Diocese of Kostroma

Diocese of Kostroma and Galich
The Epiphany Cathedral (1559-65)
Location
Headquarters	Kostroma
Information
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Sui iuris church	Russian Orthodox Church
Established	1744
Language	Old Church Slavonic
Governance	Eparchy
Website
www.kostromaeparhia.ru

The Kostroma Diocese (Russian: Костромская и Галичская епархия, tr. Kostromskaja i Galichskaja eparhija) is an eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. It combines parishes and monasteries within the Kostroma Oblast while the eparchial center lies in Kostroma. The former eparchy's cathedral was the Assumption Cathedral in Kostroma while the current cathedrals include the Cathedrals of the Epiphany, St. Anastasia Monastery in Kostroma, and Galich Vvedensky.

History

On June 18, 1744, Synod sent a Humble Report to Empress Elizabeth, asking the Churches of the Saints for better governance and institutions within church decorum to be established in Vlidimir, Kostroma, Pereslavl and Tambov. On July 16, 1744, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna signed a decree establishing the four noble cities at the Kostroma episcopal. Simon Todorsky was appointed Bishop. As a member of the Holy Synod, it was necessary for him to stay in the capital as he awaited transfer on August 18, 1745, to the Department of Pskov.

According to the Synod's Report of June 18, 1744, the provinces of Kostroma and Galich had 786 churches, 27 monasteries and 8 nunneries.

With the transfer of Bishop Simon to Kostroma, Archimandrite Sylvester (Kulyabko) was appointed as the rector of the Kiev Theological Academy and consecrated Bishop of Kostroma and Galich in St. Petersburg on November 10, 1745. The new Bishop came under fire at the end of January 1746 and chose to settle in the Cathedral of Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery, which until 1918 was the official residence of the Kostroma Bishops.