Medal - Alexander III Consecration of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow

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View of the cathedral.

Engraver: V. Alexeev

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On Christmas Day 1812 Alexander I pledged to build a cathedral as thanks to Divine Providence for the retreat of Napoleon Bonaparte from Moscow. Planning and changes of location made the laying of the cornerstone first possible in 1839. On May 25, 1883 – the day of Alexander III's coronation – the cathedral, the largest church of Orthodoxy, was consecrated. Much of the cathedral was a monument to the victory over Napoleon. On December 5, 1931, by order of Stalin's minister Kaganovich, the cathedral was dynamited and reduced to rubble in order to make room for a monument to Socialism. Due to lack of funds and flooding this was never built and during the reign of Khruschov the building site was transformed into a swimming pool. In February of 1990 the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the cathedral. Over one million Muscovites contributed to the fund established for this purpose and the astoundingly accurate cathedral was consecrated once more on August 19, 2000.