The structure is mixed brick and timber, and the altar faces Jerusalem. Inside there are nine wet-plaster murals, among them a Novgorod-style Trinity in the main dome and eight standing saints.

Use as a cathedral ended in 1965, after the death of Bishop Du Runchen. In 1966 the interior icons were destroyed, the cross was taken from the dome and the building became a warehouse. In the decades after the 1980s it housed a securities brokerage office and a music restaurant. It was listed as a Shanghai Excellent Historic Building in 1994. Entertainment tenants left in 2004, and a major restoration began in 2007, during which murals that had been covered over were found.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow led a liturgy here on 15 May 2013, the first in about fifty years. The following year the building was designated a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.

What happens inside today is unclear. A Russian Orthodox Church report from May 2014 describes the building as an exhibition hall, and other web sources disagree on whether it is open or holds services. No official schedule was found, so confirm access on site.