There's a beautiful cathedral or two (or 15) or in this town. The largest one is called St. Isaac's Cathedral. The largest church in Russia when it was built (101.5 meters high), and still remaining the third largest domed cathedral in the world. For visitors willing to climb 300 steps, it provides a spectacular view of St. Petersburg. The cathedral took 40 years to construct, from 1818 to 1858, and was dedicated/named after Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great.
St. Isaac's Cathedral was ordered by Tsar Alexander I to replace an earlier Rinaldiesque structure. French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786-1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier was selected as the designer.Under the Soviet government, the building was abandoned, then turned into a museum of atheism. The dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. Today, worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel, and in the main body of the cathedral on feast days only.
wanna climb 290 stairs?
view of admiralty square and the neva river:
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