1193 UKRAINE (Odessa Oblast) - Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral - part of Historic Center of the Port City of Odessa (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

The first and foremost church in the city of Odessa, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Saviour's Transfiguration Cathedral), belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), and was founded in 1794 by Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni, a Romanian clergyman who served as Metropolitan of Moldavia (1792), Metropolitan of Kherson and Crimea (1793–1799), Metropolitan of Kiev and Halych (1799-1803), Exarch of Moldo-Wallachia (1806–1812), and Archbishop of Chişinău (1812–1821), being the first head of the church in Bessarabia after the Russian annexation.

The building lagged several years behind schedule when the newly appointed governor of New Russia,  Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, employed the Italian architect Francesco Frappoli to complete the edifice. The cathedral was designated the main church of New Russia in 1808 and was continuously expanded throughout the 19th century. The belltower was built between 1825 and 1837, and the refectory connecting it to the main church several years later. The interior was lined with polychrome marble, and the icon screen also was of marble. 

In the end at 1903 - it was the largest church of the Russian Empire and could accommodate up to 9,000 people. Several churches in the region, including the Nativity Cathedral in Chişinău, were built in conscious imitation of it. The original structure was demolished by the Soviets in 1936 (contrary to popular belief, it was not blown up, but cruelly disassembled), but it was rebuilt starting from 1999, the new cathedral being consecrated in 2003.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral is part of the site Historic Center of the Port City of Odessa, included in 2009 in Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Site, about which I wrote here.   

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting  European Ash / Fraxinus excelsior (0,30 UAH), is part of a series about leaf and fruits, about which I wrote here.

The following two stamps are part of the series Minerals of Ukraine, designed by Larysa Melnik, and issued on December 23, 2009:
• Quartz (1,50 UAH) - it's on the postcard
• Native Sulphur (1,90 UAH)
• Topaz (2,00 UAH) - it's on the postcard
• Beryl (2,20 UAH)
• Tiger’s-eye (3,30 UAH)
• A-kertschenite (4,85 UAH)

The last stamp is part of the series National Nature Park Sviati Hory, issued on December 28, 2010
• Thais Polyxena / Zerynthia polyxena (1,00 UAH) - it's on the postcard
• Bluebird / Lusсinia svecica (1,50 UAH)
• True Otter / Lutra lutra (1,50 UAH)
• Pond Turtle / Emys orbicularis (2,00 UAH)

References
Odessa Cathedral - Wikipedia
Transfiguration Cathedral - I like Odessa

Sender: pochemuchka2009 and BlueJay13 (direct swap)
Sent from Sevastopol (Sevastopol / Ukraine), on 28.01.2014