Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century)
The purpose of the article is to present the results of the study on the history of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek churches at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th cent. The research methodology is based on the generally accepted principles and methods of historical study. Scientific no...
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| Цитувати: | Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) / L. Levchenko // Український історичний журнал. — 2021. — Число 6. — С. 102-115. — Бібліогр.: 7 назв. — англ. |
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Levchenko, L. 2022-06-19T17:13:40Z 2022-06-19T17:13:40Z 2021 Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) / L. Levchenko // Український історичний журнал. — 2021. — Число 6. — С. 102-115. — Бібліогр.: 7 назв. — англ. 0130-5247 DOI: doi.org/10.15407/!!!! https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/184593 271.222(495+477.7)«17/18» The purpose of the article is to present the results of the study on the history of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek churches at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th cent. The research methodology is based on the generally accepted principles and methods of historical study. Scientific novelty. The history of Greek churches in Kherson and Mykolaiv is covered based on handwritten sources from the state archives of Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. This data is introduced into the scientific body of knowledge for the first time. These sources provided an opportunity to study new facts and names, made conclusions on the role of the Church in the life of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek communities. Conclusions. The history of the Greek churches reflects the history of the Greeks in the Southern Ukraine under the dominion of the Russian Empire. When the Greeks settled in Kherson, their ties with their country of origin were quite strong. It is clear in the decor of the St. Sophia’s Greek Church, in the wishes to have the priests serving in Greek. The Russian government tended to take the Greek citizens under control with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Greek priests obeyed the regulations of the Russian Church. By the time when the Greeks reached Mykolaiv, their ties with their native land had become weaker. The Greeks serving in the Black Sea Navy were hardly interested in the St. Nicholas Greek Church construction because the Admiralty Cathedral satisfied their religious needs. These Greeks were subjected to assimilation faster than their compatriots not serving in the Navy. The Mykolaiv community of civil Greeks was insolvent and could not build their Church without government aid and the donations of other nationalities’ representatives. The lack of budget instigated a search for funds, disputes on moneyrelated issues, and mutual recriminations of fraud. The assimilation of the civil Greeks manifested in the architecture of the Mykolaiv Greek Church, built as a smaller copy of the Admiralty Cathedral, in the Russian names of the Greeks who were parishioners of the Greek Church, and in the control that the Russian priests had over it. The history of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek churches is different from the history of the Odesa Holy Trinity Church that became a shelter for participants of the movement for Greek statehood. The Greek churches not only helped the Greeks integrate into a foreign environment and preserve national culture but also promoted their assimilation. Метою статті є репрезентація результатів дослідження історії херсонських та миколаївських грецьких церков наприкінці XVIII – у першій половині XIX ст. Методологія дослідження базується на загальноприйнятих принципах і методах історичної науки. Наукова новизна. Історія грецьких церков Херсона та Миколаєва висвітлюється на основі рукописних джерел із державних архівів Херсонської, Миколаївської, Одеської обл., які вперше вводяться в науковий обіг. Це дало можливість вивчити нові факти та імена, зробити висновки про роль церкви у житті херсонської й миколаївської грецьких громад. Висновки. Історія грецьких церков відображає історію греків на півдні України під владою Російської імперії. Коли греки оселилися у Херсоні, їхні зв’язки з Батьківщиною були ще досить міцними. Це видно в декорі Софійської грецької церкви, у бажанні мати грекомовних священиків. Російський уряд намагався взяти під контроль грецьких громадян за допомогою православної церкви. Грецькі священики мали підкорятися уставам російської церкви. На той час, коли греки дійшли до Миколаєва, їхні зв’язки з рідною землею ослабли. Греки, які служили на Чорноморському флоті, майже не цікавилися будівництвом грецької церкви Св. Миколая, оскільки Адміралтейський собор задовольняв їхні релігійні потреби. Ці греки піддалися асиміляції швидше, ніж їхні співвітчизники, котрі не служили на флоті. Миколаївська громада цивільних греків була неспроможна будувати свою церкву без державної допомоги та пожертвувань представників інших національностей. Нестача бюджету викликала пошуки коштів, суперечки з грошових питань, взаємні звинувачення у шахрайстві. Асиміляція цивільних греків відбилася в архітектурі Миколаївської грецької церкви, збудованої як зменшена копія Адміралтейського собору, у зросійщених іменах греків, які були парафіянами грецької церкви, і в контролі, який мали над нею російські священики. Історія херсонської та миколаївської грецьких церков відрізняється від історії одеської Свято-Троїцької церкви, яка стала притулком для учасників руху за національну державність. Грецькі церкви не тільки допомагали грекам інтеґруватися у чуже середовище і зберігати національну культуру, але й сприяли їх асиміляції. en Інститут історії України НАН України Український історичний журнал Історичні студії Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) Становлення грецьких церков у Південній Україні (кінець ХVIII – перша половина ХІХ ст.) Article published earlier |
| institution |
Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| collection |
DSpace DC |
| title |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) |
| spellingShingle |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) Levchenko, L. Історичні студії |
| title_short |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) |
| title_full |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) |
| title_fullStr |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) |
| title_sort |
greek churches in the southern ukraine in the making (the late eighteenth – the first half of the nineteenth century) |
| author |
Levchenko, L. |
| author_facet |
Levchenko, L. |
| topic |
Історичні студії |
| topic_facet |
Історичні студії |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| language |
English |
| container_title |
Український історичний журнал |
| publisher |
Інститут історії України НАН України |
| format |
Article |
| title_alt |
Становлення грецьких церков у Південній Україні (кінець ХVIII – перша половина ХІХ ст.) |
| description |
The purpose of the article is to present the results of the study on the history of Kherson
and Mykolaiv Greek churches at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th cent. The research
methodology is based on the generally accepted principles and methods of historical study. Scientific
novelty. The history of Greek churches in Kherson and Mykolaiv is covered based on handwritten
sources from the state archives of Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. This data is introduced
into the scientific body of knowledge for the first time. These sources provided an opportunity to
study new facts and names, made conclusions on the role of the Church in the life of Kherson and
Mykolaiv Greek communities. Conclusions. The history of the Greek churches reflects the history
of the Greeks in the Southern Ukraine under the dominion of the Russian Empire. When the Greeks
settled in Kherson, their ties with their country of origin were quite strong. It is clear in the decor
of the St. Sophia’s Greek Church, in the wishes to have the priests serving in Greek. The Russian
government tended to take the Greek citizens under control with the help of the Russian Orthodox
Church. The Greek priests obeyed the regulations of the Russian Church. By the time when the
Greeks reached Mykolaiv, their ties with their native land had become weaker. The Greeks serving in
the Black Sea Navy were hardly interested in the St. Nicholas Greek Church construction because
the Admiralty Cathedral satisfied their religious needs. These Greeks were subjected to assimilation
faster than their compatriots not serving in the Navy. The Mykolaiv community of civil Greeks was
insolvent and could not build their Church without government aid and the donations of other
nationalities’ representatives. The lack of budget instigated a search for funds, disputes on moneyrelated
issues, and mutual recriminations of fraud. The assimilation of the civil Greeks manifested in
the architecture of the Mykolaiv Greek Church, built as a smaller copy of the Admiralty Cathedral,
in the Russian names of the Greeks who were parishioners of the Greek Church, and in the control
that the Russian priests had over it. The history of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek churches is different
from the history of the Odesa Holy Trinity Church that became a shelter for participants of the
movement for Greek statehood. The Greek churches not only helped the Greeks integrate into a
foreign environment and preserve national culture but also promoted their assimilation.
Метою статті є репрезентація результатів дослідження історії херсонських та
миколаївських грецьких церков наприкінці XVIII – у першій половині XIX ст. Методологія
дослідження базується на загальноприйнятих принципах і методах історичної науки. Наукова
новизна. Історія грецьких церков Херсона та Миколаєва висвітлюється на основі рукописних
джерел із державних архівів Херсонської, Миколаївської, Одеської обл., які вперше вводяться
в науковий обіг. Це дало можливість вивчити нові факти та імена, зробити висновки про роль
церкви у житті херсонської й миколаївської грецьких громад. Висновки. Історія грецьких
церков відображає історію греків на півдні України під владою Російської імперії. Коли греки
оселилися у Херсоні, їхні зв’язки з Батьківщиною були ще досить міцними. Це видно в
декорі Софійської грецької церкви, у бажанні мати грекомовних священиків. Російський уряд
намагався взяти під контроль грецьких громадян за допомогою православної церкви. Грецькі
священики мали підкорятися уставам російської церкви. На той час, коли греки дійшли до
Миколаєва, їхні зв’язки з рідною землею ослабли. Греки, які служили на Чорноморському
флоті, майже не цікавилися будівництвом грецької церкви Св. Миколая, оскільки
Адміралтейський собор задовольняв їхні релігійні потреби. Ці греки піддалися асиміляції
швидше, ніж їхні співвітчизники, котрі не служили на флоті. Миколаївська громада цивільних
греків була неспроможна будувати свою церкву без державної допомоги та пожертвувань
представників інших національностей. Нестача бюджету викликала пошуки коштів, суперечки
з грошових питань, взаємні звинувачення у шахрайстві. Асиміляція цивільних греків відбилася
в архітектурі Миколаївської грецької церкви, збудованої як зменшена копія Адміралтейського
собору, у зросійщених іменах греків, які були парафіянами грецької церкви, і в контролі, який
мали над нею російські священики. Історія херсонської та миколаївської грецьких церков
відрізняється від історії одеської Свято-Троїцької церкви, яка стала притулком для учасників
руху за національну державність. Грецькі церкви не тільки допомагали грекам інтеґруватися у
чуже середовище і зберігати національну культуру, але й сприяли їх асиміляції.
|
| issn |
0130-5247 |
| url |
https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/184593 |
| citation_txt |
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) / L. Levchenko // Український історичний журнал. — 2021. — Число 6. — С. 102-115. — Бібліогр.: 7 назв. — англ. |
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Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
Abstract. The purpose of the article is to present the results of the study on the history of Kherson
and Mykolaiv Greek churches at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th cent. The research
methodology is based on the generally accepted principles and methods of historical study. Scientific
novelty. The history of Greek churches in Kherson and Mykolaiv is covered based on handwritten
sources from the state archives of Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. This data is introduced
into the scientific body of knowledge for the first time. These sources provided an opportunity to
study new facts and names, made conclusions on the role of the Church in the life of Kherson and
Mykolaiv Greek communities. Conclusions. The history of the Greek churches reflects the history
of the Greeks in the Southern Ukraine under the dominion of the Russian Empire. When the Greeks
settled in Kherson, their ties with their country of origin were quite strong. It is clear in the decor
of the St. Sophia’s Greek Church, in the wishes to have the priests serving in Greek. The Russian
government tended to take the Greek citizens under control with the help of the Russian Orthodox
Church. The Greek priests obeyed the regulations of the Russian Church. By the time when the
Greeks reached Mykolaiv, their ties with their native land had become weaker. The Greeks serving in
the Black Sea Navy were hardly interested in the St. Nicholas Greek Church construction because
the Admiralty Cathedral satisfied their religious needs. These Greeks were subjected to assimilation
faster than their compatriots not serving in the Navy. The Mykolaiv community of civil Greeks was
insolvent and could not build their Church without government aid and the donations of other
nationalities’ representatives. The lack of budget instigated a search for funds, disputes on money-
related issues, and mutual recriminations of fraud. The assimilation of the civil Greeks manifested in
the architecture of the Mykolaiv Greek Church, built as a smaller copy of the Admiralty Cathedral,
in the Russian names of the Greeks who were parishioners of the Greek Church, and in the control
that the Russian priests had over it. The history of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek churches is different
from the history of the Odesa Holy Trinity Church that became a shelter for participants of the
movement for Greek statehood. The Greek churches not only helped the Greeks integrate into a
foreign environment and preserve national culture but also promoted their assimilation.
Keywords: Greek churches in the Southern Ukraine, Church of St. Sophia in Kherson, Church of
St. Nicholas in Mykolaiv, Greeks in Ukraine, Greeks in the South of the Russian Empire.
Larysa LEVCHENKO
Doctor of Historical Sciences (Dr. Hab. in History), Professor,
Senior Research Fellow,
Institute of Ukrainian Archaeography and Source Studies
named after M.S.Hrushevskyi NАS of Ukraine;
Director at Central State Archives
of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine
(Kyiv, Ukraine), loralewch@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9097-7373
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine
in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half
of the Nineteenth Century)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/!!!! UDC: 271.222(495+477.7)«17/18»
The Orthodox Churches in the Southern Ukraine (or the Northern Black Sea re-
gion), founded and built by the Greeks who had migrated there at the end of the eight-
eenth – at the beginning of the nineteenth century, were the centres of the Greeks’
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 103
consolidation both in a spiritual sense and in the national and cultural dimensions. Yet,
the Greeks have never been an isolated group in Ukraine. They fully integrated into the
local multi-ethnic orthodox populace. Therefore, the Greek churches have never been
solely Greek. Their parishes have united with the ones of Orthodox Christians of dif-
ferent nationalities. Moreover, metrical books of the Greek churches demonstrate some
ethnic contacts and ethnically mixed marriages between the Greeks, the Ukrainians, the
Russians and the believers from other orthodoxy nations. As a result of these processes, in
the Independence of Ukraine period, the representatives of different nations are interest-
ed in saving and renovating such monuments of culture as Greek churches as well as in re-
searching the history of these churches, their parishes, and priests’ biographies.
The modern historiography on the chosen topic contains the writings of secular and
ecclesiastic historians dedicated to the history of the Church, church architecture, and sci-
entific works on the history of the Greeks of Ukraine. Concerning the contemporary his-
toriography of the Church history, I. Lyman highlights that it is currently in a phase of
‘ecclesiastical renaissance’ which followed after compulsory atheism of the Soviet times1.
The term ‘renaissance’ can be applied both to the historiography of the church architec-
ture and national minorities.
Historiographical analysis shows that the history of the Holy Trinity Greek Church
and the Greek community of Odesa was studied thoroughly2. The reason is that
Odesa was a center of the Greek national movement where the organization ‘Filiki Ete-
ria’ (or Society of Friends) was founded3. It is known that the first meetings of ‘Filiki
Eteria’ were held in the Holy Trinity Greek Church. The histories of the Greek church-
es of St. Sophia (Kherson) and St. Nicholas (Mykolaiv) have not found their researchers
yet, so they are still immersed in myths and legends. Therefore, the submitted research ad-
dresses the history of creating the Greek churches of Kherson and Mykolaiv, the erection
of buildings, and the beginnings of their functioning. On this matter, V.Tomozov’s con-
clusions are the most interesting because they concern the same period and territory but
another category of people – the richest and the most famous Greek dynasties. He ob-
served similar tendencies among them which will be demonstrated in this article4.
Previously unknown primary sources for this study were discovered in the state ar-
chives of Kherson (Kherson Spiritual Board of the Kherson Spiritual Consistory, F.207),
Mykolaiv (Mykolaiv Admiralty Cathedral of the Archpriest of the Military and Naval
Clergy, F.168), and Odesa (Kherson Spiritual Consistory, F.37) regions. These documents
were not entered into the scientific body of knowledge due to illegible handwritten texts.
They provided an opportunity to study new facts and names, made conclusions on the
role of the Church in the life of Kherson and Mykolaiv Greek communities.
The generally accepted principles (objectivity, impartiality, comprehensiveness) and
methods (chronological, comparative, alternative, archival heuristics) of historical science
were used in the processing of empirical data.
1 Лыман И.И. История церкви в Украине: специфика современной историографической ситуации // Религиозные
традиции Европы и современность: изучение и преподавание в российских и зарубежных университетах / Под ред.
Д.И.Полывянного. – Иваново, 2011. – С.190–198.
2 Греки Одессы: Именной указатель по метрическим книгам одесской Греческой Свято-Троицкой церкви /
Белоусова Л.Г. и др. – Ч.1: 1800–1831. – Одесса, 2000. – 364 с.; Ч.2: 1834–1852. – Одесса, 2002. – 372 с.; Ч.3: 1853–
1874. – Одесса, 2004. – 237 с.; Ч.4: 1875–1891. – Одесса, 2004. – 332 с.; Ч.5: 1802, 1892–1906. – Одесса, 2005. – 242 c.;
Ч.6: 1907–1920. – Одесса, 2009. – 344 с.; Ч.I: 1799–1831, 1836 (изд. 2-е, доп.). – Одесса, 2014. – 552 с.
3 Терентьєва Н.О. Таємне грецьке товариство «Філікі Етерія»: Організаційний та політико-ідеологічний центр
підготовки грецької революції 1821–1829 рр. – К., 2005. – 352 с.; Її ж. Греки в Україні: історія та сучасність. –
К., 2008. – Ч.1. – 350 с.; Ч.2. – 318 с.
4 Томозов В.В. Греки-хіосці на Півдні України (кінець XVIII ст. – 1917 р.): між традиціями національного
самозбереження і практиками соціокультурної адаптації / Відп. ред. Г.В.Боряк. – К., 2020. – 354 с.
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
104 Larysa Levchenko
The Historical Background of Greek Migration
to the Northern Black Sea Coast
It is important to consider the historical background of Greek migration to the
Northern Black Sea coast. In the middle of the seventh century B.C., Ancient Greeks
founded city-states in the Northern Black Sea area, so their descendants had to be well ac-
quainted with its advantages. During the years 395–1435, the Greeks were the principal na-
tional group in the Christian Byzantine Empire, and after its fall, they found themselves
under the power of the Muslim Turks throughout the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1492, Metropolitan of Moscow Zosima put forward the idea of ‘Third Rome’, accord-
ing to which Russians claimed leadership in the Orthodox world. Although this theory
came into being on religious grounds, it had a significant impact on the development of
the ‘Eastern Question’. In 1768, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, and the
Russian government supported an uprising of the Greeks against Turkish dominance.
In the war, Russia sought to seize the Northern Black Sea region and only then liberate
the Orthodox peoples from the Ottoman yoke5. The first Archipelago expedition of the
Russian Imperial Navy (1768–1774) was an integral part of the so-called ‘Greek Project’
of Empress Catherine the Great. The Kuchuk-Kainarji Treaty signed on July 10, 1774,
stated that ‘the Russian Empire gives back to the Sublime Porte all Archipelago islands
which depended on the Ottomans’ previously. The Greeks who participated in the rebel-
lion and entered the crews of the Russian Navy had to abandon their houses. In 1775, the
ships of the Russian Navy transported Greek families from the Archipelago to Crimea.
The situation in Crimea was uncertain: according to the Treaty, the Crimean Khanate be-
came independent both from the Ottoman Porte and the Russian Empire. However, the
Russian government pursued to undermine the economy of the Khanate with the aim of
speedy annexation. In 1778–1780, the native Greek inhabitants of the Khanate were for-
cibly moved from the Crimean Peninsula to the Azov. The Greeks from the Archipelago
migrated to the Northern Black Sea area. These migrations resulted from the policies of
Empress Catherine the Great directed towards the annexation of Crimea.
V.Timofeenko wrote that in 1781, 1783, and 1787 the tsarist government had issued
the Decrees to settle the Northern Black Sea area. As a result, already in 1782, 4,32% of the
total population in the region were Greek. According to V.Timofeenko, the Greeks first
settled in the Ochakiv region6.
Indeed, one of the first Greek churches built from wooden materials appeared in
Ochakiv at that time. It was erected by parishioners with the permission of Ambrosius,
Metropolitan of Katerynoslav, Tavria, and Kherson. On November 9, 1792, protopope
Bogdanovich consecrated the Church in honour of St. Nicholas7. This Church was
mentioned for the last time in the records of the Kherson Theological Board in 18078.
A.Pyvovar believes that the worship in this Church did not begin due to the small num-
ber of parishioners9.
According to the Decree ‘On the benefits of Greek and Bulgarian emigrants emerg-
ing from the Novorossiysk province’ issued by Emperor Alexander the First on January 5,
1802, the Chief of the Novorossiysk Patronage Office Samuel Kontenius had to provide
5 Γιαννίτση Θ. Ο ελληνικός κόσμος της περιόδου από τα τέλη του 18ου άι. έως τις αρχές του 20ου άι. μέσα από τις ρωσικές πηγές
(αναφορικά με τη μελέτη της εθνικής συνείδησης των Ελλήνων): Διδακτορική διατριβή τομέας. – Μοσχα, 2000. – Σ.48, 52.
6 Тимофеенко В. Города Северного Причерноморья во второй половине XVIII в. – К., 1984. – C.21–22.
7 Пивовар А.В. До питання про церковне будівництво на території краю в другій половині XVIII – першій третині
ХІХ ст. (Херсонщина і правобережна Катеринославщина) // Інгульський степ. – Вип.3. – К., 2018. – С.128.
8 Державний архів Одеської обл. (далі – ДАОО). – Ф.37. – Оп.2a. – Спр 61.
9 Пивовар А. В. До питання про церковне будівництво… – С.143.
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Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 105
the Greek immigrants with loans for starting farms and building houses in the nation-
al style. In reality, the tsarist government’s policy was not as favourable as it may have
seemed at first sight. The poor migrants lost an opportunity to return to their homeland
because they were not able to pay back loans to the Russian government. Yet, by the time
this Decree was issued, enough large Greek communities had already formed in the cities
of the Northern Black Sea area – Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa.
Establishing the Greek Church in the Kherson City
The city of Kherson was founded in 1778 as a fortress, shipyard, and city-port, where
the Black Sea Navy of the Russian Empire was quartered at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury. At that time, Empress Catherine the Great paid attention to Kherson as a central
place in the ‘Greek Project’10. On June 16, 1780, the Black Sea Navy Commander-in-Chief
Ivan Gannibal approved the founding of St. Sophia Church in the merchant (Greek)
suburb – ‘the Vorstadt’. The church was consecrated on November 10 of the same year.
It was constructed out of clay and wood.
The original iconostasis made of walnut wood is still extant. It was transported from
Chios by the Gounaropoulos family of priests. The age of the iconostasis is estimated to
exceed 450 years. It was hand-carved by Greek masters. Its five tiers contain 104 icons.
Some icons have been upgraded or replaced, but several originals from Chios are still
kept in the St. Sophia Church. Moreover, brothers Athanasiy, Stephan, and Dmitriy and
their father Mikhail Gounaropoulos removed the wooden sculptures of four Evangelical
Apostles from the Chios Church bell tower. These objects still adorn the bell tower of the
St. Sophia’s Church in Kherson. The Gounaropoulos also moved all ritual implements of
the Chios Church to Kherson. Some family members are buried near the Kherson Greek
Church of St. Sophia.
On November 10, 1780, Archbishop of Sloviansk and Kherson Nikephoros Theotokis
consecrated the Church of St. Sophia11 and appointed the first Greek priest Joachim
Papachristo. Nikephoros Theotokis was an influential figure of that time. His influence
prompted Metropolitan of Moscow Platon the Second to permit the rite of monotheism
services in Greek churches (‘Orthodox Old Believers’). In 1782, Nikephoros Theotokis ar-
rived in Kherson to take back his liturgical garments, but Papachristo had already took
possession of these items. It was discovered that Joachim Papachristo had been forbidden
to serve in the church since 1781: he was sent to Taganrog due to ‘his dishonest life and
bad deeds’. Despite the ban, he continued to serve in Taganrog. Finally, in 1786, Joachim
Papachristo was stripped of his priesthood and expelled from Kherson for misconduct12.
Between 1784 and 1786, the Greek hieromonk Jeremiah Grammatikopoulo served
in the church. After he left Kherson for Constantinople, the Church needed a priest
who could speak Greek13. At the time, Archbishop of Sloviansk and Kherson Eugene
Bulgaris, a Greek by birth, was the rector and patron of schools in the Patriarchate of
Constantinople. S.Makarov suggested he could serve in the church in 1784–1787, though
he required confirmation since his cathedra was situated in Poltava14.
10 Кухар-Онышко Н.А. Жизнь и смерть светлейшего князя Потёмкина Григория Александровича. – Николаев,
2002. – С.42.
11 Державний архів Херсонської обл. (далі – ДАХО). – Ф.207. – Оп.1. – Спр.62. – Арк.4, 19.
12 Там само. – Спр.75. – Арк.1.
13 Там само. – Спр.99. – Арк.1.
14 Макаров С. Греки Херсона // Херсонский вестник. – 2012. – №8 (1122). – С.17.
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
106 Larysa Levchenko
The search for a Greek priest was complicated by the Decree of Catherine the Great
dated December 7, 1785, prohibiting the admission of Greek clergy to the Russian Empire,
except for those who had the relevant letters of the Constantinople Patriarch and the pass-
ports issued by the Russian consulate in Constantinople.
The Russian establishment assumed Greek clergymen returning to their homeland
spread false rumours about the Russian Empire15. Any Greek clergymen, including bish-
ops, were to be detained in the border provinces for examination and verification of doc-
uments16. In March 1786, Kherson archpriest Ioann Bogdanovich received a Decree on
the supervision of ‘wandering priests’ and a ban on their admission to church service.
The Greek community asked the Archbishop of Katerynoslav, Chersonesus, and Tavria
Ambrosius to allow a pro-hegumen Agafangel of Kefalonia to serve in the church or to
invite another worthy priest from Greece. Agafangel came to Kherson in December 1786
to his brother who was not in the city. Agafangel could not return to his motherland due
to the weather17. He did not provide documentary evidence of his priesthood, so he did
not receive permission to serve18.
To solve the problem, in 1786, by the Decree of Catherine the Great, Athanasius
Langerov (Lengarov) was appointed the priest of the Kherson Greek Church since he
spoke both Greek and Russian19. In 1791, deacon Manuel Stefanov as well as hieromonks
Benjamin and Bartholomew, who somehow found themselves in Jassy, were also sent to
Kherson20.
Such topic as staffing the Black Sea Navy with hieromonks and the institute of na-
val priests established in the Russian Empire by the Decree of Peter the Great in 1719 are
quite interesting but exceed the chosen subject matter of this article. In 1793, a Decree
was issued to send 43 hieromonks to the Black Sea Navy under the command of Rear
Admiral M.Mordvinov (30 people probably were sent from the capital, and 13 were select-
ed in the Katerynoslav province). These monks obtained the status of priests and served
on ships. Some of them were seconded to the Kherson Greek Church21, but their names
do not appear in archival documents.
In 1793, Hieromonk Benjamin illegally conducted six wedding ceremonies for people
who did not belong to his parish and came under investigation22. In the same year, it be-
came known that he kept relics that he had received in Jassy from the late Metropolitan
of Katerynoslav and Tavria Gabriel (Bonulesco-Bodoni), a Greek by birth. According to
Gabriel’s will, Benjamin was to deliver these relics to the Sviatohorskyi monastery. Instead,
together with hieromonk Spiridon, he used the relics to perform paid rituals for the Greek
settlers of Kherson. After the investigation that followed, the relics were confiscated and
Benjamin was expelled from the Russian Empire in the spring of 179423.
The archpriest of the Kherson Merchant and Greek churches Fedor Sharynsky could
not serve in both churches and sit on the Kherson Spiritual Board at the same time24.
Therefore, hieromonk Jeremiah Grammatikopoulo returned from Constantinople and
became the priest of the Kherson Greek Church in accordance with the Imperial Decree
15 Полное собрание законов Российской империи. – Собрание первое (1649–1825). – Т.22. – Санкт-Петербург, 1830. –
№16294. – С.495–497.
16 ДАХО. – Ф.207. – Оп.1. – Спр.68. – Арк.1–7.
17 Там само. – Спр.93. – Арк.1, 4.
18 Там само. – Арк.2.
19 Там само. – Спр.99. – Арк.1–3.
20 Там само. – Спр.147. – Арк.1.
21 Там само. – Спр.162. – Арк.1–2.
22 Там само. – Спр.174. – Арк.1–9.
23 Там само. – Спр.181. – Арк.1–31; Спр.208. – Арк.1–11.
24 Там само. – Спр.301. – Арк.1–2.
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Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 107
of August 14, 179425. Simultaneously, the authorities asked the Greek community to
choose a worthy person in their midst who could be ordained as a priest.
According to the lists of 1805 and 1808, Grigoriy Radostat was the priest in the
Church of St. Sophia. A member of a Greek merchant family, he was ordained to priest-
hood and sent to Kherson by Bishop Gervasius of Theodosius in 1797. In 1805, he became
the deacon of the Kherson district. The list of 1808 stated that he ‘behaved honestly, the
deeds defaming his behaviour were not known about, and he was never fined’26.
In 1808, the parishioners of the Church were residents of 37 yards (148 men and
132 women) of the Greek merchant class27. Despite the small number of parishioners,
the Kherson Greek Church was rebuilt and decorated several times. In 1798, a throne
in honour of the great martyr Barbara was erected in a wooden Greek church28. In 1801,
an Imperial Decree prohibited building wooden churches because of a related fire in the
Mosalsk district of Kaluga province29. In 1802, the Kherson Greek Church of St. Sophia
was redesigned as a basilica30. In 1808, it was rebuilt using stone (shell rock was used).
However, its wooden drum, lined with iron, is still extant.
In July 1811, the parishioners agreed to accept a former priest of the Odesa Greek
Battalion Konstantin Sirigov to their church. He was likewise a scion of a Greek merchant
family and began serving in Taganrog. Then, he served in the Odesa Greek Battalion for
more than six years, and took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1807–1812. He was dis-
charged from military clergy due to illness. Considering him a worthy man, most of the
parishioners supported his candidature31. However, the following year he asked for anoth-
er place because he could not provide for his family with a meagre income from a small
parish32. He was granted permission to search for another place in the diocese, but in 1816
he was still serving in the Greek Church of St. Sophia33.
In 1809, the elder of the Kherson Greek Church Matthew Zoro died, and in the sum-
mer of 1810, the church community elected a new elder – the Greek merchant George
Papafoma. At that time, there was another priest in the church – Mikhail Mantoev34.
Later, he was replaced by Dmitry Stoyanov, a Bulgarian35. In 1813, the elder of the church
was re-elected: the parishioners voted in Odesa merchant Anastasiy Mikhailov36. In 1815, a
conflict broke out between Mikhailov and Stoyanov over church expenses37. It seems, at
that time, the conflict had no consequences. However, in 1829–1830, the parishioners of
St. Sophia Church accused Archpriest Demetrius Karlich, a priest in the Greek Church
since 1824, of laziness, negligence, and misuse of church money. They sought to release
him from church service. Conversely, he argued that he had spent a significant amount of
his own savings on the church and wanted them returned. When considering this case, the
Investigative Commission invited the priest of Mykolaiv Greek Church Nikolay Mazharov
to submit evidence. He tried to avoid participating and pretended to be sick with bilious
fever (he presented a certificate signed by Main Doctor of the Mykolaiv Naval Hospital
25 Там само. – Спр.197. – Арк.1–4.
26 Там само. – Спр.647. – Арк.8; Спр.760. – Арк.2.
27 Там само. – Спр.647. – Арк.8; Спр.760. – Арк.2.
28 Пивовар А.В. До питання про церковне будівництво… – С.135.
29 ДАХО. – Ф.207. – Оп.1. – Спр.413. – Арк.1–2.
30 Пивовар А.В. До питання про церковне будівництво… – С.145.
31 ДАХО. – Ф.207. – Оп.1. – Спр.950. – Арк.1–8; Спр.977. – Арк.1–4.
32 Там само. – Спр.985. – Арк.1.
33 Там само. – Спр.1195. – Арк.67–69.
34 Там само. – Спр.915. – Арк.1–6.
35 Там само. – Спр.1032. – Арк.1–2.
36 Там само. – Спр.1095. – Арк.4.
37 Там само. – Спр.1154. – Арк.1–8.
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108 Larysa Levchenko
Petrushevsky). He also claimed that the absence of another Greek-speaking priest in
Mykolaiv precluded him from leaving the city. The case reached Commander-in-Chief of
the Black Sea Navy and Ports, Vice Admiral M.Yazykov. All transactions between Karlich
and the architect, contractors, and suppliers were checked38. Unfortunately, the archival
documents describing the end of this case have not been discovered yet.
S.Makarov argued that priest Serbinov made one additional architectural change in
1838. Two thrones appeared in the renovated Greek Church of St. Sophia: the lower one –
in honour of the Nativity of Mother of Christ, the upper one – for St. Constantine
and St. Helen39. The Greek Church of St. Sophia is rectangular and consists of three
naves different in height. The naves are divided by columns in two rows. These 10 col-
umns are clearly visible on the plan of the Church. To the East, the space of the Church
finishes in low apse, corresponding to the naves. To the West, the central entrance be-
gins from a three-tiered bell tower. The architecture of the facades is quite restrained: the
walls are topped with cornices and decorated with mosaics. Two rows of rectangular and
semicircular windows and niches alternate. The interior is decorated with wall paintings
and carvings. There is an intricately carved baldachin above the altar, depicting the Lord
Almighty. The bell tower is adorned with sculptures of the four Evangelical Apostles.
The belfry tiers are also decorated with cornices. The lower tiers of the bell tower are cu-
bic, while the upper tiers are cylindrical.
It is possible that the Kherson Greek Church imitates the Church on the island of
Chios as it appeared in the last quarter of the eighteenth century – the first quarter of the
nineteenth century. Moreover, the Kherson Greek Church retains the original iconostasis
and sculptures from the old Chios Church.
Moreover, the Greek settlers established the first market square and Greek street in
Kherson where they erected homes, warehouses, and shops. After the death of Prince
Grigory Potemkin in 1791, the ‘porto-franco’ in Kherson was cancelled. It made the cli-
mate for export-import trade unfavourable. In 1794–1795, the Department of the Black
Sea Navy and all naval institutions were transferred from Kherson to Mykolaiv. The
Greeks serving in the Navy moved to Mykolaiv together with the Naval Department.
Even though Kherson became the centre of the province in 1803, the majority of civil
Greeks abandoned it and moved to Odesa which was granted the ‘porto-franco’ by the
Decree of the Russian Empire government of April 16, 1817. Subsequently, Odesa be-
came a global centre of trade and culture as well as the cradle of the Greek movement for
Independence.
Distinctive Features of Greek Church in Mykolaiv
The story of stone Greek Church construction in Mykolaiv is worthy of a detective
novel. Mykolaiv was founded in 1789. On December 6, 1788, Russian troops successful-
ly captured the Turkish fortress Ochakiv (now town Ochakiv, 60 km from Mykolaiv).
According to Christian tradition, St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, is celebrated on
December 6. When choosing the name for the new city which was to become the cen-
tre of shipbuilding on the Black Sea and the biggest military base of the Russian Imperial
Navy, its founder Prince Grigory Potemkin decided to honour the Christian saint and
named the city after the victory over the Ottomans in Ochakiv.
38 Там само. – Спр.1745. – Арк.1–101.
39 Макаров С. Греки Херсона // Херсонский вестник. – 2012. – №9 (1123). – С.19.
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Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 109
At the end of the eighteenth century, a rich Greek trading quarter – ‘Greek rows’ –
flourished in the very centre of Mykolaiv. After the Department of the Black Sea Navy
(the Naval Department) was moved from Kherson to Mykolaiv, this city began to turn
into a ‘military marine citadel’. The foreign trade ships were not allowed to enter the
Mykolaiv port. Local merchants could only earn money by contracting the Admiralty.
Thus, the Greek merchant families moved to Odesa. In 1805, Mykolaiv became the centre
of the Mykolaiv and Sevastopol military governorship; Commander-in-Chief of the Black
Sea Navy and Ports served as governor in both of these cities. During the nineteenth cen-
tury, most of the Greeks serving in the Black Sea Navy were living in Mykolaiv. Two of
them, Nikolay Arkas and Mikhail Manganary, were Commanders-in-Chief of the Black
Sea Navy and Ports and governors.
The builder of the Mykolaiv city, Kriegskommissar Mikhail Faleev, requested a
church construction permission from the Archbishop of Katerynoslav, Kherson and
Tavria Ambrosius on December 19, 1789: ‘I made a promise to build a church in the name
of Saint Nicholas’40. Based on this record, N.Kukhar-Onyshko argued that the Greek
Church of St. Nicholas was built by Faleev in 1790 and the requiem service for Prince
Grigory Potemkin was held in it41.
The State Archives of Odesa region provided more reliable evidence: the wood-
en Greek Church in Mykolaiv was built in 179442. The archives keep the first metric
book of this church dated 1799. No metrics from the earlier periods were saved. From
January to November 1799, hieromonk Bartholomew, who was the priest in the Church
at that time, baptized eleven new-borns and ran the memorial service for the wife of
Mikhail Nazarov, a Greek. In the metric book for 1801, Stephan Tomashevskiy is listed
as the priest for October. Priest Athanasiy Langerov was mentioned in the church archi-
val records dated April 1804. Konstantin Marabut started ministering in the Mykolaiv
Greek Church in 1807. The parishioners mentioned in those metric books were record-
ed as ‘foreign merchant – a Greek’, among them Mikhail Nazarov, Nestor Aniatov, Paniot
Mikhailov, Nikolay Kerdopulo, Ioan Samopulov, Ivan Ivanov, Nikolay Aleksandrov,
Theodosiy Konstantinov, Ivan Philipov, Andrey Mikhailov, Ilya Ilyin, Adam Leontiev,
Nestor Yegorov, Konstantin Pavlov, Mikhail Ternovet, Nikolay Grigoriev, and a Naval
Fleet Lieutenant Mikhail Nikolaev. It is difficult to recognize the Greeks by these names.
Obviously, after immigration, they either got Russian names and surnames or adapted the
spelling to Russian linguistic sensibilities.
The wooden Greek Church of St. Nicholas eventually declined and became un-
fit for worship. On behalf of the Mykolaiv Greek community, on July 18, 1799, a pa-
rishioner Spiridon Mikhailich asked Metropolitan of Katerynoslav and Tavria Gabriel
(Bonulesco-Bodoni) for permission to build a new stone church and to launch a special
book to record donations for temple construction. There are more than twenty signa-
tures in Greek on the Greek version of the warrant issued by the Mykolaiv Greek com-
munity to Spiridon Mikhailich. Only ten of them were decoded. These names include
Manolis Nikolu, Theodoros Cosa, Anastasiy Solidoru, Panayotis Lampadaru, Georgis
Christodoru, Ioannis Georgiu, Dimitris Sanariotis, Nikolas Ioannis, Theodoros Kizani,
and Michalis Siligu. It is these people who initiated the construction of the stone Greek
Church in Mykolaiv. The permission was received on July 28, 1799, not only from the
spiritual authorities but also from the Russian Emperor. Spiridon Mikhailich obtained
a special book from the Novorossiysk Consistory to record voluntary donations for two
40 Российский государственный архив Военно-морского флота. – Ф.245. – Оп.1. – Д.33. – Л.818.
41 Кухар-Онышко Н.А. Жизнь и смерть светлейшего князя Потёмкина… – С.89.
42 ДАОО. – Ф.37. – Оп.4. – Спр.32. – Арк. б/н.
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110 Larysa Levchenko
years. The letter of the Consistory stated that the church construction could not be start-
ed until the corresponding fund would be accumulated43.
However, by 1805 the construction had not yet begun. It is possible that the Greek
community was not able to raise the required amount of money. On August 23, 1805,
the Mykolaiv Greek community again applied for permission to build a stone church.
On February 23, 1806, Mykolaiv military governor, Admiral Ivan de Traversey, on be-
half of the Greek community44, urged Archbishop Athanasius to issue a new permis-
sion for the stone church building. It was granted on March 5, 1806, and according to
the Katerynoslav Spiritual Consistory solution, Archpriest of the Admiralty Cathedral
Evphimiy Savurskiy was to lay the first stone. The Decree of the Emperor was announced
on March 22, 1806, in the presence of archpriests Grigoriy Sarazhinov and Karp Pavlovskiy
and priest Grigoriy Radostat. To fulfil the Decree, Evphimiy Savurskiy laid the first stone
of the Greek Church of St. Nicholas on April 25, 180645.
Despite their modest means, the Mykolaiv Greeks had raised 1576 rubles 63 copecks
by April 1806, and the church construction started. Evphimiy Savurskiy pointed out in
one of his reports that the wooden Greek Church annually received no more than 200
rubles and spent this money on purchasing candles, oil, coal, and altar bread. However,
while visiting the city, the wealthy Greeks who were Ottoman subjects contributed to the
local Greek community development in every possible way. Therefore, the community
succeeded in raising considerable funds within a short period – 8445 rubles 64 copecks.
However, at the end of November 1806, the next Russo-Turkish War started and lasted
until May 1812. During this period, the Greeks did not have an opportunity to cross the
borders freely, and assistance ceased. By mid-November 1812, only the dome of the stone
Greek Church in Mykolaiv had been completed46.
In 1808, Archbishop of Katerynoslav, Kherson, and Tavria Platon granted a new spe-
cial book from his Chancery to the priest of the Mykolaiv Greek Church Konstantin
Marabut for recording the donations of parishioners and all those who wished to con-
tribute to the church construction. The entries in this book were made in both Greek
and Russian. Such surnames as Bakka, Raftopulo, Kalageorgii, Stiglitz, Pomerantzov,
Knyaginskiy, Komarovskiy, Papafanasopulo, Melnikov, Arkas, Letnyakovskiy, Marabut,
Albertev, Katenikov, and Kustov are listed in the book. The analysis of surnames makes it
possible to conclude that people of different nationalities and religions donated money for
the Greek Church construction. For example, Nikolay Stiglitz was a member of a prom-
inent Jewish family47. On the behest of auditor Maxim Goncharov, on May 1, 1809, city
police chief Nikolay Valshevich donated the icons of St. Nicholas and Virgin Hodegetria
Smolenskaya to the Greek Church. Additionally, he contributed 1050 rubles according to
the will of Archimandrite Zakhariy Petropulo48.
The figure of Zakhariy Petropulo, who is much revered in Ukraine, deserves particu-
lar consideration. There is no doubt that he could have served in the Greek Church in
Mykolaiv, although his name is not listed in the extant metrical books. The inscription on
his grave near the All Saints Church in the city cemetery states: ‘In the city of Mykolaiv
43 Там само. – Оп.1. – Спр.604. – Арк.1–5.
44 It is difficult to determine the Greek population size in Mykolaiv in the first part of the nineteenth century because there are
no statistical records about the population distribution by nationality. According to the Admiral de Traversey’s report dated
1806, 114 foreigners lived in Mykolaiv. Military men were not included in the category of foreigner. The Mykolaiv Statistical
Committee ran a local population census in 1875 and found that 119 citizens spoke Greek.
45 ДАОО. – Ф.37. – Оп.1. – Спр.710a. – Арк.1–2, 6.
46 Там само. – Спр.767a. – Арк.8.
47 Державний архів Миколаївської обл. – Ф.168. – Оп.1. – Спр.479. – Арк.1–21.
48 Там само. – Арк.11.
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Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 111
on December 25, 1808, the body of Archimandrite Zakhariy Petropulo, born on the island
of Tinos in 1743, was committed here to eternal peace’. Petropulo is said to be the Greek
priest who saved Andreas Arkas from slavery at the Larisa market. He was a spiritual
guide to the Arkases in Mykolaiv. Andreas graduated from the Litochoro Theological
School. He married Assimina Haskaru. Their eldest son Zakhariy, born in Greece in 1793,
became a Rear-Admiral, a historian of the Black Sea Navy, and the founder and first di-
rector of the Sevastopol Maritime Library. Andreas participated in the national liberation
struggle. His family was forced to flee the homeland. Knowing twelve languages, he be-
came a translator for the Department of the Black Sea Navy and created a parallel diction-
ary of marine terminology49. In 1807, the Arkases’ daughter, Helen, was baptized in the
wooden Mykolaiv Greek Church. In 1818, another son, Nikolay, was born in Mykolaiv.
He became a well-known statesman in the Russian Empire: an Admiral, Commander-in-
Chief of the Black Sea Navy, and Mykolaiv military governor. The Arkases’ national iden-
tity gradually evolved from a Greek one into Russian and then into Ukrainian. Nikolay
Andreevich Arkas’s son, Nikolay Nikolaevich, founded a local chapter of the Ukrainian
Society ‘Prosvita’ in Mykolaiv and wrote a popular manual on the history of Ukraine. The
family mausoleum of the Arkases is situated on the opposite side of Petropulo’s grave.
The story of the Arkases clear demonstrates the evolution of the worldview of the
Greeks who entered the Navy of the Russian Empire at the end of the eighteenth – at the
beginning of the nineteenth century. The Orthodoxy equalized the Greeks in rights with
representatives of other nationalities of the Orthodox denomination. Besides, the Greeks
who served in the Black Sea Navy became an integral part of a special population group –
military seafarers. In Mykolaiv, there was no discrimination based on nationality, exclud-
ing the Jews. The inhabitants of the city differed by occupation: the ‘military men’ and
‘civilians’. Mykolaiv differed from Odesa with its diversity and freethinking. Everything
in Mykolaiv was connected with the Navy and the Admiralty. The historian Grigory Ge
states that the civil society in Mykolaiv was pushed to the background and the naval at-
mosphere reigned everywhere. Not only the Greeks, but also representatives of other na-
tions came under the influence of that atmosphere. Gradually, military men lost their na-
tional identity, and in the second and third generations they turned into ‘loyal sons of
the Russian fatherland’. The military seafarers and their families were parishioners of the
Admiralty Cathedral of St. Grigory of Great Armenia. All their thoughts and deeds, in-
cluding religious ones, were focused on the Fleet, and they were not interested in the civ-
il life of the city. The civil Greeks raised money for church construction with such diffi-
culty because their Church was in no way affiliated with the Naval Department and the
Marines.
Since the raised money was still insufficient to complete construction, on July 18,
1812, the Greek community asked Prince Alexander Golitsyn, who at that time was a
member of the State Council of the Russian Empire and Head of the Theological Schools
Commission, to grant them additional funds. Prince Golitsyn petitioned the Emperor to
obtain 5000 rubles. The Decree was adopted on August 5, 1812, but due to bureaucratic
procedure, the Greeks had to wait almost three years to get the money. Finally, on June
16, 1815, Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Ambrose (Podobedov) reported
that the Theological Schools Commission sent the money to the Katerynoslav Treasury
Chamber, and Hieromonk Ambrosiy, the treasurer, received this money. Archpriest
Evphimiy Savurskiy informed the Mykolaiv Greek community that they had to send a
49 Березовская Т.В. Аркас Андреас (Андрей) Эммануилович (1766–1825) [Electronic resource]: http://history.mk.ua/
andreas-andrej-e-mmanuilovich-arkas-1766.htm
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
112 Larysa Levchenko
representative with a warrant to Katerynoslav to get this money. However, the Greek
community behaved in a strange manner: its churchwarden Evstratiy Andrutsaki and
trustees Paniot Manganary, Konstantin Aprat, and Andreas Arkas did not hurry to re-
ceive the money and asked to receive it by mail. The reason was that none of them could
go to Katerynoslav because they were busy with their commercial activities. Eventually,
the Treasury sent the money by mail. The Chamber instructed Savurskiy to withhold
twenty-five rubles from the Greek community as insurance. Before the end of November,
Savurskiy was forced to correspond with different institutions about these twenty-five ru-
bles. On August 31, 1815, he received 5000 rubles and, on September 2, 1815, handed them
over to churchwarden Evstratiy Andrutsaki in the presence of priest Nikolay Mazharov
and trustees Paniot Manganary, Theodosiy Konstantinov, and Major Yegor Albertov.
Having supervised the money transfer process, the city police chief Nikolay Valshevich
wrote a report and verified it with his signature and seal. However, on September 20, 1815,
the trustees of the Greek Church reported to Metropolitan Ambrose that the funds re-
ceived were not sufficient to complete construction. They complained that the communi-
ty was small, and construction materials were unreasonably expensive. They were in a hur-
ry to cover the roof because winter was coming. Thus, they borrowed building materials.
Having received the money, they distributed it to the lenders immediately. Consequently,
they barely had enough money to complete exterior work. The trustees asked Ambrose
for additional money ‘for the interior completion of the Church building as much as Your
Eminence could bless us with’. They wrote to the Metropolitan that if he provided them
with additional funds, ‘Your Holy name in front of the altar in the Church of God would
be proclaimed before the Savior Christ in all the coming days of this temple’s existence’.
Metropolitan Ambrose instructed Savursky to inform the applicants that they were not to
start such a large-scale construction, knowing the community’s inability to raise the nec-
essary funds. He clearly explained: ‘I cannot take the trouble of this responsibility again’50.
Nevertheless, the Сhurch was completed and consecrated on January 18, 181751. The source
that donated additional money for Church construction is still not determined.
While the civil Greeks were seeking permission and money to build their Church, the
Admiralty Cathedral of the Naval Department, the parishioners of which were the mili-
tary Greeks, was in the process of construction. It took approximately four years from 1790
to 1794. Unfortunately, the Cathedral was destroyed in 1936 under ‘the Soviet plan for the
reconstruction of the city’s central square’. However, numerous images and architectur-
al plans of the cathedral were preserved. It is believed that the project of the Admiralty
Cathedral was based on St. Sophia’s Temple in the Byzantine city of Adrianople (nowadays
– Edirne, Turkey). The Admiralty Cathedral was built in the shape of an elongated cross.
It was a pillarless cross-domed one-apse one-throne temple. This design was characteris-
tic of Orthodox churches since Byzantine times. In general, the architectural design of the
Admiralty Cathedral followed the style of laconic classicism. The temple was huge, accom-
modating up to seven hundred believers. The authorship of the Admiralty Cathedral archi-
tectural project belonged to Ivan Starov, a prominent architect of the late eighteenth – the
early nineteenth centuries. The idea was realized by Antoine Vecton and Ivan Knyazev. In
addition to Starov and Knyazev, architects Vincent Vanrezant, Karl Hagendorf, and Peter
Neyelov participated in the Admiralty Cathedral project. In April 1792, Hagendorf and
Neyelov expressed an opinion that the temple walls were not strong enough to support
the weight of the brick-arched vault, the drum, and the dome. Then, Knyazev suggested
50 ДАОО. – Ф.37. – Оп.1. – Спр.767a. – Арк.1–31.
51 Там само. – Оп.4. – Спр.58. – Арк.29.
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Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 113
building a wooden ceiling instead of a heavy brick-arched vault. Additionally, he wanted
to arrange four arches at the intersection of naves to support the drum and the dome. His
proposals were accepted and later proved to be correct52.
The construction process of the Admiralty Cathedral is important to understanding
the way in which St. Nicholas Greek Church could have been designed. The original pro-
ject, the names of architects and builders of the Church have not been discovered in the ar-
chives yet. Comparing the project and the images of the Admiralty Cathedral to the exist-
ing Greek Church building, one might suggest that the Greek Church is a smaller copy of
the Admiralty Cathedral. The Church was built in the same style of strict classicism. This
similarity is not surprising: in the naval city, where the vast majority of Greeks served in
the Navy, the Greek Church can be erected only as a copy of the most important spiritual
building for seafarers – the Admiralty Cathedral. The architects of the Church had to be
the same people who had previously developed the project of the Cathedral. However, the
Greek Church has its own design peculiarities. For example, the weight of the drum and
dome that had been discovered to be an issue during the Admiralty Cathedral construc-
tion was now noted. The walls of the Greek Church were more massive, which allowed the
arched ceiling to be erected. Inside of the Church, the builders installed eight pillars (col-
umns) paired together. The drum and the dome are supported by these pillars. For this rea-
son, the Church is an eight-pillars cross-domed temple. Most temples have had only four
pillars, which is why the Greek Church in Mykolaiv is unique in architectural design.
Similar to the Admiralty Cathedral, two-tier windows were arranged on the side walls
in the Greek Church. The semi-circular windows on the drum provided the interior space of
the temple with sufficient illumination. The single-tier iconostasis is quite simple in design.
The Greek Church has a two-tier bell tower erected above the entrance to the temple as was
done in the Admiralty Cathedral. The Greek Church is a one-nave, one-apse, one-throne tem-
ple. The Admiralty Cathedral was lost forever, but the Greek Church is preserved in its origi-
nal form, which sheds light on the architecture of Mykolaiv in the nineteenth century.
When Nikolay Mazharov became a priest in the Mykolaiv Greek Church, it was
consecrated at last. Mazharov was born in the Greek colony Malyi Buyalyk and originat-
ed from a Greek noble family. He moved to Odesa in 1802 and was ordained as a priest
by Archbishop Platon in 1808. At first, Mazharov was a deacon at St. John the Baptist
Church in Malyi Buyalyk. In 1812, he became a priest of the Church of the Dormition
of the Mother of God in Old Crimea. On March 8, 1815, according to the Decree of the
Consistory, Nikolay Mazharov was assigned to Mykolaiv. On April 8, 1818, he received a
bronze cross on the Vladimir ribbon in commemoration of the Russian Empire victory
in the War of 1812. He served as the priest of the Greek Church for almost thirty years53.
The Greeks had the most influence on the Black Sea Navy development when
Admiral Aleksey Greig (1816–1833) was the military governor and Commander-in-Chief of
the Black Sea Navy and Ports. After taking office, his opponent Admiral Mikhail Lazarev
(1833–1851) expelled all foreigners, including the Greeks, from Mykolaiv and Sevastopol.
This decision had a negative impact not only on the Black Sea Navy but also on the sit-
uation in these cities in general. After Lazarev’s death, the Greeks returned to their posi-
tions54. The names of the prominent Greek seafarers who served in the Black Sea Navy are
mostly recorded in the metric and confession books of the Admiralty Cathedral. Among
them are Vice-Admiral Anton Alexiano, Admiral Michail Manganary, Hydrograph Yegor
52 Щукин В.В. Николаевский Адмиралтейский собор: Очерк истории. – Николаев, 2017. – С.6–22.
53 ДАОО. – Ф.37. – Оп.4. – Спр.58. – Арк.32.
54 Левченко Л. Історія Миколаївського і Севастопольського військового губернаторства (1805–1900). – Миколаїв,
2006. – С.179–202.
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
114 Larysa Levchenko
Manganary, Fleet General Ivan Manganary, Vice-Admiral Konstantin Patanioty, Rear-
Admiral Nikolay Patanioty, Rear-Admiral Nikolay Kumany, Admiral Michail Kumany,
Fleet General and Hydrograph Nikolay Kumany Jr., and representatives of the Arkases.
The names of their relatives and descendants who did not serve in the Navy can be found
in the metric books of the Greek Church of St. Nicholas.
In 1862, due to the efforts of Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Navy and
Mykolaiv military governor Bogdan von Glazenap, the Mykolaiv port opened to in-
ternational trade. Greek merchants contributed significantly to grain export. For ex-
ample, Panteleimon Zigomalas, a Greek, founded a grain export office in Mykolaiv in
1864. During the second half of the nineteenth century, twenty foreign consulates were
opened in Mykolaiv, including the Consulate of the Kingdom of Greece in 1876. Georgiy
Zigomalas, son of Panteleimon, was appointed as a Greek consul. It was he who recre-
ated and reinforced the relations of the Mykolaiv Greeks with Greece. After the death
of Georgiy Zigomalas, the consular duties were taken over by his brother, Ivan. He con-
tinued to maintain relations with both the King of Greece George the First and Prime
Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. In the late nineteenth –early twentieth centuries, thou-
sands of Pontic Greeks moved to the South of Russian Empire to escape persecution in
the Ottoman Empire. They established a Greek colony in Mykolaiv. The Greek Church
of St. Nicholas and the Greek Consulate became centres that united Pontic Greeks. In
1919, Venizelos signed an agreement with the Entente to send a military contingent to
Ukraine to fight the Bolsheviks. The Seventh Athens Infantry Regiment was deployed to
Mykolaiv. On March 9, 1919, all members of the Mykolaiv Greek colony attended a prayer
service in the Greek Church in honor of this Regiment anniversary55. In 1929, when the
persecution of churches started, the Mykolaiv Greeks, as a part of the Council of the St.
Nicholas Greek Church, began to fight against the closure of the Church. The Greek
Church was closed in 1939, but as early as 1941, worship started again and is still ongoing.
The history of Greek churches reflects the history of the Greeks in the South of Ukraine
under the dominion of the Russian Empire. When the Greeks settled in Kherson, their ties
with their country of origin were quite strong. It is clear in the decor of St. Sophia’s Greek
Church and in the wishes of the community to have the priests help services in Greek. The
Russian government tended to control Greek citizens with the help of the Russian Orthodox
Church. Greek priests obeyed the regulations of the Russian Church. By the time the Greeks
reached Mykolaiv, their ties with their native land had become weaker. The Greeks serving
in the Black Sea Navy were hardly interested in the St. Nicholas Greek Church construction
because the Admiralty Cathedral satisfied their religious needs. These Greeks were subjected
to assimilation faster than their compatriots who did not serve in the Navy. The Mykolaiv
community of civil Greeks was insolvent and could not build their Church without govern-
ment aid and the donations of benefactors of other nationalities. The lack of funds instigat-
ed a search for money, disputes on financial issues, and mutual recriminations of fraud. The
assimilation of civil Greeks manifested in the architecture of Mykolaiv Greek Church, built
as a smaller copy of the Admiralty Cathedral, in the Russian names of Greek parishioners,
and in the control that the Russian priests had over the church. The history of Kherson and
Mykolaiv Greek churches is different from the history of Odesa Holy Trinity Church that
became a shelter for participants of the movement for Greek statehood. The Greek churches
not only helped the Greeks integrate into a foreign environment and preserve their national
culture but also promoted their assimilation.
55 Левченко Л. Українська кампанія грецької армії 1919 р.: вплив на подальшу долю українських греків (на прикладі
Миколаєва й Миколаївщини) // Сторінки історії. – 2019. – №4. – С.59–91.
Український історичний журнал. – 2021. – №6
Greek Churches in the Southern Ukraine in the Making (the Late Eighteenth – the First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 115
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7. Tomozov, V.V. (2020). Hreky-khiostsi na Pivdni Ukrainy (kinets XVIII st. – 1917 r.): mizh tradytsiiamy natsionalnoho samoz-
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Лариса ЛЕВЧЕНКО
докторка історичних наук, професорка,
старша наукова співробітниця,
Інститут української археографії та джерелознавства
ім. М.С.Грушевського НАН України;
директорка Центрального державного архіву
вищих органів влади та управління України
(Київ, Україна), loralewch@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9097-7373
Становлення грецьких церков у Південній
Україні (кінець ХVIII – перша половина ХІХ ст.)
Анотація. Метою статті є репрезентація результатів дослідження історії херсонських та
миколаївських грецьких церков наприкінці XVIII – у першій половині XIX ст. Методологія
дослідження базується на загальноприйнятих принципах і методах історичної науки. Наукова
новизна. Історія грецьких церков Херсона та Миколаєва висвітлюється на основі рукописних
джерел із державних архівів Херсонської, Миколаївської, Одеської обл., які вперше вводяться
в науковий обіг. Це дало можливість вивчити нові факти та імена, зробити висновки про роль
церкви у житті херсонської й миколаївської грецьких громад. Висновки. Історія грецьких
церков відображає історію греків на півдні України під владою Російської імперії. Коли греки
оселилися у Херсоні, їхні зв’язки з Батьківщиною були ще досить міцними. Це видно в
декорі Софійської грецької церкви, у бажанні мати грекомовних священиків. Російський уряд
намагався взяти під контроль грецьких громадян за допомогою православної церкви. Грецькі
священики мали підкорятися уставам російської церкви. На той час, коли греки дійшли до
Миколаєва, їхні зв’язки з рідною землею ослабли. Греки, які служили на Чорноморському
флоті, майже не цікавилися будівництвом грецької церкви Св. Миколая, оскільки
Адміралтейський собор задовольняв їхні релігійні потреби. Ці греки піддалися асиміляції
швидше, ніж їхні співвітчизники, котрі не служили на флоті. Миколаївська громада цивільних
греків була неспроможна будувати свою церкву без державної допомоги та пожертвувань
представників інших національностей. Нестача бюджету викликала пошуки коштів, суперечки
з грошових питань, взаємні звинувачення у шахрайстві. Асиміляція цивільних греків відбилася
в архітектурі Миколаївської грецької церкви, збудованої як зменшена копія Адміралтейського
собору, у зросійщених іменах греків, які були парафіянами грецької церкви, і в контролі, який
мали над нею російські священики. Історія херсонської та миколаївської грецьких церков
відрізняється від історії одеської Свято-Троїцької церкви, яка стала притулком для учасників
руху за національну державність. Грецькі церкви не тільки допомагали грекам інтеґруватися у
чуже середовище і зберігати національну культуру, але й сприяли їх асиміляції.
Ключові слова: грецькі церкви в Південній Україні, церква Св. Софії у Херсоні, церква
Св. Миколая в Миколаєві, греки в Україні, греки на Півдні Російської імперії.
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