The cement-and-sand render did not let moisture escape and the brick beneath it decayed. The aim is to restore the bell tower for the diocese’s 300th anniversary.
The Epiphany Cathedral on the Lower Embankment is the second-oldest church in Irkutsk after the Church of the Saviour; its construction began in the 1720s. From 2022 to 2025 about 16 million roubles from the regional budget went on emergency work: the windows were replaced, the foundations and outer walls of the bell tower were strengthened and work was done on the façades. After the plaster was removed, the masonry was treated with biocides.
The damage was caused by Soviet-era cement-and-sand plaster. According to the specialist Alexei Doroshenko, it lacks the necessary vapour permeability, and the brick beneath it was crumbling to dust. Plastering, repair of the glazed tiles and strengthening of the masonry are planned for 2026, with high-strength mortars to be injected into the voids. About 13 million roubles are needed to finish; the diocese hopes to complete the bell tower for its 300th anniversary in 2027.
Source (in Russian): IrCity, 25 May 2026.
