The St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Naval Cathedral is the dominant visual and spiritual feature of Karosta sharply contrasting with the surrounding panel apartment blocks.
Cathedral interior
It is admirably large and filled with light. Instead of the columns typical of a cathedral of this size, it has four arches, the intersection of which supports the vault with its domes and the central cylinder. This solution makes the interior appear larger and enables the service to be followed from any location in the church.
Building the church
The church was designed and built in the style typical of the 17th century Orthodox churches of Russia, with a central dome.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1901 and the Russian Tsar Nikolai II with his family and nobles from St. Petersburg took part in the ceremony of inaugurating the foundation stone. The first service and the dedication of the church took place in 1903.
