Tank battle on Kursk. Tank battles
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood - this is the full name of this temple - in its execution is a little reminiscent of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. In addition, the Moscow Trinity churches in Ostankino and Nikitki, as well as the Yaroslavl churches of St. John the Baptist in Tolchkovo and St. John Chrysostom in Korovniki, became prototypes for it. However, the differences between it and the named religious buildings are obvious. The Savior on Spilled Blood is not only architectural, but also artistic characteristics is completely unique and original.
The quadrangular building, crowned by five large and four smaller domes, three rounded apses with golden domes on the eastern side and kokoshnik pediments decorating the northern and southern facades, make this monumental Orthodox shrine recognizable throughout the world. No less impressive is the height of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which is 81 meters, and its capacity - up to 1,600 people can be inside at the same time.
Some tourists, especially those who come to St. Petersburg and Russia for the first time, do not even realize that the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected over the place where real blood was actually shed more than 135 years ago. Terrible event What happened then predetermined the appearance of a memorial single-altar church here, which became a symbol of the repentance of the entire people for the act committed by a bunch of adventurers. The mere fact that funds for construction were collected throughout Russia speaks for itself.
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood is a striking monument of Russian architecture, in which they found their embodiment the best traditions Russian architectural style. Currently, it is a museum, an acquaintance with which is invariably included in excursion programs around the Northern capital.
Background of construction
The second half of the 19th century turned out to be very difficult for Russia. On the one hand, the state was weakened by participation in the Crimean War and the difficult economic situation, on the other hand, large-scale transformations took place, at the origins of which stood Emperor Alexander II. It's about, first of all, about the abolition of serfdom in 1861, which became a powerful impetus for the further development of the country. Having freed 23 million peasants from the slavery of the landowners, he received the noble nickname “Tsar Liberator” among the people and went down in history.
At the same time, the reforms carried out by the sovereign - zemstvo, judicial, military, education and a number of others - although they brought generally positive changes, there were mistakes in their implementation, which provoked a strengthening of the revolutionary movement. Part of the population was dissatisfied with the innovations, and the radicals took advantage of this and entered into the fight against the autocracy - which they considered the main evil. At the end of the 70s, the organization " People's will”, which used terror in its methods of struggle. They set out to kill the Tsar and a number of representatives of the country's top leadership, believing that their elimination would set in motion the masses who would overthrow the autocracy and the huge empire would become a republic.
Having declared such intentions, they immediately began to implement their plans, passing a death sentence on Alexander II and starting a real hunt for the autocrat. Several assassination attempts were organized on him, which followed one after another. The terrorist attacks were not successful, but many innocent people died in their execution. In response, the authorities were forced to intensify repression against the “People's Will” and even make some concessions. However, this only seemed to inflame the regicides. And on March 1, 1881, they staged another attempt on the Tsar’s life, which became the last.
The brutal terrorist attack was carefully prepared, which is why it achieved its goal this time. This happened at the moment when the emperor, returning from a military parade in the Mikhailovsky Manege, was driving in his carriage along the embankment of the Catherine Canal: the revolutionary N. Rusakov threw a bomb at it. Several people from his retinue were seriously injured, including fatally, but the king remained alive and refused to immediately leave the scene of the assassination attempt. One of the accompanying bodyguards, with the help of the crowd, tied up the attacker, another ran up to report that the villain had already been caught. “Thank God, I survived, but here...” said the emperor, pointing to the wounded moaning on the pavement. At that moment, a second bomb flew under his feet, thrown by another terrorist who was waiting in the wings, I. Grinevitsky...
When the gunpowder smoke cleared, the people, struck by horror, saw a bloody body stretched out on the ground. “Hurry up... in the palace... to die there,” whispered the wounded man to Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich bending over him. These were his last words, and at 16:35, already in the Winter Palace, the emperor died. The son of the deceased, Alexander III, decided to perpetuate the memory of his father with a temple at the site of his villainous murder. Construction, which dragged on for almost 25 years, was carried out according to the design of the architect Parland and the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius.
The complete regicide shocked the entire country. The expectations of “Narodnaya Volya” that the people would then come out to overthrow the autocracy were not justified. People, on the contrary, sought to get to the scene of the terrorist attack to pray for the soul of the emperor and those killed among those accompanying him. The believers were especially indignant when they saw tragic death the emperor is an echo of the gospel events. Then, in biblical times, Jesus Christ died on the cross, atoning for the sins of all mankind, and Tsar Alexander Nikolaevich, like him, was killed for the sins of the Russian people, so it is not surprising that the idea of perpetuating the memory of the martyr was born by itself.
This desire has reached all segments of the population, including the poorest. And so, a few years later, on the spot where the emperor was mortally wounded, his son and successor Alexander III ordered the construction of a memorial temple, a temple of repentance. Its construction, which lasted 24 years, continued the long tradition of erecting places of worship to commemorate important historical events or in memory of the dead. By issuing a corresponding decree, the emperor supported the decision of the St. Petersburg City Duma. True, the deputies proposed building a chapel at the site of the Tsar’s wound. The emperor considered that a real temple should stand in this place.
However, the construction of a full-fledged religious building was neither easy nor quick, and I did not want to waste time. At the site of the death of the emperor, it was decided to first install a wooden tent chapel, which was built by the architect L.N. Benois at the expense of the merchant I.F. Gromov. On April 17, 1881, Alexander II, had he been alive, would have turned 63 years old, and his birthday was chosen as the date for the consecration of this chapel.
A memorial service for the repose of the soul of Tsar Alexander Nikolaevich was performed here every day. Part of the pavement and a small section of the embankment fence, on which traces of the emperor’s blood remained, were all very clearly visible through the glass doors of the chapel. Two years later, it was moved to Konyushennaya Square and subsequently dismantled, and in its place the construction of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood began.
How the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood was built
The start of work was preceded by the holding of two competitions for best project. The first 26 of them were ready on December 31, 1881. Many architects of that time presented their vision of the future memorial temple, such as I. S. Bogomolov, A. L. Gun, I. S. Kitner, the already mentioned L. N. Benois and a number of others. A special commission selected 8 projects that it considered the most successful, recognizing the best work by A. I. Tomishko, made in the Russian-Byzantine style and called “Father of the Fatherland.”
The winning projects, of course, were demonstrated to the current sovereign, but he did not like any of them. Alexander III wanted to see in the future temple the features of truly Russian architecture, inherent in churches of the 17th century, especially in Yaroslavl. And the actual place where the king was mortally wounded was to be decorated as a separate chapel.
The second competition, the results of which were summed up on April 28, 1882, also did not reveal a final winner. 31 projects were already presented at it, their authors were many famous architects- for example, R. P. Kuzmin, N. V. Sultanov, R. A. Gedike, A. I. Rezanov, A. L. Ober, A. N. Benois and others. Alexander III was forced to reject them too, since not a single work corresponded to his vision of the future cathedral.
And so, after some time, a project finally appeared that, although not completely, still satisfied the demanding tastes of the sovereign. Its developers were the architect Alfred Parland and the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev). The Emperor imposed his highest resolution on it on July 29, 1883 and ordered the authors to finalize their research, and on May 1, 1887 it was finally approved.
The Savior on Blood in the evening illuminationThe first stone for the foundation of the temple, however, was laid back in October 1883. A special commission was formed for the construction of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which was headed by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, younger son dead king. The commission included architects R.B. Bernhard, D.I. Grimm, A.I. Zhiber, R.A. Gödike, who made adjustments to the project as the work progressed. I.V. Storm played a significant role in improving the cathedral: thanks to his proposals, the overall composition of the temple only benefited.
If it were not for the mosaic work, which was not progressing as quickly as we would have liked, the consecration of the Savior on Spilled Blood could have happened ten years earlier. And now this long-awaited and blessed day has come: on August 6 (19), 1907, on the day of the Orthodox holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) performed the consecration ceremony. It was furnished very solemnly, with the participation of Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family. Less than a year later, in April 1908, the same Metropolitan Anthony consecrated the Iveron chapel-sacristy, which stood next to the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood. The sacristy was a repository of icons that were ever presented in memory of tragic death Alexandra II.
The Savior on Spilled Blood was built using the latest technologies for those years, so it can rightfully be called one of the most modern buildings of the early 20th century. Furthermore, it was even fully electrified, something that even many important government institutions could not dream of. 1689 lamps illuminated the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood from the inside, which was simply unthinkable at that time! As for the cost of the entire construction, it is estimated at a rather impressive amount - 4.6 million rubles. The cathedral in memory of the murdered Tsar-Liberator was the second religious building in St. Petersburg after St. Isaac's Cathedral, which, being under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was entirely supported by the state.
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood differed from other churches in that it was not planned for mass visits. Parishioners could only enter it with passes. Some of the services held there were dedicated to the memory of Alexander II, who died at the hands of terrorists. Professor P. I. Leporsky was appointed rector of the cathedral in September 1907.
After October revolution In 1917, the Bolshevik government stopped allocating funds for the maintenance of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. As a result, the rector had no choice but to turn to the people of Petrograd with a request to support the cathedral in these difficult times and, if possible, financially, contributing feasible amounts for its maintenance.
At the end of 1919, city authorities decided to organize a parish at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood. Peter Leporsky actively objected to this, rightly noting that he had never been a parish. But the Petrograd Soviet did not give up on its goal, and already on January 11, 1920, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was transferred to the so-called “twenty,” that is, to the newly formed parish. In 1922-1923, the management of the cathedral was carried out by the Petrograd autocephaly under the leadership of Nikolai (Yaroshevich), Bishop of Peterhof.
After the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergei (Stragorodsky), issued a “declaration” declaring unconditional loyalty to the communist regime, Savior on Spilled Blood became the center of an opposition movement in the Russian Orthodox Church known as Josephiteism. His followers did not support the line of cooperation with the Bolsheviks. And the matter did not rest with the latter: on October 30, 1930, according to the resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the temple was closed.
A year later, the commission of the Leningrad Regional Council on Issues of Cults made the case that it was advisable to dismantle the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood, but they decided to postpone the implementation of this task indefinitely. In 1938, the authorities again returned to the issue of the need to demolish the temple, and they had already resolved it positively, but then the Great Patriotic War began, which distracted the city authorities to solve more important problems. Thus, during the siege, the cathedral premises were used as a morgue for Leningraders who died from hunger, cold and wounds. After 1945, scenery for performances was stored in the former church, which by that time was rented by the Maly Theater.
At the end of the 60s, the Savior on Spilled Blood was taken under state security. In July 1970, it was decided to organize a branch of the St. Isaac's Cathedral Museum there, which became a salvation for this monumental structure from final oblivion: after all, it was in disrepair and needed urgent restoration. Work began in the early 80s, the first stage of which was completed only in 1997. At the same time, the memorial museum-monument “Savior on Spilled Blood” opened its doors to visitors, this happened exactly 90 years after its consecration.
On May 23, 2004, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir (Kotlyarov) celebrated a solemn liturgy at the Savior on Spilled Blood - the first after a long break that stretched over more than seven decades. Ten years later, the parish of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood received official registration.
Video: Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in winter
Architectural features of the temple
Despite the fact that the Savior on Spilled Blood was built as a memorial church in honor of the murdered emperor, its appearance is rather festive and bright. The temple is decorated with numerous figured platbands, kokoshniks, tiles, and multi-colored tiles. At the heart of the religious building is a compact quadrangle, topped with five chapters, covered with four-color jewelry enamel. In total, there are nine of them in the temple, as mentioned above, and it is they who create that unique asymmetry that makes the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood one of the most recognizable on the banks of the Neva and in Russia.
The role of the central chapter is assigned to an 81-meter tent, at the base of which, on the wall, there are 8 oblong windows. Their platbands are made in the form of kokoshniks. The tent, which is narrowed at the top, is crowned by a lantern with a bulbous dome with a cross. It is covered with white, green and yellow enamel in the form of stripes that seem to wrap around it. Another element that gives the building recognition is the bell tower topped with a dome, located in the southwestern part. It bears a certain resemblance to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Moscow Kremlin.
It is difficult to name materials that would not be used in the decor of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood: this includes ordinary brick, granite, marble, and enamel, not to mention copper with gilding and mosaics. The walls, towers and domes are covered with magnificent patterns. Against the background of decorative red brick, white arches, arcades and the aforementioned kokoshnik pediments look surprisingly harmonious. Mosaics play a special role inside the temple, occupying an area of 7065 square meters. meters, and this exhibition is one of the largest on the entire continent. It is not surprising that the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is called the “Museum of Mosaics”. All this splendor was created in the workshop of V. A. Frolov based on sketches large number artists - Vasnetsov, Koshelev, Parland, Nesterov and others. Mosaic panels with gospel scenes almost completely cover the walls, pylons, and ceilings. This is a stunning sight that will impress anyone, so we definitely advise you to go inside.
The floor, lined with colorful patterns of marble slabs, is in amazing harmony with the mosaic decoration of the temple. The carved iconostasis is also made of Italian marble. In general, more than 20 types of different minerals were used in the design of the building ( different types marble, Ural and Altai jasper, porphyry, orlets, etc.).
The place where Emperor Alexander II was mortally woundedThe main place in the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is a fragment of the Catherine Canal, which includes a cobblestone pavement, paving slabs and part of a lattice - it is highlighted by a tent-like canopy made of jasper, carved by domestic stone-cutters. This fragment has remained untouched since those tragic and memorable times when Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded here. At this place, a “Crucifix with those present” was installed, made of marble and granite. There are always red carnations there. On the sides of this unique cross there are icons with images of saints.
The external appearance of the temple and its interior decoration, generally speaking, are thought out and executed in such a way as to emphasize even in the smallest details its monumentality, subordination to one main task - to perpetuate the repentance and memory of the Russian people about the innocently murdered Tsar-Liberator.
Thus, above the semicircular window of one of the bell towers of the Savior on Spilled Blood there is a mosaic icon depicting the heavenly patron of the emperor - St. Alexander Nevsky. In kokoshniks we see images of the heavenly patrons of other members of the imperial family. In the niches of the false arcade (they are located in the lower part of the walls of the facade) there are two dozen boards on which are carved the main transformations associated with the reign of the deceased. Moreover, the boards are not wooden, but made of red granite.
People kept coming and coming to the fragment of the embankment where terrorists mortally wounded the emperor. They offer prayers here for the repose of his soul. Funeral services are still held near this tragic place.
Working hours
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood is open daily, except Wednesdays, from 10:30 to 18:00. In high tourist season, namely from May 1 to September 30, this temple, like many other attractions of St. Petersburg, is open to visitors until late: it is open until 22:30. The ticket office closes at 22:00.
Ticket prices
The price of one adult ticket to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in 2016 was 250 rubles. Children and youth aged 7-18 years, as well as university students, graduate students, military cadets educational institutions paid 50 rubles for a ticket. The same cost was established for pensioners from among the citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. Please note: to purchase a ticket at a reduced price, a pensioner must present not his ID, but his passport.
Order an audio guide in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian will cost 100 rubles.
Artists paint the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
How to get there
The closest metro station to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is Nevsky Prospekt. Upon exiting, on the right side of the former Catherine Canal (next to Konyushennaya Square and Mikhailovsky Garden, not far from the Field of Mars), you will see this monumental temple, built on the site of one of the most notorious political murders of the century before last.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
On the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal - in the very heart of St. Petersburg, a temple of extraordinary beauty rises, shining with gold domes, with colorful domes on the turrets. Even inclement weather gray days, so frequent for the Northern capital, are unable to dim its bright chord.
Disregarding the conventions of urban planning, it breaks the clear boundaries of the embankment and hangs over the water surface against the backdrop of austere classical buildings. As if descended from heaven, an intricate and elegant Russian tower stands on Russian soil.
Historical reference
The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, or as the people call it - the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, was erected in memory of Emperor Alexander II, who was mortally wounded on this site at the hands of terrorists on March 1, 1881.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood from a bird's eye view.
Alexander II entered Russian history as a reformer and liberator. Ascending the throne of a country with a collapsed economy, weakened Crimean War, he was forced to carry out reforms in all areas, from the abolition of serfdom to the zemstvo, military, judicial, public education reforms. By placing a heavy burden on the shoulders of citizens, progressive and inherently necessary changes created a great power, raised the international prestige of Russia, and at the same time caused discontent in all segments of the population.
It is no coincidence that this period is characterized by the strengthening of the revolutionary movement. Considering autocracy the main evil for Russia, and believing that the murder of the Tsar would help to overthrow the power of the monarchy and establish republican rule, members of the small but active organization “People's Will” chose terror as the main method of struggle. A real “royal hunt” began, assassination attempts followed one after another, repressions intensified, concessions were offered, gendarmes were knocked down, but nothing could stop the Narodnaya Volya.
The execution of a carefully prepared terrorist attack that had a number of backup options was accelerated by the arrest of the organization’s leader, A.I. Zhelyabov. The emperor's carriage, returning after changing the guards from the Manege on Sundays, always drove at high speed, but slowed down when turning onto the Catherine (Griboyedov) Canal. The conspirators took advantage of this circumstance. At a signal from Sofia Perovskaya, who was directing the operation from the opposite side of the canal, the first bomb was thrown by revolutionary N. Rysakov.
The emperor was not injured from the explosion; he got out of the carriage to give orders to help the wounded. Then the second Narodnaya Volya member, I. Grinevitsky, appeared from cover and threw a shell right at his feet. Both of them were thrown back to the fence by the blast wave and fell onto the stones of the pavement. The emperor, bleeding, was transported to the palace on a sleigh. The wound turned out to be fatal. Grinevitsky, without regaining consciousness, also died from his wounds in the hospital that evening. The remaining participants were arrested, five leaders were hanged by court decision a month after the events, others were sentenced to eternal hard labor.
At the site of the tragedy, on the initiative of the City Duma, a chapel was soon installed, which stood until the construction of the cathedral began in 1883, since the new Emperor Alexander III wanted to perpetuate the memory of his father by building a temple. A competition was announced. Most of the competition projects carried out by the best St. Petersburg architects represented the Byzantine style.
The Emperor rejected them all.
He stated two conditions that must be met: the temple must be built in the Russian style of the 17th century and the place where the august blood was shed must be designated as a separate area inside the church.
According to the monarch's plan, the building was supposed to serve as a metaphor for the introduction of St. Petersburg to Old Moscow Rus' - to the era when the first Romanovs ascended the throne. The new temple was conceived not only as memorial monument Alexander II, but was supposed to symbolize the Russian autocracy as a whole.
The project submitted to the second round of the competition from two authors received the highest approval. One of them is Archimandrite Ignatius (I.V. Malyshev), who studied at . To develop the project, he turned to the architect A. A. Parland, whom he knew well from his joint work on the construction of a church in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (monastery), of which he was the rector. After modifications that significantly changed the appearance of the temple, the final version was approved in 1887. Construction work began much earlier.
Archimandrite Ignatius also had the idea to consecrate the temple in the name of the Resurrection of Christ. The dedication carried a deep meaning of overcoming death and drew a parallel between the death of Alexander II and the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. This interpretation explains why the temple, erected on the site of tragic events in memory of the murdered emperor, has a bright, festive look.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
This was best expressed in the poem “March 1, 1881” by the wonderful Russian poet A. A. Fet, describing Christ on Calvary:
“...He is the cross and his crown of thorns
He gave it to the earthly king.
The machinations of Pharisaism are powerless:
What was blood became a temple,
And the place of terrible crime -
An eternal shrine to us."
Architecture of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ
The architecture of the Orthodox single-throne cathedral belongs to the late stage of the “Russian style” late XIX century. It has absorbed the best from the arsenal of architecture of pre-Petrine Rus' and is very reminiscent of the Moscow St. Basil's Cathedral - one of the symbols of Russia.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
At the same time, the architect A. A. Parland created an original composition based on a quadrangle topped with a five-domed structure. The technique of covering five patterned chapters with enamel and its recipe have no analogues. This unique work was performed at the Postnikov factory. The massive dome of the bell tower and three small onions above the altar apses sparkle with gold.
In order for the place stained with blood to be inside the cathedral, the embankment had to be completed. The temple extends beyond its boundaries into the depths of the canal by 8 meters.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Griboyedov Canal.
For the first time, a building in St. Petersburg is not being built on stilts. A concrete foundation was laid under the powerful Putilov slab of the cathedral’s foundation. But this is not the only technical innovation. Were installed here steam boilers and heaters, lightning protection, the cathedral was illuminated by more than one and a half thousand electric lamps. Red brick, granite and marble were used in the exterior decoration, different kinds semiprecious stones.
The bell tower rises directly above the site of the tragedy and its decoration repeatedly reveals the memorial nature of the structure. A high cross on a golden dome is crowned with an imperial crown, a mosaic icon of Alexander Nevsky, patron of Alexander II, is located above the window, faces can be seen in the kokoshniks of other windows heavenly angels Romanov family. The chronicle telling about the deeds of the reformer king is carved on twenty red granite boards. Above the entrances are double-headed eagles and mosaic panels “The Passion of Christ” based on sketches by V. M. Vasnetsov.
Shocked by the death of the emperor, citizens throughout the country raised funds for the construction of a monument temple. This fact is reflected in the images of the coats of arms of cities and provinces, covering bottom part facade.
The main shrine of the cathedral is a kind of relic - a section of cobblestone pavement with granite slabs of the sidewalk and a fragment of the grating of the Catherine Canal, where Emperor Alexander II died. Above them is a building of extraordinary beauty. A canopy with a cross strewn with topazes rises on columns made of purple Altai jasper. According to established tradition, memorial services are held near the memorial site.
The unique interior of the cathedral is created by a combination of stone and mosaic decoration and amazes with its splendor. The temple vaults are covered with a continuous mosaic carpet, the area of which exceeds 7 thousand square meters. meters. Paintings on evangelical subjects represent a real museum of mosaics. The central place is given to the icons “The Savior” and “The Virgin and Child” based on sketches by V. M. Vasnetsov.
Picturesque sketches of sacred images and ornaments were created by 32 artists, with a range of creative styles from the canons of academicism to modernist style, among them V. M. Vasnetsov, N. N. Kharlamov, M. V. Nesterov, A. P. Ryabushkin. Most of the mosaics were completed by Frolov’s private workshop, which used the “reverse” typing technique, which is excellent for large-scale compositions. The prototype of such a letter was the frescoes of Yaroslavl churches of the 17th century. The creation of the temple mosaic marked new stage in Russian mosaic art.
Interior of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg.
A masterpiece of stone-cutting skill is a single-tier iconostasis, made according to a drawing by A. A. Parland from Italian marble by the Nuovi company. Subtle transitions of dark red color to a light tone create lightness, and the masterly carving amazes with its variety. The floor of the temple, with an area of 600 square meters, is laid out with a beautiful colored pattern of marble tiles, manufactured by the same company according to the architect’s drawing, but it was assembled on site by Russian craftsmen.
Interesting facts, fiction and legends
The history of the temple, one of the ten best attractions in the world, is filled with interesting facts with a touch of mysticism, which attracts tourists no less than the splendor of its architectural merits. Here are just a few that we think are most significant:
- The proportions of the temple are symbolic: the highest dome is 81 m, the height of the bell tower is 62.5 m, which corresponds to the date of death (1881) and the age of Alexander II (died at the age of 63).
- Since the 30s, a belief has developed about the indestructibility of the temple. Many times it was planned to demolish it, but the execution of the decision was postponed. They planned to blow it up in the summer of 1941; they say that they had already drilled through the walls and laid explosives, but the war prevented the plan from being carried out - the bombers were called to the front.
- During the war, a German landmine weighing one and a half centners hit the dome of the bell tower, but did not explode. It was discovered by accident in the 60s. During the operation, the shell was recovered and neutralized in the Pulkovo Heights area. Sappers led by Viktor Demidov risked their lives saving the temple. No harm done.
- There was a rumor among the people that the temple was “bewitched”, and it was protected by the symbols of “crosses in a circle” decorating the kokoshniks of the windows, that this was an ancient protective sign. And, indeed, the decree on the demolition of the cathedral, which interfered with the construction of a transport highway during the reign of N.S. Khrushchev, was miraculously canceled. The temple survived again!
- Finally, it was transferred as a branch to the state museum “St. Isaac’s Cathedral” and in 1970 they began reconstruction and “put on” scaffolding. Years passed. The temple continued to stand in the “forests”. At the end of the 80s they began to say (a joke or a prophecy) that when the scaffolding was removed from the temple, Soviet power would fall. The scaffolding was dismantled in the summer of 1991...
- There is a legend that the city residents hid the crosses from the domes of the cathedral from the Bolsheviks at the bottom of the canal, and when restoration began, they reported it. A team of divers raised the relics, and they returned to their places.
Upon completion of restoration work in 1997, the temple was again opened to visitors, and in 2004 a liturgy was served in it, which restored the Orthodox essence.
Today, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg, a functioning temple and at the same time a museum where thematic excursions. The building of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is an object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Where is it and how to get there
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is located in the historical center of St. Petersburg, not far from Nevsky Prospekt.
Address: Griboyedov Canal Embankment, 2 B, adjacent to the Mikhailovsky Garden.
From the Nevsky Prospekt metro station you can walk along the Griboyedov Canal - a distance of about 700 meters.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg
What is the Savior on Spilled Blood? These are two different churches - in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Read about the church and temple, their history and interior, opening hours, address of the Savior on Spilled Blood
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg and Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in Yekaterinburg - opening hours, address
What is the Savior on Spilled Blood? This is one of the most beautiful and the most unusual temples Russia. Bright, thanks to its mosaics and tiles, the temple is located in the very center of St. Petersburg and attracts many tourists from all over the world.
The temple has great historical and aesthetic value. Its history is the history of several eras, its walls have seen revolution and blockade, during the Soviet regime they wanted to demolish it, and during the war a morgue was placed in it... The delight of millions of people from all over the world testifies: there is no such temple anywhere on Earth.
Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood
The Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood in the Northern capital was built as a temple-monument at the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II. The tragedy occurred in 1881 on March 1 (new style - 13). Before this, about a dozen attempts were made on the king’s life. On that day, Tsar Alexander II left Winter Palace to host a military parade on the Champ de Mars. However, on the Griboyedov Canal - a place quite close to the Champs of Mars - the tsar was moved by the terrorist-People's Volunteer Grinevitsky.
Despite great love, which the emperor enjoyed among the people, for reforms unprecedented in the history of Russia, the abolition of serfdom, it was the “People's Will” who hunted the emperor - socialists who consider themselves exponents of the will of the people. Obviously, they did not like the popularity of the emperor: after all, it would be easier to fight against a tyrant with slogans.
The assassination attempt was led by Sofya Perovskaya. The first bomb thrown at the emperor's carriage killed and seriously wounded the Cossacks of the convoy and little boy. The emperor, only slightly scratched, went out to provide first aid to the wounded and especially the child, despite the fact that those accompanying him persuaded him to leave as soon as possible. dangerous place. The tsar's mercy was an empty phrase for the murderous revolutionaries: Grinevitsky openly approached the emperor and threw a bomb right at his feet. The same Perovskaya, seemingly out of female mercy, did not even approach the child, but disappeared after Grinevitsky was captured.
The emperor was mortally wounded in the stomach. In terrible agony, he died that same day in his bedroom in the Winter Palace.
By order of the son of Alexander the Second, Tsar Alexander III, a chapel was founded at the site of the emperor’s mortal wound.
History of the Savior on Spilled Blood
It is interesting that the decision to erect a temple was not made immediately. Knowing about people's love to the operator, Tsar Alexander the Third proposed to raise funds for the frame by the whole world - general collection for temple-monuments in honor of various events is a long-standing Russian tradition. The chapel was built, it has survived to this day, but so much money was raised that it was decided to build a large temple next to it.
The Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was built with funds not only from residents Russian Empire, but also at the expense of residents of other Slavic countries, grateful to the assassinated Alexander II for his peacekeeping policy. During construction, the emblems of provinces, cities and counties were added to the bell tower project, whose residents donated their savings to the construction of the temple. These coats of arms are interesting to consider today: they are made of mosaics, have survived to this day, and many are still the coats of arms of the same cities (for example, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Rybinsk have retained their coats of arms...) Initially, the cross of the bell tower stood on a gilded imperial crown as a sign of grief the august family. The total cost of the completed construction project was 4.6 million rubles.
The temple project was also selected through an architectural competition in which best architects countries. However, the competition had to be held three times: Alexander the Third, famous strong character and asserting one’s own point of view, did not like the projects. Finally, the tsar personally chose a suitable project by Alfred Parland and Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev). Father Ignatius was the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg, a disciple of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), perhaps because the temple truly bears the reflection of holiness. It is not just aesthetically beautiful, it evokes not only a feeling of solemnity or celebration, but even outwardly lifts a person’s spirit and evokes the desire to pray.
Name of the Savior on Spilled Blood
It is interesting that despite the rather secular mentality in St. Petersburg at that time, the popular name “Savior on Spilled Blood” was assigned to the temple, following the example of ancient, for example, Novgorod and Vladimir churches - “Intercession on the Nerl”, “Savior on the City”, “Savior on the City”, etc. Ilyina street."
The real, official name of the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood is the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. It is called a cathedral, a temple, and a church. The concept of “temple” means the seat of God, the house of God - that is, a building. The concept of “Church” is quite broad: it is both a building (in this meaning of the word church and temple - one and the same!), and a meeting of all believers.
A cathedral was originally the main temple of a city or monastery. Nowadays such a cathedral is called “cathedral”, and the word “cathedral” simply means a large temple, which is the Savior on Spilled Blood.
Construction of the Savior on Spilled Blood
The temple was founded already in 1883, despite the fact that the construction project had not yet been approved. An important task of the builders was to consolidate the soil: the chapel could have fit on the shore, but for a large cathedral it was necessary to fill the soil and create obstacles to its erosion. The foundation of the temple had to be strong, and the most advanced technologies of that time were used to strengthen it.
The foundation piles of the temple were defended for five years. The actual walls of the cathedral began to be built in 1888. On the façade, gray granite was provided for the lower part of the walls, the walls themselves were made of red-brown brick, the window rods, platbands and cornices were made of dark gray marble.
At the lower level of the façade - the plinth - twenty granite boards were placed, on which the main reform decrees were engraved in gilded letters and the achievements of Tsar Alexander II in the internal and external spheres were listed. international politics. The cathedral vault was closed by 1894. In 1897, nine domes of the cathedral were already ready, some of which were covered with multi-colored bright enamel, some were gilded. On all the domes there are Orthodox crosses with chains.
Facade and description of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
There are ten domes on the roof of the temple. Eight domes are located throughout the volume of the temple, one on the tent and one large gilded onion crowns the bell tower, built in the main volume of the temple, actually above the place of the assassination (murder) of Tsar Alexander II.
Symbolism of nine domes - nine ranks Heavenly Powers. There are nine types Heavenly creatures, light spirits. They have three faces (levels of hierarchy). The most well-known and accepted by the Church is the following classification, developed on the basis of the books of the Old and New Testaments by Saints Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory the Theologian:
- Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones - they are very close to God, they accompany Him, as if they were guards (although He does not need protection), courtiers who glorify Him.
- Dominance, Strength, Authority (transmitting information to God that helps in managing the Universe).
- Beginnings, Archangels and Angels.
Along the volume of the temple there are onion domes with crosses, not symmetrically, but very picturesquely surrounding the tent with the ninth dome. The tent stands on a “pillar” - a circular structure extending into the sky.
The domes are bulbous in shape and vary in design. Many onions have glazed tiles, which is why the domes are so bright. The temple has a common base, stands on a basement (ground basement) and is combined into a common structure.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow
Many cannot distinguish between the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Architectural historians have more than once noted stylistic references in the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood to the Moscow Cathedral, which is quite natural.
However, the St. Petersburg church is very original. It has a prominent bell tower, topped with a wide gilded onion dome. In plan, the Savior on Blood is a quadrangular building, and St. Basil's Cathedral has an ancient pillar-shaped structure of the main aisle of the Intercession, crowned with a bell tower, and eight aisles surrounding the main one.
The southern and northern facades of the Savior on Spilled Blood, in contrast to the Intercession Cathedral, are marked by large pediments in the form of kokoshniks. The altar is highlighted by three semicircular apses, in the style of ancient Russian churches, crowned with golden domes. In the west, as we said, above the place where the emperor was killed, stands unusual shape Bell tower. Usually in ancient Russian churches there is a tented bell tower.
All the walls of the temple, its tent and bell tower are covered with beautiful mosaic and enamel compositions. The white arches of the bell tower, the “kokoshniks” on the roof and the window casings are especially clearly visible against the background of red brick, which also has a decorative function.
Mosaic and icons of the Savior on Spilled Blood
The entire area of mosaics in the interior and exterior of the temple is more than six thousand square meters! The temple is truly beautiful both outside and inside. Its interior walls are entirely decorated, like fresco paintings, with mosaics. In fact, this is an ancient Byzantine tradition of mosaic covering. On the territory of the former Byzantine Empire, in Italy, Greece, and Turkey, a number of temples have been preserved, completely lined with mosaics on the inside. And the Savior on Spilled Blood is not inferior in beauty to churches, for example, in Ravenna. We can say that in our time no temple similar to the Savior on Spilled Blood was created in modern times. This temple was uniquely created entirely in the style of icon painting and Art Nouveau architecture (more precisely, the neo-Russian style), that is, the modern style.
Mosaic icons were laid out in St. Petersburg workshops according to drawings famous artists of that time: Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov, the architect Parland himself, the masters Novoskoltsev Koshelev, Kharlamov, Ryabushkin, Belyaev.
The kokoshnik pediments we mentioned are decorated with large mosaic icons, which have simply miraculously survived to this day through the persecution of the Church and the St. Petersburg bad weather. On the northern wall, facing the Campus Martius, there is an icon of the “Resurrection of Christ”, on the southern wall - “Christ in Glory”, that is, the Lord on the throne with bowing Angels. On the western and eastern walls there are also small mosaic icons of “The Savior Not Made by Hands” and “The Blessing Savior”.
The most important memorial site of the temple is a fragment of the Catherine Canal with paving slabs, part of the cobblestone street and the grating of the canal, where the emperor was mortally wounded. On the outside, this place is marked by the Calvary cross made of marble and granite with the image of the Crucifixion of Christ, which, according to Russian tradition, is placed on tragically memorable places. Saints are depicted at the Crucifixion. To keep the place where the emperor was killed intact, they changed the shape of the embankment, shifting the channel bed by 8.5 meters using an embankment for the foundation of the temple.
The Savior on Spilled Blood in the history of St. Petersburg - Leningrad
The cathedral was consecrated with a great ceremony in the presence of imperial family only in 1908. By that time, Alexander III had already died, and Emperor Nicholas II, the future passion-bearer king, was on the throne. The temple became a temple-museum, a kind of monument to Emperor Alexander II, the only one of its kind.
In 1923, with the closure of other large St. Petersburg cathedrals, the Savior on Spilled Blood even received cathedral status. In 1930 it was also closed and given to the Society of Political Prisoners. The temple was either empty or used as a vegetable storage facility. To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War They were already planning to destroy the temple - like, by the way, St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow - but the explosion of the monument-cathedral was prevented by the outbreak of war.
Another terrible historical fact: during the siege of Leningrad, the temple building was used... as a morgue. Then the Maly Opera and Ballet Theater named after Mussorgsky had space here for a warehouse for decorations.
All these historical vicissitudes had a terrible impact on the external decoration and interior of the temple. The iconostasis was destroyed, the mosaic fell off, and the walls made of semi-precious stones were partially knocked down. Only in 1968 the temple was given under the protection of the State Inspectorate, and in 1970 it was made a branch of St. Isaac's Cathedral, recognizing it as an architectural monument. On long years The Savior on Spilled Blood was hidden under the scaffolding, becoming one of the restored places memorable to St. Petersburg residents. But the long-awaited opening of the temple-museum in 1997 attracted many St. Petersburg residents and city guests to it.
This temple is also sometimes called the Savior on Spilled Blood, since it stands on the site of the murder of the Royal Romanov Family - the grandchildren of Emperor Alexander II, Nicholas II, with his wife, children and servants. They were shot on July 17, 1918 on the orders of Lenin and Sverdlov. All of them, together with the family doctor, faithful Evgeniy Botkin, are today canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Royal Family
In Yekaterinburg, in the house of engineer Ipatiev, the Royal Romanov Family spent its last days. A terrible coincidence: the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg; The Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg and the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma, where the first Tsar Michael of the Romanov family was elevated to the throne.
In 2000, at the site of the execution of the Royal Family, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, the Church-Monument on the Blood in the name of All Saints was erected. It was in 2000 that the Family of Nicholas II was canonized at the Council of Bishops of the Church, and in 2003 the Church on the Blood was consecrated over the site of their execution.
The temple is 60 meters high and has five domes. It was created in a Russian-Byzantine modern style. There is an upper and lower temple, the complex of the latter includes an altar on the site of the execution room: this place is marked with red granite.
Every year on the night of the murder of the Royal Family from July 16 to 17, a vigil and Liturgy are held in the church with a procession to Ganina Yama, the place where the remains of the Royal Family were destroyed.
May the Lord protect you with the prayers of all saints!
House 2 A
Years of construction: 1883 - 1907
Perhaps the most popular cathedral in St. Petersburg among foreign tourists who sincerely consider him an example of “real Russian style.”
The Orthodox memorial single-altar church in the name of the Resurrection of Christ was built in memory of the fact that at this place on March 1 (13), 1881, Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded as a result of an assassination attempt.
Located in the historical center of St. Petersburg on the banks of the Griboyedov Canal, next to the Mikhailovsky Garden and Konyushennaya Square, not far from the Champs of Mars. The height of the highest dome of the temple (81 meters) symbolizes the year of the king’s death, the height of the bell tower (62 meters) symbolizes his age. It is a museum and a monument of Russian architecture.
Russian Orthodox tradition- build church buildings in honor of memorable events. “The Temple in the Name of the Resurrection of Christ” was erected on the site of the mortal wound of Emperor Alexander II, but the people immediately nicknamed it “The Savior on Spilled Blood.”
According to different versions, from 6 to 11 attempts were made on Alexander II from 1866 to 1881. On the site of the first, a chapel was erected near the lattice of the Summer Garden, which was dismantled in the 20th century. There is a legend that after the sixth assassination attempt, Alexander, while in Paris, visited a certain clairvoyant who predicted to him: there would be eight assassination attempts, the last of which would be fatal. Those who are inclined to believe this legend believe that there were exactly 8 assassination attempts.
The assassination attempt that led to the death of the emperor was committed on March 1, 1881, and the very next day the City Duma asked Emperor Alexander III to “allow the city public administration erect a chapel or monument" to the deceased emperor.
A temporary collapsible chapel at the site of the mortal wound of Alexander II was created according to the design of Leonty Benois in two weeks and consecrated on April 15, 1881. At the same time, a competition was announced to create a temple. However, none of the works noted by the Commission received the approval of Alexander III. The Tsar wished that the temple be built in the style of Russian architecture of Mokva and Yaroslavl of the 16th-17th centuries and that the place of the fatal wound be located inside the temple.
The laying of the foundation of the temple took place in October 1883, although the final design of the cathedral had not yet been approved. In the meantime, a stone pillar was driven into the foundation of the future throne of the temple. A link of the Catherine Canal grate, sidewalk slabs and part of the cobblestone road from the site of the emperor's wound were removed, placed in boxes and transferred to the chapel for storage.
Alfred Aleksandrovich Parland's 1883 project received the Tsar's approval. who headed creative group architects, experts in monumental painting and Orthodox iconography. The project was revised five times and was approved on May 1, 1887. The project is based on the techniques and forms of Moscow and Yaroslavl architecture rethought by Parland. The temple is a quadrangle with a towering five-domed structure, where the central chapter is designed in the form of a tent 81 meters high. Adjacent to the main volume of the temple from the west is a massive pillar-shaped bell tower extended into the channel of the canal, completed with a bell tower and a wide helmet-shaped dome. At the base of the bell tower there is a chapel with an image of the crucified Christ, located symmetrically to the canopy above the place where the emperor was mortally wounded.
During the construction of the temple, the latest technologies for those times were used: for the first time in St. Petersburg, pile foundations were abandoned. The temple building rests on a solid concrete pad 1.2 m thick, with a base level of 2.5 m from the ordinary level in the canal. In 1899 - 1907, an air heating system was installed in the cathedral. The lighting in the temple was electric from the very beginning. Parland thought in advance about how they would clean the mosaics from dust, wash the windows, and change the light bulbs. He also solved the problem of condensate drainage and the lightning protection system. The construction of the temple took 24 years.
The outside of the church is decorated with the texts of the “acts” of Alexander II, executed on granite boards in gold script. You can follow them the most important events history of the Russian state during his reign.
The exterior decoration of the temple uses white stone decor against a background of brownish-red facing bricks, numerous tiles on the facades and the drum of the central dome, blue, yellow, white and green tiles covering the tents of the porches and the slopes of the apses. Estonian marble and gray granite were used to decorate the four porches of the cathedral. The surface of the five domes is covered with colored jewelry enamel, the only time in the history of construction that was used in such huge quantities. On the facades of the cathedral's bell tower there are 134 mosaics with the coats of arms of Russian cities that contributed funds to the construction of the temple.
The interior of the temple is divided into three naves; The eastern ends of the side naves are choir icon cases, reminiscent in their shapes of ancient Russian low altar barriers. The wide central nave from the iconostasis and solea leads to a tented canopy installed above the site of the king’s mortal wound. The canopy was made according to Parland’s drawings: in the lower part, fragments of the canal embankment, cobblestone pavement, fencing bars and three pavement slabs on which the king’s blood was spilled are reproduced. For the construction of the canopy, Revnevskaya and Nikolaevskaya jasper and Ural coils were used. The composition is crowned with a cross of 112 topazes. More than thirty types of stones were used to create the canopy; it is decorated with Florentine mosaics and Bukhara lapis lazuli.
The interior of the temple uses mosaic covering, with total area 7065 square meters, which took 12 years to complete in the Frolovs’ mosaic workshop, which won the mosaic department of the Academy of Arts, a German and two famous Italian companies at an announced competition. To choose a workshop for a set of mosaics, the competition participants were asked to make one work as a test, which was left for whole year outside to check how well the mosaic will withstand the unkind St. Petersburg climate. The Frolovs' work, having lain under the snow all winter, stood the test better than other mosaics.
The Savior on Spilled Blood was consecrated on August 19, 1907 and was not initially intended for mass visits: it was maintained by the state and entry to the cathedral was carried out with special passes.
After the revolution, the Savior on Spilled Blood first became an ordinary parish church, and in 1930 it was closed; the issue of its demolition was discussed many times, however, due to the complexity of solving this problem, it was already decision was never implemented. IN different years The temple was used as a vegetable warehouse, a morgue (during the Siege), and a warehouse for the decorations of the Mikhailovsky Theater. Only in 1968 did the state recognize the “Savior on Spilled Blood” as an architectural monument and, since by this time the temple was in a state of disrepair, long restoration work began, which lasted 27 years (more than the work on the construction of the temple!!!). On August 19, 1997 (90 years after its consecration), “Savior on Spilled Blood” was opened to the public. Today, “Savior on Spilled Blood” is a museum (one of the churches included in the “Museum of Four Cathedrals”), in the days of great church holidays Divine services are also held there.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg is a museum and monument of Russian architecture. It was erected by order of Alexander III and the decision of the Synod on the spot where on March 1, 1881, the People's Will member I. Grinevitsky mortally wounded Alexander II, who was popularly called the Tsar Liberator for the abolition of serfdom.
Although the temple immortalized a tragic event in the history of Russia, the nine-domed building amazes with its bright, colorful beauty. Against the backdrop of the austere architecture of the Northern capital, it seems like a toy. There are similarities between the cathedral and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Interior decoration of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg
The cathedral was not designed for mass attendance. This influenced its interior decoration, which is striking in its beauty. The decoration includes a collection of Russian mosaics of that time. Inside, it completely covers the walls, pylons, vaults and domes. In the cathedral we see a rich collection of gems, jewelry enamel, colored tiles, made the best masters. Craftsmen from the Ekaterinburg, Kolyvan and Peterhof lapidary factories took part in creating the decoration of the cathedral. Of the variety of mosaics and mosaic compositions, it is necessary to note the works made according to originals by artists V.M. Vasnetsova, M.V. Nesterova, A.P. Ryabushkina, N.N. Kharlamova, V.V. Belyaeva. The cathedral's mosaic collection is one of the largest in Europe. Ornamental and semi-precious stones were used as decorative decoration for the interior of the cathedral, with which the iconostasis, walls and floor of the building were lined. For the iconostasis, icons were made according to the sketches of Nesterov and Vasnetsov - “The Mother of God and the Child” and “The Savior”.
Particularly significant in the temple, after the altar, was the place where the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander took place. A canopy was built over a fragment of the cobblestone street, a special structure that was supported by columns of gray-violet jasper. At the top of the canopy stood a topaz cross. Under the canopy are kept the relics of the cathedral - part of the grating of the Catherine Canal and the cobblestones on which the mortally wounded Alexander II fell.
Forests stood around the cathedral for a very long time. And the people said that the forests would stand as long as Soviet power stood. It's possible that this is a coincidence. But the scaffolding was dismantled shortly before the August events in Moscow in 1991.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is the first temple built on the site where the emperor of the state died. The constructed architectural monument was a symbol of the impending revolution.