The Epiphany Cathe­dral of Irkut­sk is one of the old­est reli­gious build­ings in East­ern Siberia and the Far East. The tem­ple was built almost togeth­er with the city, so the year of its con­struc­tion is con­sid­ered to be 1693. The church was wood­en and named Peter and Paul, in hon­or of the famous apos­tles. How­ev­er, a fire in 1716 destroyed the build­ing. Two years passed before the city res­i­dents decid­ed to build a new cathe­dral, but with stone walls. How­ev­er, due to a roy­al decree pro­hibit­ing the con­struc­tion of stone build­ings, con­struc­tion was post­poned until bet­ter times. The chapel in the name of the apos­tles Peter and Paul was built over six years using dona­tions from parish­ioners. Records from the church ledger indi­cate that work was still ongo­ing in 1727. A new side altar in hon­or of John the War­rior was con­se­crat­ed in 1729. In the same year, the con­struc­tion of the cathe­dral bell tow­er was com­plet­ed. The style in which the cathe­dral was built can be called Russ­ian clas­si­cism with ele­ments of Siber­ian baroque. Local res­i­dents often com­pare the appear­ance of the tem­ple with a fairy-tale gin­ger­bread manor. And it’s hard to dis­agree with this; there is some­thing from folk tales in the build­ing. The exte­ri­or dec­o­ra­tion of the cathe­dral was made of ceram­ic tiles.