Whether you are a religious person or not, religion is a fundamental part of Russia tour. You may disagree, but most tourists, even non-religious people, usually enjoy visiting religious sites and learn about them on their tour to Russia. One of the reasons might be the fact that religion had played a significant role in the history of Russia. Religion played a role in almost all of the imperial events throughout history, including the coronation of the new emperors, baptism of the new generations in Russian Imperial family, wedding ceremonies, and many other major events. Top marshals of the Russian army had prayed in cathedrals before the wars, and the army celebrated their victory with the imperial family in cathedrals. When Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg in 1703, cathedrals were the first structures built in St. Petersburg. Empress Elizabeth had built a cathedral for the regiment that helped her gain power as a reward. Although the Soviet era wasn’t a great time for religion because of the Soviet’s anti-religious plans, cathedrals had turned to museums even during those decades. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, most of the cathedrals were returned to the Orthodox church, but at the same time, they remained in touch with the museums. One of the reasons cathedrals are important in the tour to Russia, especially in St. Petersburg, where you can find several significant cathedrals, such as St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which is an essential part of St. Petersburg tour. Now, if you want to learn about religion in the tour to Russia, there are several places that you should visit during your travel to St. Petersburg, which each of them will help you understand the religion’s role in the history of Russia as well as where day stand in the modern era. One of the ways to learn about religion in Russia is to visit museums on your travel to Russia.
One of the best ways to learn about the history of anything is to visit museums. Fortunately for tourists, after the October Revolution, most of the cathedrals in Russia had turned to museums. However, lots of them were destroyed during the process, which is a great loss for the history and tourism industry. One of the significant attractions of St. Petersburg tour is the Kazan Cathedral, which locates on Nevsky Prospect. Kazan Cathedral was once the main cathedral of St. Petersburg, but after the revolution, it had turned to the museum of the history of religion and atheism. Although it turned back to the Orthodox Church after the fall of the Soviet Union, it kept in touch with the museum. However, the “atheism” was removed from its title. Kazan Cathedral still is an excellent place to learn about religion to this day. Still, most of its collection transferred to the new Museum of History of Religion on Pochtamtskaya Ulitsa.
There are only a few examples of the Museum of History of Religion in the world, and the one in St. Petersburg is its only kind in Russia. The Museum of History of Religion is one of the only museums in the world that trace and research the origin of religion and its development in the world. The Museum of History of Religion is not only for people who want to learn about religion in Russia, but it has a massive collection of 200 thousand exhibits from various countries, religions, and ages. You can even learn about the history of Islam, Buddhism, Ancient Egypt, and the Archaic in this museum if you visit it during your tour to Russia. Among the things that you can see in the museum’s collection, we can mention artworks, ritual items, texts, historical artifacts, cultural artifacts, and other religious artworks. If you have decided to visit this museum on your tour to Russia, we recommend you bring a guide. However, the guide will help you understand everything, so if you’re not going to spend much time in the museum, you can visit it yourself and enjoy the artifacts.
One of the best ways to learn about religion in Russia is to visit cathedrals. There are lots of cathedrals in St. Petersburg, which you can visit during your Russia tour. One of the major things about these cathedrals is their architecture. Although most of the cathedrals have similar designs, some cathedrals have their unique designs. The exterior and interior of cathedrals in St. Petersburg are excellent enough to entertain tourists’ eyes. However, they are not the only gain of your visit. You can see one of the sacred elements of Eastern Christianity by visiting different cathedral on your tour to Russia.
Among the items in each cathedral in St. Petersburg, the icons are the most sacred things. An icon is a religious artwork, mostly paintings, that you can find in each cathedral. Most icons are painted on wood. However, some can be cast in metal, clothes, craved on stones, in the form of fresco or wall paintings, or done in mosaic. Icons are mostly paintings of top figures of Christianity, such as Christ, Mary, saints, or angels. However, you can find some that cover scenes from the Bible or the lives of saints. Icons are so important in Christianity that some cathedrals are named after them, such as Kazan Cathedral, which is named after the icon of Our Lady from Kazan, one of the most sacred icons in Russia. While small churches may only have one or two icons, great cathedrals have several icons that are gathered on the wall of icons or iconostasis. Iconostasis can be both portables or attached to the wall of the church. Icons are one of the major attractions of the cathedral on tour to Russia.
The last place that you can visit to learn about religion in Russia is cemeteries. One of the main cemeteries in St. Petersburg that is considered as one of the attractions of St. Petersburg tour is the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which houses several cathedrals and the resting places of several famous figures in Russian history, including one of the heroes of Russia history, Alexander Nevsky.
These are the places that you should look for during your travel to St. Petersburg if you want to learn about religion in Russia. You can learn about examples of these places, such as famous cathedrals, top museums, and best places to visit during your travel to Russia on our weblog.
