Transfiguration Cathedral

The Transfiguration Cathedral stands as one of the most historically significant and architecturally distinguished religious buildings in all of Bendery, with a story stretching back to the early years of Russian imperial rule over the city.

When Bendery became part of the Russian Empire, a major reconstruction of the city began, with the new urban center established at some distance from the original fortress. In 1814, plans were made to relocate the Dormition and Nikolsky churches to the new city center, but their dilapidated condition made demolition unavoidable. The decision was made to build an entirely new cathedral in their place. His Grace Dimitrios, Bishop of Bendery and Akkerman, oversaw the project as its founding figure, with the foundation stone laid on August 22, 1815. Dimitrios consecrated the completed cathedral in 1827, though construction continued at a slow pace — the bell tower was only completed in 1832, with all remaining works finishing in 1840.

The funding story behind the cathedral’s completion offers a fascinating glimpse into the pragmatic ingenuity of its builders: the church warden secured permission to construct commercial shops surrounding the cathedral, with rental income providing the necessary construction funds. This commercial activity around the cathedral created a lasting legacy — the Bendery city market continues to operate nearby to this day.

The bell tower initially housed only small bells, receiving its current large 3-ton bell — cast at a factory in Nemirov — only in 1911. The cathedral’s interior remained unpainted for nearly a century, until the early 1930s when clergy decided to commission a complete interior decoration program. The celebrated Moldavian artist and sculptor Alexandru Plamadeala was invited to undertake this ambitious project, arriving in Bendery around May 1934 with four apprentices: V. Polyakov, V. Nechaeva, N. Kolyadich and A. Madval. Many of Plamadeala’s frescoes survive to this day, including depictions of “Constantine,” “Helena,” “the Sun God” and the twelve apostles.

The cathedral suffered significant damage during the Great Patriotic War, when an artillery shell struck the building, destroying the iconostasis and the cathedral’s archive in the resulting fire — an irreplaceable loss of historical records documenting the parish and city’s pre-war life. In 1948, the cathedral was placed under official state protection as an architectural monument of the early 19th century. In recent years, extensive restoration and repair work has been completed both inside and outside, and on September 13, 2015, Bendery celebrated the cathedral’s 200th anniversary with appropriate ceremony.

Address: 31, Sovetskaya str., Bendery
Phone: +373 552 20301
Email: bendery-sobor@mail.ru
Website: www.diocese-tiras.org