Day 16: St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the Kazan Cathedral

The next day, Jasper had to go to a follow-up appointment to look at his stitches, so we split up for the morning with a link-up point of the Alexander Column in front of the Winter Palace.  As it turned out, we both saw a separate cathedral on our way to the column – Dad and I saw the Kazan Cathedral, which is off Nevsky Prospekt, and they saw St. Isaac’s, which is next to the Admiralty.

St. Isaac’s is the iconic cathedral of St. Petersburg.  It’s high dome gives it a prominent place in the St. Petersburg skyline, reaching a height of roughly 330 feet.  The entrance fee is 300 rubles, with an additional fee if you want to see the view from the colonnade. 

The inside is elaborately decorated with icons, paintings, and more, including columns made of malachite and lazurite.  Orthodox churches do not have seats or pews for the congregation – they stand throughout the service.

Interior of St. Isaac’s, with the green malachite and blue lazarite columns flanking the entrance to the sanctuary.	The dome as seen from the inside.  At the very top of the dome is a dove, representing the Holy Spirit.

The view from the colonnade looking to the southeast.  Visible is an equestrian statue of Tsar Nicholas I and the Mariinsky Palace.  Between the statue and palace is the “Blue Bridge” (which is nearly 100 meters wide) and is claimed by the Russians to be the widest bridge in the world.  The Guinness Book doesn’t recognize the Blue Bridge, giving that title to the Port Mann Bridge (Canada) which is only 65 meters wide.

The view from the colonnade looking northeast towards the Winter Palace and Palace Square.  The overcast and drizzling weather was a nice taste of home for us as all five of us are from the state of Washington.

 

While Lance and his family were exploring the iconic church of St. Petersburg, Dad and I visited the slightly less iconic Kazan Cathedral.  Like most of the major churches in St. Petersburg, the Kazan Cathedral has a distinctly European look on the outside, with its columns on the outside resembling St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The Kazan Cathedral on a sunnier day.  The remodeling work has been ongoing since my last visit in 2011.

They had a service going on when we stopped by and we stayed for a few minutes to watch.   This cathedral became famous in Russia after the Napoleonic Wars as Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov is buried here.  Kutuzov led the Russian army against Napoleon in 1812, inflicting heavy casualties on the French at the Battle of Borodino and driving Napoleon out of Russia by the end of the year.

A monument to Marshal Kutuzov in front of the Kazan Cathedral.	Kutuzov’s remains, located inside the church.

The inside of the Kazan Cathedral.	A photo from my previous trip – for the average tourist, the Kazan Cathedral is like a less grand, but free, version of St. Isaac’s (without the malachite).

Following our church excursions, we linked up at the Alexander Column to embark for the palace of Peterhof!