The Cathedral of St. John Chrysostom is the first church of the city of Yalta. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783 Yalta was a small fishing village. According to information from 1800, it had 13 wooden houses and a military garrison, built by A.V.Suvorov in 1771godu.
In 1823, the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk region, which included Tavrida, Count M.S.Vorontsov began to create in these places rich resort area, a kind of Russian Riviera. In Yalta, the count gave away 200 dessiatinas of land, obliging its owners to engage in gardening, farming and construction. In order to make construction more successful and faster, on Count Vorontsov’s initiative, they began to lay a highway that connected the South Coast with Simferopol and then with Sevastopol.
The administration of the Tauride province paid special attention to the construction of new churches. In 1832 in the provincial board were developed by county architects projects of churches with the definition of estimates for their construction. However, Count Vorontsov did not approve them, considering them insufficient. As an experienced businessman, he realized that the development of the Southern coast of Crimea would require a lot of money, and they could be attracted only with the personal participation of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
Therefore, soon Count Vorontsov turned to the famous architect I. Toricelli, who worked in Odessa, with a proposal to develop designs for new churches. In 1833, the architect’s plans, facades and estimates were sent to Nicholas II for consideration and received the highest approval.
The bell tower of the Church of St. John Chrysostom on Polikurovsky Hill became the first stone building in Yalta. The solemn consecration of the cathedral in the name of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, took place in 1837. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Archbishop Gavriil of Kherson and Tauris. At the consecration of the church were present Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The next day, September 17, 1837, followed the highest decree on granting Yalta the status of a city.
The cathedral became a real decoration of the young Yalta. It was built of local buta stone, the walls were plastered and painted in light colors, the cathedral was crowned with four gilded domes.
Four doors led into the temple, 21 windows illuminated it. The height of the bell tower reached 45 meters above sea level, it was visible from everywhere in the city under construction.
Over time, a city cemetery sprang up around the temple, where many prominent personalities are buried. Among them rest the first architect of the southern coast — K.I.Eshliman, the founder of Russian cinematography — A.A.Khanzhonkov, the founder of climate treatment, poet — S.V.Rudansky and many others. Now there is a memorial necropolis here.
In 1883, the hero of the Crimean campaign, Baron Andrei Lvovich Wrangel proposed to expand the church, adding a side chapel in the name of his heavenly patron Saint Apostle Andrew. The new side-chapel was consecrated in October 1883 by Bishop Hermagen of Tauris and Simferopol. By that time the church needed repair: the domes began to collapse. In 1894, according to the project of city architect N.P.Krasnov (1864-1939) four former onion domes were dismantled and brought together in one tent dome of Byzantine style. Under the leadership of Krasnov were built parochial school, located on Tolstoy Street 10, and the chapel of St. Nicholas of Myra. Both buildings became part of the St. John Zlatoust parish community.
The rectors of the church were Archpriest Gregory Brukhovsky, Archpriest Alexander Ternovsky, Archpriest Dmitry Mikhailovich Kiranov, who was elevated to the countenance of saints in 2000. He became rector of the cathedral in 1928.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the church burned down, the charred walls were dismantled after the war. Only the bell tower, which became a «business card» Yalta, was preserved. It was used as a navigational sign, it is included in all the world’s pilots.
In 1994, with the blessing of Vladyka Lazar. Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea began work on fundraising, design and construction of the temple. Much of the work fell on the shoulders of the rector of the temple, Father Vladislav Schmidt. On the voluntary donations of Yalta residents and was restored the temple on the project A. Petrova, which she performed on the surviving drawings.
Believers brought a gift of family relics. The temple in the name of St. John Chrysostom was solemnly consecrated in 1998 on the day of memory of the saint. The Divine Liturgy was led by Archbishop Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea. To the festive ringing of bells joined the voice of the ancient split bell, found by parishioners and brought to the temple.