The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary is a
neo-Gothic church that serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Moscow. Located in the Central Administrative Okrug, it
is one of only two Catholic churches in Moscow and the largest in
Russia. The construction of the cathedral was proposed by the Czarist
government in 1894. Groundbreaking was in 1899; construction work began
in 1901 and was completed ten years later. Three-aisled and built from
red brick, the cathedral is based on a design by architect Tomasz
Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. The style was influenced by Westminster Abbey
and Milan Cathedral. With the help of funds from Catholic parishes in
Russia and its neighbouring states, the church was consecrated as a
chapel for Moscow's Polish parish in 1911. In the aftermath of the
Russian Revolution, in order to promote state atheism, the government
ordered many churches closed; the cathedral was closed in 1938. During
World War II, it was threatened with demolition, and was used after the
war for civil purposes, as a warehouse and then a hostel. In 1996,
following the fall of communism, it once again became a church, and in
2002 it was elevated to the status of cathedral. Following an extensive
and costly program of reconstruction and refurbishment, the cathedral
was reconsecrated in 2005.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Immaculate_Conception_%28Moscow%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1282:
Sicilians began to rebel against the rule of the Angevin King Charles I
of Naples, starting the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Vespers>
1842:
American physician Crawford Long became the first person to use
diethyl ether as an anesthetic in a surgical procedure.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_Long>
1918:
Bolshevik and Dashnak forces suppressed a Muslim revolt in Baku,
Azerbaijan, resulting up to 30,000 deaths.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days>
1954:
The Yonge–University–Spadina line, the first subway in Canada and the
busiest in Toronto, opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonge%E2%80%93University%E2%80%93Spadina_line>
2009:
Twelve gunmen attacked the Manawan Police Training School in Lahore,
Pakistan, and held it for several hours before security forces were
able to retake it.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lahore_police_academy_attacks>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
eat crow (v):
(chiefly US, idiomatic) To recognize that one has been shown to be
mistaken or outdone, especially by admitting that one has made a
humiliating error
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eat_crow>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
108px213px
But my God, how beautiful Shakespeare is, who else is as mysterious
as he is; his language and method are like a brush trembling with
excitement and ecstasy. But one must learn to read, just as one must
learn to see and learn to live.
--Vincent van Gogh
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>
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