Joyous Harbin IV: Harbin’s Landmark--St. Sophia Church

Mentioning of Harbin,you may think of the International Ice and Snow Festival and the Yabuli International Ski Resort have been talked about in the last articles. And, the Harbin’s Landmark-St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral, which will be talk about in the chapter, you may be interested in it.

                                                                  Chapter Four


         Harbin’s Landmark--St. Sophia Church

St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral in Harbin is one of the most splendid buildings in northern China and it is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the Far East. The church is located on the corner of Toulin Street (Toulin jie) and Zhaolin Street (Zhaolin jie). It is 53.3 meters (175 feet) high and occupies an area of 721 square meters (0.18 acres). In November, 1996, it was listed as one of the Key Cultural Relics under State Protection. 

St. Sophia Church: Yesterday & Today

St. Sophia Church has a complex history. It was built and completed in March, 1907 as part of a plan to reconsolidate the confidence of the army by building an imposing spiritual symbol. In 1921, Harbin had a population of 300,000, including 100,000 Russians. The church was expanded and renovated from September 23, 1923, when a ceremony was held to celebrate the laying of the cornerstone, to its completion on November 25, 1932, after nine years. --The moment it was finished, it had been the landmark of Harbin by its grand and magnificent appearance and exotic atmosphere.

St. Sophia Church

By the 1990's, St. Sophia had undergone considerable decline. The church no longer was in use, and residential apartments and office buildings surrounded it. Magnificent Russian painted murals that adorned the church's arched walls were destroyed out of recognition. 

While in 1997, the local government under took to undo the decades of deterioration. But as the original Russian murals were lost completely, they were replaced by topically new murals depicting the architectural history of the Harbin community. And crosses that were removed in six places were replaced. Now, the murals, pendent lamps, dome and the bell tower are restored to their original splendor.

At present day, St. Sophia Church was hailed as a monumental work of art and the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East. It’s now an art gallery, displaying the history, current situation and future of this famous cultural city of Harbin with over 1000 pictures. --It is a popular tourist spot in the city attracting visitors home and abroad as well as a key historical site for the research of modern history of Harbin. 

St. Sophia Church: Architectural features & Adornments

The Byzantine style church is so beautiful, it is said to look as if it had been made by God's hands. In fact, St. Sophia means 'God's wisdom'. Under the bright sun, the church and the square area it lies on looks quite like the Red Square in Moscow.

Inner of St.Sophia Church

The church was beautiful designed and decorated both in exterior and interior. The splendid church is designed to be a cross-shape in the east-west direction and its walls are covered by red bricks. It is a master-slave layout that a big green Byzantine spherical pinnacle commands four smaller tent-shaped pinnacles in typical Russian style. 

There are four floors and each is accessible by a door in the four respective directions. The top part of the main entrance is the bell tower houses 7 bells of totally different sizes and tones, the biggest one of which was molded by bell metal with a diameter of 1.425 meter and weight in 1.8 ton. In the middle of the bell, there are four saints. On every major feast day in the past, the well-trained bellman would tie the ropes of the 7 mallets to different parts of his hands and feet to play musical progressions. It is said that the clangs can resound to the skies and people even in dozens of kilometers away can hear it. 

Though the interior decorations and the gorgeous Russia painted murals were damaged because of wars and time, the architecture is still beautiful and spectacular as it used to be. The government has refurbished it and new murals were readorned depicting the architectural history of Harbin community. 

--All in all, St. Sophia Church is worth of traveling. How can you leave Harbin without visiting its landmark? The art of the church will really attract your interests and let you appreciate the real Russian style. Dears, what’s your affection of St. Sophia Church?