It's a Russian thing (Part 2)

October 11th  

Church of the Spilled Blood

The church of the spilled blood as we have come to know it was my favourite building in St Petersburg.  Tucked away and just seen from the main 'street' of the city, it was everything I had imagined it to be but so much more.

It was on this spot that after several failed attempts that Alexander II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a bomb thrown at his carriage.  Revolutionaries were to blame.  His son decided that a church in his father's name should be erected on the spot where he was fatally wounded and so construction began with the church being completed in 1883.  

The impressive 'onion' domes rising to a height of 81 meters were designed to stop snow settling on them and would just fall away has become an iconic building of Russia.  Designed by the best and most prominent artists of the time, the internal 7500 square meters of mosaics are said to be the largest collection in the world.  And they do not disappoint.

Onion domes

Everything you see inside is mosaic, these are not painted...

   

Amazing detail everywhere

Close up of the mosaics

The church has a chequered history in that after the Russian revolution of 1917 it was badly looted and so then used as a warehouse for a theater company!   In 1932 it was closed by the Bolsheviks who were also known to have damaged and destroyed many churches during this period.  During WWII it was further damaged and also used as a temporary morgue.  After several million rubles it was finally reopened in 1997 and is now one of the mist visited places of St Petersburg.

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It almost has a Gaudi feeling to
it but more controlled in appearance

Attention to detail everywhere
both inside and out

♥  Russian part 3 and the final installment next week  ♥