For decades, St. Petersburg has been considered the cultural capital of the Russian Federation. And it's no accident. Here, for example, there is a huge amount of historical and archaeological sites, to which thousands of tourists from all over the country rush. They include one of the symbols of the city on the Neva - the temple of the Savior on Blood.
The History of the Savior on the Blood
The name of the church of the Savior on the Blood, or the Cathedral of the Ascension of Christ on Blood, was chosen in memory of the tragic events of March 1, 1881. As a result of the attempt by the terrorist-narodovoltsem II. Grinevitsky was killed by Emperor Alexander II. At the meeting of the City Duma it was decided to raise money from the whole state and build a church-monument to the Tsar. Initially, on the site of the death of the crown prince, the chapel was planned to be built, but incoming funds from all Russian provinces were sufficient for the erection of the temple. Alexander III announced a competition for the construction project, resulting in a jury selected project, created by Archimandrite Ignatius and architect Alfred Parland. The construction of the Church of the Savior on the Blood in St. Petersburg was carried out for 24 years from 1883 to 1907.
With the establishment of Soviet power in 1938, the cathedral was decided to dismantle. However, soon came the Great Patriotic War. With the blockade of Leningrad, the building was used as a morgue, and after the war the scenery of the Maly Opera Theater was kept here. However, since 1968 the cathedral fell under the jurisdiction of the State Inspection for the Protection of Monuments. Two years later it was decided to organize a branch of the museum "St. Isaac's Cathedral" in the building. For visitors the doors of the monument-museum were opened in 1997, and in 2004 they served the first after the closing of the Liturgy in 1938.
Architectural features of the Church of the Savior on the Blood
The architecturally magnificent cathedral was executed in the late interpretation of the Russian style, where samples of Russian Orthodox architecture of the 16th-17th centuries were used. And in fact, the Church of the Savior on the Blood, thanks to its brightness and motley, resembles the famous Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed in Moscow. The asymmetric shape of the building - the four-legged one - is stretched from east to west. The Cathedral of the Savior on the Blood is crowned with 9 chapters. Five domes of the Savior-on-the-Blood were covered with jewelry enamel, the rest - with gilding. The central tent 81 m high is decorated with a lantern and a head with an onion shaped cross on top. From the west to the building adjoins a two-tiered bell tower, from the east - three altar apses.
The richness of the exterior is achieved by multiple decorative elements: mosaic panels with a total area of 400 m & sup2., Tiles, kokoshniks, colored glazed tiles, elegant figured platbands, and mosaic coat of arms of Russian provinces and cities, 20 memorial plaques of granite describing the reforms of the murdered emperor.
The Spas-on-the-Blood looks exquisitely. Vaults, walls, domes and pylons made of marble, jasper, rhodonite are also decorated with luxurious mosaics on religious themes - just over 7 thousand m & sup2.
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Almost every icon of the Savior-on-the-Blood is a mosaic, not an exception and an iconostasis.
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In decorating the interior of the temple also used gems, semi-precious stones, tiles. Over the very place where Alexander II was killed and where the royal blood was spilled, a canopy was set up consisting of columns and a top with a topaz cross.
If you are interested in a museum-monument, then you can visit it any day of the week, except Wednesday. Opening hours of the "Savior on the Blood" - from 10.30 to 18.00. In the warm season (from early May to the end of September) there are evening tours from 6 pm to 10.30 pm. As for how to get to the "Spas-on-the-Blood" museum, please note that the nearest metro station is Nevsky Prospekt. You need access to the Griboedov Canal. Leaving the metro, you need to move towards the canal.