'You Can Pray Without a Church': Krasnoyarsk Residents on Strelka Cathedral
The majority of participants in the vote on the NGS24.RU Telegram channel spoke out against building a church on Strelka. A total of 2,999 people voted: 69% of them were against building a cathedral on Strelka, 31% were in favor.
Comments were left by both supporters and opponents of the construction. Many are asking to keep this section of the embankment free.
«Is there really no free space left in the city for such construction??? Why exactly there???? Our embankment is a place for recreation, not for prayers,» asks a subscriber with the nickname Elvira S.
«Neither a church, nor a visitor center is needed there. Leave this green part of the embankment as it is. They»ve already paved the entire city with concrete,« believes Olga.
«Nothing is needed, it should have been left as is! It was a green zone, beautiful, and now what? They cut down the trees, everything has been standing idle for four months, now they»ve decided to adjust the documents, fantastic. First they do, then they think. Leave the embankment alone already. There are plenty of places in the city,« echoes a subscriber with the nickname Olga.
Others are generally not against the idea of building a church, but not in this location, or they suggest building something else instead of a church.
«It»s a bad spot for this church. Look at historical photos, the church stood in an open area, it was spacious. And now they«ll cram it between the embankment, the Big Concert Hall (BKC), and the cable-stayed bridge, and it will stand against the backdrop of all this modern architecture, where everything will glow with colorful lights and look completely absurd. We need another place so that there is beauty, an atmosphere of peace,» said a reader with the nickname Svetlana.
«It»s not needed there, no need, there are already five churches in the center. Why not build it in Pokrovka or in Roshcha? In Severny?« wonders a subscriber with the nickname Olga Mamaeva.
«A church can be built but in another place! The project itself is very beautiful, and it needs another, more beautiful and more scenic, convenient location! Tatyshev Island or Pokrovskaya Mountain — that»s the thing!« suggests Nikolai.
«It would be better to build another »Kvantorium« (children»s technology park) on the embankment, since for a city of a million, groups of only 8–10 people are being formed. Education is needed, and you can pray without a church,« considered a user with the nickname Ni.
Supporters of the construction emphasize that if a church is not built now, then Strelka will be taken over by some office or shopping center.
«Thank God that such places are being built. Of course, not at the expense of the budget, but purely from donations, which people don»t understand. There is nothing remarkable there now, if they don«t build a church, they»ll build another commercial zone with a bunch of vacant spaces and consumerism. Look at «Yenisei Gallery» — half of it is empty for rent, no one is taking it (at the end of 2025, a branch of the national center «Russia» opened there). And a church — you can go in to pray, warm up in the frost, and the architecture pleases the eye, not another box,« is confident a user under the nickname Zzz.
«If a church is not built, then an office building, or a shopping center, or a hotel will be built,» writes commenter Natalya about the same thing.
«And what is »needed«? — gets angry a user with the nickname Evgeniy. — Build another skyscraper, office center, shopping and entertainment center, another gallery? That»s what happens. Here you have a visitor center for the 400th anniversary. The entire embankment will be built up with concrete boxes. That«s »better« than a church.»
At the end of January, the new mayor Sergei Vereshchagin instructed to additionally discuss the project of building a church on Strelka at the urban planning council. As told to NGS24.RU by the press service of the urban planning department, the Krasnoyarsk Diocese does not yet have a building permit. They can apply for it after addressing the comments that the project will receive at the council. When exactly the meeting will take place is still unknown.
On Strelka, they plan to recreate the Nativity of the Theotokos Cathedral, which was built in the second half of the 19th century. However, it stood in a different location — on the current Revolution Square. Under Soviet power in the 1930s, it was blown up, and then the House of Soviets was erected (now the building of the regional government).
