Religious sites and cathedrals are essential parts of travel to Russia. Even if you’re not interested in religious stuff, you can still enjoy visiting some of the significant cathedrals’ architecture during your travel to Russia. Although St. Petersburg is only 300 years old, it houses many important religious sites and cathedrals. While there are lots of cathedrals that worth the time during your tour to St. Petersburg, there are five churches that you must visit during your travel to St. Petersburg. Our list wouldn’t be genius if we’re not starting it with one of the significant attractions of St. Peterburg during the tour to Russia, St. Isaac’s Cathedral.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
One of the major attractions of St. Petersburg tour is the St. Isaac’s Cathedral. This magnificent cathedral was one of the masterpieces of French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, who, unlike his countrymen in St. Petersburg, did not build many constructions. However, the St. Isaac’s Cathedral alone is enough to write his name among the prominent French architects in St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral construction had begun in 1818, it took almost half a century to be completed. Auguste de Montferrand himself supervised the development during this time and died only months after its completion in 1858. St. Isaac’s Cathedral was the main cathedral of the city for several years, and it’s considered as one of the top attractions of St. Petersburg in the Russia tour. However, there are lots of reasons for tourists to visit this cathedral. The first major one would be the history of this cathedral, which is quite fascinating for tourists. The architecture of this cathedral is another reason that tourists would visit it on their tour to Russia. However, one of the major attractions of this cathedral, which many people don’t know about is its colonnade. The Colonnade of St. Isaac’s Cathedral offers a fantastic panoramic 360 view of the city. Many people believe that if you visit this cathedral at a different time of the day during your Russia tour, you’ll find a new view of the city. We at the Star Travel Group would also recommend our tourists taking the additional tickets for this fantastic treat during their tour to St. Petersburg.
Kazan Cathedral
One of the most significant attractions on Nevsky Prospect on tour to St. Petersburg would be Kazan Cathedral. This enormous cathedral was built in 1811 by Andrei Voronikhin. While initially supposed to be Russia’s central Orthodox Church, after the Napoleon Wars, in which Russia defeated the French Grand Army, it became the symbol of Russia’s victory by housing the enemy’s banners. It also the final resting place of one of the prominent generals during the campaign of 1812, Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov. Voronikhin had designed Kazan Cathedral by modeling the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. This magnificent church had housed the famous miracle-making icon of Our Lady of Kazan till the early 1930s. Although Kazan Cathedral didn’t demolish during the Soviet Union under the Soviet anti-religion plans, it turned to the museum of the history of religion and atheism. Since a couple of years ago, church services are operating in Kazan Cathedral. Still, it remained in touch with the museum of History of Religion, but the word “atheism” has been removed from its title. Kazan Cathedral is one of the significant attractions on tour to Russia. Many tourists will visit either during their journey around Nevsky Prospect or during their St. Petersburg tour sightseeing.
St. Peter and Paul Cathedral
For more than two centuries, the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul was the tallest building in St. Petersburg. While Peter and Paul Fortress considers as one of the main attractions of the St. Petersburg tour, many tourists who have visited this fortress have been amazed by the look of its main cathedral. Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral is the oldest church in the city and the tallest structure before the construction of Saint Petersburg TV Tower in 1956. If you’re interested in the Romanov Family history, this cathedral is one of the places that you should visit on your tour to Russia, because it houses the graves of nearly all the Russian ruler since Peter the Great. Tourists have many reasons to visit this cathedral during their Russia tour program, including the architecture of the cathedral, the graves of former rulers of Russia, the magnificent iconostasis inside the cathedral, and the history behind it.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is commonly known as the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood is one of the bizarre churches that you will visit during your tour to Russia. This church was constructed as a monumental structure to Alexander II, who was fatally wounded on the site of the church and eventually died because of its wounds. Though it is a church, none of the church’s traditional services, such as baptisms, weddings, funeral services are held in the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood. The church architecture is massively inspired by St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, which is why many tourists would love to visit it during their tour to Russia. Although its interior and the extravagant shrine are interesting enough for tourists to visit the inside of this cathedral, most tourists prefer to only see the exterior of this church on their Daylight Boat Tour during their Russia tour program.
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra is one of the significant attractions of the tour to St. Petersburg, which locates at the end of Nevsky Prospect. It houses some of the oldest structures in the city as well as the final resting place for some of Russia’s most prominent cultural figures, such as Dostoevsky, Galinka, and Tchaikovsky. However, the most major person, who his remains transferred to this monastery, is one of the heroes in Russian history, Alexander Nevsky, who Peter the Great ordered to build this place, especially to house his remains. Most tourists will only visit outside this monastery while they’re walking alongside Nevsky Prospect. Still, if you’re interested in visiting inside this place, you can find several interesting things, such as the grave of some of the most significant people in Russian history.
For more information about these cathedrals, you can visit their pages on our weblog. You can also learn about the top attractions of St. Petersburg that you can visit during your travel to Russia on our weblog, as well as our tips and pieces of advice about how to travel to Russia on our weblog.
