Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Cathedral of the Assumption, or Uspenski Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Orthodox Diocese of Helsinki. It was built by order of Emperor Alexander II of Russia between 1862 and 1868. It was designed by the architect Alexis Gornostaiev (1808-1862), one of the founders of the Russian Revival architecture. The crypt hosts a variety of events, including exhibitions and lectures on ecclesiastical art and ecclesiastical artefacts.

Meanwhile, the brick belfry was built in 1876. Correspondence on its construction has been in place since 1873. Landowners A. Balcevicius, F. Jaloveckis, C. Svionteckis built the bell tower at their own expense, estimated at 4580 rb .. During the First World War, 3 bells were transported to Russia, only two returned after the war.

The Utne church, designed by Peter Blix, was inaugurated in 1895 and is marked by a neo-romanesque and national romantic architecture. The colours of the interior are the original 1895, but part of the church was repainted during a restoration in 1953. In the church, there is also a seventeenth-century painting depicting the martyrdom of John. It was donated to the church in 1990.

The church in Utsira is a small wooden church dating from 1785. It has a narrower chancel, a vestry extension behind the chancel and a rectangular tower with a gable roof over the porch. The sacristy and the tower with a porch were built in 1954.

The Utstein Monastery Church has a rectangular nave and a choir of the same size, separated by a central tower. The foot of the tower has a portal to the south of the monastery courtyard and the nave has a western portal. The monastery complex is well preserved and was used as a stately residence after the Reformation. In the 1950s, the monastery complex was extensively restored.

The Utvik church is a half-timbered church with a narrower and lower choir to the east and a wide tower over the porch to the west. The church was built in 1842 according to the standard plans of the architect Linstow. The church is clad with a white-painted supanel and has Gothic Revival style windows. The church received a new sacristy on the north side of the choir in 1902.

The monastery of Uvac dates back to the Middle Ages and was built in the 12th and 13th centuries; according to tradition, we owe its foundation to the dynasty of Nemanjić. The monastery had its heyday in the first half of the 17th century, receiving many visitors and high dignitaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church; however, it was completely destroyed in 1698. After three centuries of abandonment, in 1994 the decision was taken to rebuild the monastery, under the direction of the National Museum in Užice and with the help of the state.

The church in Uvdal was built in 1893, when it replaced the old moat church in Uvdal as a parish church. The church underwent extensive restoration in the period 1961 - 1963. The church bells and organ date from 1967.

Uvdal Stave Church is probably from the end of the 12th century. In 1893, the congregation built a new church, and five years later, the Fortidsminneforeningen took over the old stave church. The church, which is cruciform with wide transverse arms to the north and south, has undergone several changes and additions, including the choir, has been expanded. The south portal is probably original, while the west portal may be from the 13th century.

The cemetery preserves the remains of at least 70 Jewish tombstones, the oldest of which dates from 1855. The cemetery is still operational. It is surrounded by an aerated concrete fence, installed in October 2016 by ESJF.