We were treated to a tour of the inside of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday, located at 6210 Geary Boulevard. The tour was led by Father Yaroslav Belikow, who gave us a great history of the church and its architecture, and answered all of the questions we could come up with. Thank you, Father Belikow!
The inside is really spectacular – not at all what you’d expect from the quiet exterior. Check out some of the photos below and if you want to see it for yourself, stop in for one of their services which take place twice daily at 8am and 6pm. Visit the church website for more information.
I did not take any notes during our tour, but here are some highlights I remember from it:
- The cathedral was initially begun under one Bishop, who passed away during early construction, leaving it unfinished with just a few arches completed. The cathedral was completed in the 1960s when Bishop John came and took over. He died not long after in 1966 and was buried under the altar. He was officially glorified as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco in 1994. There is an altar inside the church where you can view his relics. The Father told us they still receive letters addressed to St. John which they place under his remains in the church.
- During Russian Orthodox services, parishioners stand so there are very few pews inside the church. As the Father joked, their services are “long, and longer.”
- There is singing during services but no instrumentation; all performances are A capella. On Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, a full choir performs.
- The Father told an interesting story about the cross you see in the Russian Orthodox church, which has a bottom bar across the lower portion. It was where Jesus Christ would have placed his feet during the crucifixion. However it is slanted slightly. The story goes that Jesus Christ was crucified along with two thieves, one on each side of him, each on their own cross. The thief on his left was mocking Christ, saying that if he really was holy, why couldn’t he just save them all. The other thief, on the right, was more kind and urged the other thief to leave him alone and show some compassion. Before he died, Christ’s leg spasmed and knocked the bottom bar askew. The saying goes that the right side tilts down – in the direction the unfriendly thief would be headed after his demise, while the other side points up – the direction the kind thief would be headed.
- The shiny parapets on top of the church are based on the Indian ones of similar design (think Taj Mahal). But because of the heavy snows in Russia, they were designed to be taller and more narrow, making it easier for the heavy snow to slide off. Sort of a self-cleaning parapet as the Father described it.
- The parapets have gold on them to create a pretty reflection, like a sunset. However only 12% of the tiles are reflective – that is the magic number for achieving the effect.
- The church has a small reliquary against one wall, with bits and pieces of Saints in small containers.
- There is a partition, or iconostasis, that has doors on it (you can see it pictured). The doors remain closed most of the year, but are all opened around Easter in honor of the resurrection. The main doors in the center of the iconstasis are known as the royal doors.
Sarah B.
Thank you so very much for putting this together — and thank Fr. Belikow for his gracious, warm welcome, his time, the information his shared – and his gentle humor. I have lived a few blocks from the cathedral since 1979 yet had never been inside. I expected it to be gorgeous — but it is far beyond that — it is truly exquisite. Knowing that the Richmond is home to this amazing cultural/artistic/religious treasure makes me even prouder to be a “fog-belt baby”! Services are held every day and Fr. Belikow extends a welcome to any who wish to attend.
Great photos Sarah! Can you include some of the history in your post for those of us who were unable to make it?
@Bob – I did not take copious notes but I added some of my recollections from the tour to the article. Hope that gives it some more color! 🙂
Sarah B.
@Sarah – thank you for the additions! Very interesting!
Yes, Sarah, MANY thanks for organizing the tour. It was quite amazing – one thing I did remember as well about the parapets is they started being painted in gold because they glow in the sunset and sunrise and look like the flames of candles. I can see them from my window, so will be sure to send you some shots of that!
Thanks for organizing this! It was a great opportunity to see the interior and get so much history.
Thanks Sarah! I’ve finally gathered the courage to check out a service at this beautiful church.
Thank you all for joining! It was a great idea, Sarah, to invite our neighbors in! The best time to appreciate the services would be on Saturday evening (6 pm) or Sunday morning (from 7:30 to noon), when the full choir sings!
Dear Sarah, I think your arranging this was really a great thing for promoting cultural and interfaith understanding in our neighborhood. I loved having the opportunity to enter this gorgeous neighborhood treasure which I have passed for so many years, to meet my neighbor, Fr. Belikow. I do know that they Russian Orthodox church has always welcomed me to visit — and I intended to for years. but your saying “hey! let’s get together and do this!” was the things that finally made it happen. Thank you again.
Thank you for the photos, they are wonderful! I am in San francisco at the moment, living in Paris and myself french orthodox from a parish the name of which is “Saint Jean de San Francisco” (he is our Saint Patron). I would like to go to the Holy Virgin Church in order to venerate Saint Jean de San Francisco. Can you tell me how to find the opening hours/days and more particularly the hours of the liturgy on sunday?
thank you very much, I am leaving on monday the 13h!
Natalie
@Natalie – they have services daily at 8am and 6pm, even on weekends (“Liturgy at 8:00am, Vespers & Matins at 6:00pm” according to their website which is at http://www.sfsobor.com/). Hope that helps,
Sarah B.