page_title: Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius
section_title: 19–20th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius / History / 19–20th centuries
caption_attribution_description: Reconstruction of the Orthodox Cathedral of Theotokos
context_page_description: The Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius is the episcopal see of the Orthodox Christian Metropolitan of Vilnius and all Lithuania.
  In 1415 – 1795 it was a cathedral temple metropolitan bishops of Kiev of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church and the Ruthenian Uniate Church within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
context_section_description: In 1808, a local prelate sold the neglected building to the Vilnius University, which had the building thoroughly modernised in 1822 in the Neoclassical style by Karol Podczaszyński. After that, the building hosted an anatomical theatre, library and other university facilities for half a century.
  The old cathedral was confiscated and transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church on the initiative of count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov and his brother during the Russification campaign. The Russian architect Nikolai Chagin was responsible for its reconstruction from 1865 until 1868 in a style imitating medieval Georgian architecture.
  St. Tikhon (Belavin), then Archbishop of Vilnius, presided over the cathedral and Orthodox Christians of Lithuania between 1913 and the occupation of Lithuania by the German troops in 1915. Most of the Russian Orthodox clergy left with the retreating Russian army.
  The cathedral of the Theotokos was damaged during the Second World War but was restored in 1948, although its renovations were not completed until 1957. Today the cathedral belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church and was once again renovated in 1998. Its services are attended mostly by ethnic Russian and Belarusian residents of Vilnius.
caption: Reconstruction of the Cathedral of the Theotokos, 1865—1868. A photograph taken during the reconstruction by Chagin.
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