Title
Russian Churches in Harbin, China
Creator
Date
c. 1976
Format
Description
The artist was born in Vladivostok, Russia, his family fled to Harbin in 1923. Here he completed his studies of architecture and structural engineering. He went on to design and build many monuments and buildings, especially well-known is his monument to victims of the Harbin floods. He emigrated with his wife and two children to Australia at the end of 1958, where he secured a job as an architect, and was involved in many buildings in areas around Sydney. After retiring in 1976, he devoted much of his time to painting watercolors, and was invited to become a member of the Royal Art Society.
Image to the left: St. Nicholas Cathedral [Свято-Николаевский собор]
Construction began in 1899. It is built with no nails or bolts; timber mortised joints, notched and fixed with hardwood dowels were used. Jozef Padlewski* (1863-1943), a Polish Catholic architect-engineer, who had an architectural office in St. Petersburg, was the architect. He designed many buildings for the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. He returned to Poland in 1918. This beautiful church was destroyed on 23 August 1966 by the Chinese Red Guards during the "Cultural Revolution."
*Russian form of his name Iosif Vladimirovich Padlevskii. Information on Padlewski was provided by Jerzy Czajewski, Harbiners Club, Szczecin, Poland.
Image below: The Holy Assumption (of the Virgin Mary) Church [Свято-Успенский храм] at the entrance to the New Cemetery in Harbin was dedicated 22 November 1908. After the Chinese Cultural Revolution the top of the church was taken down and the cemetery was ploughed over and made into a Peoples' Park. Ice cream and other snacks are sold inside the former church.
Image to the left: St. Nicholas Cathedral [Свято-Николаевский собор]
Construction began in 1899. It is built with no nails or bolts; timber mortised joints, notched and fixed with hardwood dowels were used. Jozef Padlewski* (1863-1943), a Polish Catholic architect-engineer, who had an architectural office in St. Petersburg, was the architect. He designed many buildings for the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. He returned to Poland in 1918. This beautiful church was destroyed on 23 August 1966 by the Chinese Red Guards during the "Cultural Revolution."
*Russian form of his name Iosif Vladimirovich Padlevskii. Information on Padlewski was provided by Jerzy Czajewski, Harbiners Club, Szczecin, Poland.
Image below: The Holy Assumption (of the Virgin Mary) Church [Свято-Успенский храм] at the entrance to the New Cemetery in Harbin was dedicated 22 November 1908. After the Chinese Cultural Revolution the top of the church was taken down and the cemetery was ploughed over and made into a Peoples' Park. Ice cream and other snacks are sold inside the former church.
Is Part Of
Russian Collection, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library