Uspenski Cathedral gets golden cupolas back

Onion-shaped domes blessed before they were lifted back onto roof of Helsinki landmark

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Fr. Veikko Purmonen, the Vicar of the Helsinki Orthodox Congregation, blessed three large and six smaller cupolas before they were lifted onto the roof of Helsinki's Uspenski Cathedral on Monday.
      After a brief moment of devotion, Purmonen sprinkled holy water on each of the onion-shaped, gold-plated ornaments, and on the choir and a bit on the members of the public who had gathered for the event. A few tourists with their cameras were there as well.
      The event was to have taken place much earlier, so that the Helsinki landmark would have been back to its former glory already when Finland held the European Union Presidency last year. However, there was a delay of nearly a year, because a company whose bid was not accepted for the restoration work appealed to the Market Court. The court eventually rejected the complaint as unfounded.
     
The renovation of the cupolas of the Uspenski Cathedral began in 2002. The main cupola was found to have been acceptable, but the gold leaf on all of the others had to be replaced. The work on a total of 14 roof ornaments cost EUR 500,000, one third of which was covered by donations collected by the congregation. The gold-plating work itself represented a small proportion of the cost.
      Master goldsmith Harri Virtanen was responsible for what was an exceptionally large contract by Finnish standards. Just under 500 grammes of gold leaf, with a thickness of one ten-thousandth of a millimetre, was required for the cupolas of the cathedral.
      The previous time that the cupolas were gilded was in 1968, when the Uspenski Cathedral marked its 100th anniversary. Virtanen estimates that the new gold cover will remain in fairly good condition for at least 25 to 30 years.
     
All nine cupolas were hoisted back onto the roof of the church. Completing the renovation on the roof of the building, which dates from 1868 and is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe, will take about two more weeks.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Newly gilded dome rises on top of Uspenski Cathedral (1.11.2004)
  Uspenski Cathedral domes to be given a new golden coat (28.9.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat