Church on Spilled Blood

The twisted, colorful domes of this church make it one of the city's most famous landmarks and one of the highlights of St. Petersburg.

This Russian Revival style is extremely rare in St. Petersburg; most buildings have Baroque and Neo-Classical architecture.  The window frames are carved out of marble transported from Estonia and cast in the form of traditional decorative patterns.  The main steeple of the church is 265 feet high.  This church was built as a memorial to Alexander II in 1881 on the site of his assassination. 

The Church on Spilled Blood has never been used for weddings, funerals or any other church services.  It was intended to be entirely dedicated to the memory of Alexander II, although some sermon readings did take place before the revolution.  The interior features a shrine to Alexander II which was completed in 1907 and marks the exact spot of the assassination.  In fact, one wall of the church extends over the Griboyedov Canal, which flows next to it, to preserve the location.  The construction of the church was funded almost entirely by the imperial family and thousands of private donors.

The church has over 75,300 square feet of mosaics covering its interior and exterior.  A wide range of materials, including jasper, porphyry and Italian marble, have been used to create these lavish artworks. On the exterior are panels depicting scenes from the New Testament as well as colorful mosaic portraits of biblical saints. Intricate detailing adorns every single surface of the interior walls.

The church's interior walls and ceiling are covered in intricately detailed Old Russian mosaic icons depicting a vast array of biblical figures and scenes.

The sanctuary doors are covered in semi-precious stones.

From a distance the artwork look like paintings.

But they are all mosaics.

After the Revolution the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior.  The Soviet government closed the church in the early 1930's.  During the Second World War it was used as a morgue. After the war it was used as a warehouse for the opera and at one time, to store vegetables.  It was reopened after 30 years of restoration in 1997.  During the restoration an un-exploded bomb was found in the roof. 

visited:  Tuesday, November 24, 2015