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Kazan Cathedral, 19th century. Construction history

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The Kazan Church of St. Petersburg is a cathedral Orthodox Cathedral, which is located in the central part of the city with the exit of its facades to the Griboedovsky Canal and Ave. Nevsky. In the Northern capital, the presented chapel is considered one of the largest buildings, the height of which approaches the mark of 71.5 m, and even the streets leading from the sanctuary, the bridge located at the intersection of the Griboedov Canal and Nevsky Prospekt, were renamed after him, and also in the delta of the Neva island. You can learn more about the history of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, opening hours, how to get to it and more from this article.

In 1710, a chapel was erected on Nevsky Prospekt not far from the wooden structure with the hospital, and a little later wooden church Our Lady of Kazan. By decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna, a new stone pilgrimage was founded only in 1733 in the month of September and was built according to the drawings of M. Zemtsov, later called Rozhdestvensky. The newly erected church had a rather grandiose decoration, namely a multi-tiered bell tower reaching a height of 58m.

In that God's temple On July 2, the famous miraculous image of the Mother of God was transferred from the Trinity Sanctuary, after which the church began to be called by the name of the divine face and received the status of a cathedral, which later became the main Orthodox place in the Northern capital.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the temple building had deteriorated significantly, so it was decided to build a new building. Paul I planned to build a church similar to the church of St. Peter, located in Rome, and already in 1799 a competition was announced for the best project for the future sanctuary.

Nearby was the residence of Count Stroganov A.S., who subsequently proposed a project created by the young architect A.N. Voronikhin, who was previously a serf. The drawing presented by Andrey Nikiforovich was approved. The foundation of the new temple of God began in the presence of Alexander I, and Count Stroganov was appointed responsible for the construction work, which was completed by 1811. And the author of the architectural project itself was presented with the Order of Anna II degree, as well as a life pension.

Also interesting facts it is believed that only Russian masters took part in the construction. The masons were led by Samson Sukhanov, while most of the builders involved were ordinary serfs who were forced to give all their earnings to their owners. Initially, they lived outside the garden in dugouts, and then after a while they moved to Konyushennaya Square in barracks.

For the decoration of the sanctuary, only high-quality domestic building materials were used: limestone from Riga, Serdobol and Vyborg granite, Olenetsk marble, and for the outer covering of the walls - Pudozh stone brought from Gatchina.

Where is the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg and opening hours

The Cathedral of Kazan is considered an effective sanctuary of the Orthodox Russian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. It is also worth noting that some rules have been established on the territory of the chapel, namely:

men, before entering the premises of the sanctuary, must remove their headdress, and women, on the contrary, cover their heads with a scarf or scarf;
it is forbidden to sit in an Orthodox chapel, except when a person is sick;
it is necessary to speak quietly so as not to disturb other visitors to the cathedral;
according to stricter canons, women in short skirts, trousers and cosmetics applied to the face are not allowed to enter the chapel.

Opening hours of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg

The prayer service is open to everyone from Monday to Friday from 07:00-20:00, and on weekends, as well as on holidays from 6:30 am to 20:00 pm. The temple closes immediately after the evening service. The entrance is free, however, if tourists wish to listen to the tour, then for a donation, the workers of the sanctuary can conduct it.

The worship schedule is as follows. During weekdays:

07:00 - divine chant ( early hours), the beginning of confession also takes place at the same time;
10:00 - divine hymn (late hours), confession begins at 09:30;
18:00 0 evening service.

Holidays and Sundays:

07:00 - divine early chant, beginning of confession at 07:00;
10:00 a.m. - divine late chant, confession is held at 9:30 a.m.;
18:00 - evening service.

Divine services, weddings, sacraments of baptism, and memorial services are held daily in this temple. There is a priest on duty at all times in the church. Eat Church School for adults and Sunday School for children, art school and reading room.

There is a program "Orthodox Way of Belief", which is aimed at enlightening the Orthodox in the church plan. From year to year, on the 12th of September, from the prayer service along Nevsky Prospekt up to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, processions are made in honor of Prince Alexander Nevsky. With the patronage of the archimandrite of the temple, the clergyman Pavel Krasnotsvetov, pilgrimage services are held here.

How to get to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg

The temple of God is located at the following address: Nevsky Prospekt, 25, St. Petersburg.

The closest metro stations are Gostiny Dvor and Prospekt Nevsky. The sanctuary is located just opposite the entrance to the metro station (the exit from the metro to the Griboyedov Canal).

God bless you!

Where the Kazan Cathedral is now located, at the beginning of the 18th century there was a Perevodskaya settlement. Near the intersection of the Neva prospect and the Krivusha River, there were wooden buildings of the hospital and the houses of its employees. A chapel was built at this hospital in 1710, and two years later a wooden church of the Nativity of the Virgin appeared in its place.

On August 24, 1733, Empress Anna Ioannovna issued a personal decree on the construction of a new stone church here. The author of the project of the stone church of the Nativity of the Virgin is often called M. G. Zemtsov. But later research proves that it was the architect I. Ya. Blank. The temple was founded on September 6 of the same year. The brick walls of the temple were already erected by September 1734, after which the carpenter Johann Goering signed that:

"He will make carpentry on the bell tower spitz, rafters, lantern, cover the roof with shingles, cover the dome and lantern and spitz with boards according to the drawing; yes, carpentry will make windows and doors, capitals and bases, cimazes, bases, architraves, triglyphs from the face and inside , cornices, stairs and porches, wooden and watch circles, and with carved work and with fine bolas, except for carved statues, he will completely create the purest work according to the drawing "[Cit. according to: 5, p. 265, 266].

The cornice of the Nativity Church was decorated with sculptures of the apostles and other saints. All elements of the architectural design were made in the Doric order.

The construction of the temple was completed in September 1736, when the dome was upholstered with tin. The solemn consecration of the church took place on June 23, 1737 in the presence of the Empress.

The multi-tiered bell tower (58 meters high) of the new Nativity Church has become a noticeable decoration of Nevsky Prospekt. Its spire echoed the spire of the Admiralty tower built at the same time. A garden was organized around the temple, surrounded by a fence made of brick pillars and a wooden lattice.

On July 2, 1737, the Kazan Icon was moved here. Mother of God. This relic, which belonged to Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna, was brought to St. Petersburg under Peter I in 1708. Before transfer to new temple it was kept in a wooden chapel on Posadskaya Street, then in the Trinity Cathedral on Trinity Square. The consecration of the church took place on June 13 (according to the historian P. Ya. Kann) or July 3, 1737. The second option seems more logical, given the date of the transfer of the Kazan icon here. Anna Ioannovna attended the ceremony. According to the icon kept here, the people began to call the church "Kazan".

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the church received the status of a cathedral, the temple officially became known as Kazan. In the second half of the XVIII - early XIX centuries, he was the main one in St. Petersburg. In 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna and Prince Anton Ulrich were married here. In 1745 - the future emperors Peter III and Catherine II. Members have been getting married here ever since. royal family. In 1762, after a palace coup in the Kazan Cathedral, Catherine II took the oath of guards. In 1773, the Kazan Church became the wedding venue for the future Emperor Paul I and the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Construction of the Kazan Cathedral

TO late XVIII century, the building of the Kazan Cathedral fell into disrepair, ceased to correspond to the appearance of the main Nevsky Prospekt that had developed by that time.

A competition for the project of a new temple was held in 1797-1800. The task before the architects participating in it was extremely difficult. At the request of Paul I, he had to resemble the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, built by Michelangelo Buonarroti and other prominent architects of the Renaissance. The new Kazan Cathedral was bound to receive a colonnade similar to the one added to the Cathedral of St. Peter by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. Among the tasks set before the architects was also the need to fit the new monumental building into the already formed architectural space. By Orthodox traditions the altar was supposed to face east, and the main facade - to the west, that is, not to Nevsky Prospekt, but to Meshchanskaya (now Kazanskaya) street.

C. Cameron, P. Gonzaga and A. N. Voronikhin took part in the competition from the very beginning. In 1800, J.F. Thomas de Thomon arrived in St. Petersburg, who also managed to submit his project.

Initially, Paul I accepted the project of Charles Cameron. But with the support of Count A. S. Stroganov, who was responsible for the construction, the work was entrusted to Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin. His project was approved by Paul I on November 14, 1800. This solution widely discussed in society. It was especially pointed out that Voronikhin was a former serf of the Stroganovs (he received his freedom in 1786).

In 1800, a "Commission for the construction of the Kazan Church" was created, headed by Count A. S. Stroganov. She received the broadest powers. The commission disposed of all appropriations for the construction of the cathedral, the state brick factories, Olonets marble quarries and materials from the Pella manor were transferred to it.

In 1801, she reported to the emperor about the need to build a bell tower and houses for the clergy. Paul I refused this request: "In Rome, Peter does not have a bell tower, and we do not even need it! As for the clergy, these will not be left without housing." Later, the clergy got a residential building at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Kazanskaya Street (25 Nevsky Prospekt). The bell tower was never built, the bells were placed in openings on the colonnade of the cathedral.

At the laying ceremony of the Kazan Cathedral, Paul I was no longer present since he was killed in March 1801. On August 27, his son, the new emperor, Alexander I, participated in the laying. The newspaper "Northern Post or Novaya St. Petersburg newspaper" described the celebration as follows:

"Last August, on the 27th day, the foundation was laid for the holy temple in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, her miraculous icon of Kazan, in the Highest presence of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES, THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH, the wife of HIS Sovereign Empress ELISAVETA ALEXEEVNA and the Mother of HIS Dowager Sovereign NO EMPRESS MARIA FYODOROVNA, Their Imperial Highnesses, Sovereign Tsesarevich and Grand Duke KONSTANTIN PAVLOVICH, Empress Grand Duchess ELENA PAVLOVNA and the Spouse of Her Serene Highness Crown Prince Karl Ludwich of Baden-Baden, the Spouse of His Princess Amalia Friederike and His Surname, as follows: Upon the arrival of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES at 1 o'clock in the afternoon at the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Kazan, THEIR MAJESTIES were met at the entrance to it His Eminence Ambrose, Metropolitan of Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Estland and Vyborg, His Grace Irenaeus Archbishop of Pskov and Riga and all the most distinguished clergy in vestments. also by the members of the Commission established by the Highest for the construction of this church, in the forerunner of which THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES and Their Imperial Highnesses deigned to follow to the place designated for the construction of the aforementioned temple, where a marble stone was prepared with depressions made inside it for the position in the first medals with the chest image of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY OF THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH and with an inscription on the back indicating the day of the founding of the temple on August 27, 1801 and gold and silver coins of various denominations, secondly jasper and agate bricks with the venzlov of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES Names, and finally a gilded bronze plaque and the following inscription content:

“The summer of the Lord, 1801 August 27th day, the foundation was laid for this holy temple in the name of the Most Holy Mother of God, her miraculous icon of Kazan, by command of the blessed memory of Sovereign Emperor Pavel Petrovich, during the reign and with the Highest Presence of the Most Pious Autocratic Great Sovereign EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH of all Russia, Wives of HIS Most Pious EMPRESS ELISAVETA ALEXEEVNA and HIS Pious Mother EMPRESS MARIA FYODOROVNA, in the first summer after the Ascension to the Throne of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY. - Built by Architect Voronikhin.

After the consecration of water and a prayer service, when THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES and Their Imperial Highnesses deigned to proceed to the aforementioned place prepared for laying, the Members of the Commission had the good fortune to offer THEIR MAJESTIES and Highnesses, also to the Most Serene Princes and Princesses of Baden-Baden and Mecklenburg, on gilded dishes, the following accessories , which were placed on richly decorated tables, namely: Mr. Ober-Kammerger, Senator, President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, President and Cavalier Count Stroganov - medals and coins. Mister Privy Counsellor, Quartermaster and Cavalier Khodnev - blades, Mister Actual State Councilor and Cavalier Starov - jasper and agate bricks with the monogram of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES Names. Mr. State Councilor Pushkin - a hammer, and in conclusion, a gilded bronze plaque with the inscription Mr. Collegiate Architect Assessor Voronikhin. At the position of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, the first stone was fired from both the St. Petersburg fortress and the Admiralty from cannons one hundred and one shots. Finally, all this celebration was concluded by the proclamation of many years for the highest health, and with these exclamations, THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES and Their Imperial Highnesses, with other High Persons, deigned to return with the same order.

Initially, the Kazan Cathedral was planned to be built by 1804, but in reality the work dragged on for more than 10 years. The cathedral was built to the south of the Nativity Church, all this time it continued its work. The existing buildings at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Meshchanskaya Street and near Zimin Lane were demolished (11 private houses). For each of them, the owners were paid 500 rubles.

Preparations for the construction took place against the backdrop of a patriotic upsurge. This was the reason why Count Stroganov proposed to build the Kazan Cathedral only by Russian craftsmen, only from domestic building materials.

At the time of construction, Voronikhin moved to house No. on Nevsky Prospekt.

At first, the workers employed at the construction site lived outside the city in dugouts. Some of them were housed in barracks on Konyushennaya Square. The vast majority of builders were serfs and were forced to give all their earnings to their masters. Yaroslavl and Vologda provinces supplied masons to the construction site, Kostroma - carpenters, Olonets - cutters, Belarusian regions - diggers.

The working day of the builders of the Kazan Cathedral in the summer was set from 4 am to 9 pm. In winter - from 5 am to 8 pm. Lunch break in summer was 2 hours, in winter - 1 hour. For seasonal workers, the season began in the spring and ended in October. Many of them signed a new contract and promised to return to next year. At the same time, the employee's passport was taken away, an "advance" was issued. Wages during the construction of the Kazan Cathedral were approximately equal to the average for the city. Bricklayers were paid up to one ruble per working day, but not in silver, but in banknotes. One banknote then cost about 80 kopecks. An eyewitness recalled:

"Workers who come to work in the summer - builders, carpenters, masons, plasterers, start work at 5 o'clock in the morning and continue it until 9 o'clock in the evening, with a two-hour lunch break ... They spend the night outside the city, in yards or stables, on the ground. Their food consists of water, kvass, bread, flour, or cucumbers; they exert themselves excessively in order to collect a little money and, on returning home, immediately bury it in the ground so that their masters or stewards cannot take it away, and an accident or death is buried forever in the land of silver." [Cit. according to: 3, p. 32]

Not only quitrent peasants worked at the construction site. For example, to decorate the temple in 1810, the serf artist Taras Ivanov was bought from the landowner Teplov for 1,000 rubles.

The builders of the Kazan Cathedral often suffered from their lack of rights. A document has been preserved - a complaint from the builders Mokhnatkin and Chobykin, whom the contractor not only cheated and deprived of their passports, but also ordered them to be chained into slingshots. The chief police chief ignored this complaint.

Foreigners described the Russian workers as follows:

"They, these simple men in torn coats, did not need to resort to various measuring instruments; looking inquisitively at the plan or model indicated to them, they accurately and elegantly copied them. The eye of these people is extremely accurate. They were in a hurry with the completion of the construction of the cathedral; despite the winter time and 13-15 degrees of frost, work continued even at night. Firmly holding the ring of the lantern with their teeth, these amazing workers, climbing to the top of the scaffolding, diligently did their job. The ability of even simple Russians in the technique of fine arts is amazing. " [ibid.]

Great assistance in the construction of the temple was provided by the military governor of St. Petersburg, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. At the first request of Voronikhin, he provided territories for workshops and warehouses, allocated soldiers for urgent and time-consuming work.

Due to the fact that the main entrance to the Kazan Cathedral, according to the rules Orthodox Church was supposed to be arranged not from the side of Nevsky Prospekt (from the north), but from the side of Kazanskaya Street (from the west), Voronikhin made entrances from both sides of the building. The northern colonnade of the cathedral architecturally united the building with Nevsky Prospekt. The side portals of the colonnade served as passageways towards the embankment of the Ekaterininsky Canal and Kazanskaya Street.

The project of the cathedral was not fully implemented. When its construction was coming to an end, the architect proposed to build a colonnade and with south side building, which would repeat the northern one, consisting of 96 columns. This idea is noticed even in the notebook of Alexander I for 1819, where he plans the most significant buildings in the center of St. Petersburg. But the southern colonnade was never built.

Back in 1805, part of the land from the west of the cathedral was liberated, which until that moment belonged to the garden of the Educational House. Here one of its outbuildings was demolished. From the summer of 1811 to November 1812, an artistic fence was erected on this site. The figures of the apostles Peter and Paul were supposed to stand on pedestals along the edges of the lattice. For them, near Vyborg, two granite blocks weighing about 1,500 pounds were made. One of them sank while being loaded onto a barge, and the second fell off the platform while being transported to the temple along the streets of St. Petersburg. For several decades, a piece of rock blocked the Aptekarsky Lane. In the end, this stone came in handy for the construction of the foundations of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The sunken block in 1911 went to the manufacture of the pedestal of the monument to Admiral S. O. Makarov in Kronstadt.

Construction work was completed in 1811. The last service was held in the old Nativity Church on 26 August. Immediately after it, the Kazan icon was moved to a tent set up nearby, after which they began to dismantle the old temple. On September 15, the consecration of the Kazan Cathedral took place. The Petersburg press described it this way:

"Yesterday's feast of the most sacred coronation of the Sovereign Emperor and Sovereign Empress was marked here by a special celebration, on the occasion of the consecration on that day of the newly built Kazan Cathedral Church. This celebration took place in the most brilliant way in the presence of His Imperial Majesty and the entire August Family. Starting from Winter Palace, until the very new Cathedral, the troops of the local garrison stood in the parade. All places on all sides were dotted with people, to whose confluence the most beautiful weather also favored. It is impossible to imagine anything more majestic, at the sight of the procession of the cross, which took place on this occasion, when the Most Reverend Metropolitan, raising the Holy Relics to his head for new church, and two other Bishops, raising the Holy Icon of the Mother of God, walked around this most magnificent Temple, during the construction of which, it seems, all arts argued among themselves in perfection. "[Quoted from: 7, p. 11]

Count Stroganov Alexander I was given the keys to the new church. Its architect A. N. Voronikhin was awarded the Order of Anna of the second degree and a lifetime pension.

From the moment the construction of the Kazan Cathedral was completed until 1826, a wooden obelisk was located in front of the colonnade. Voronikhin assumed the presence of a stone monument here, but due to lack of funds, this was not carried out.

Facades and interiors

In the decoration of the Kazan Cathedral, the following were used: Olonets marble, Vyborg and Serdobol granite, Riga limestone. In the outer facing of the walls - Pudost limestone (from a quarry near the village of Pudost, eight kilometers from Gatchina). In total, 12,000 cubic meters of this stone were needed. The team of masons was led by Samson Sukhanov.

The length of the building from west to east is 72.5 meters, from north to south - 56.7 meters. Kazan Cathedral became the most high temple early XIX century. Its height with a dome is indicated differently in different sources. So, in the book "Nevsky Prospekt" it is stated that it is - 62 meters. The historian P. Ya. Kann in the article "Kazan Square", as well as A. A. Ignatenko in the book "Kazan Cathedral. Pages of History" give another number - 71.6 meters. The diameter of the dome exceeds 17 meters. For him, for the first time in world construction practice, Voronikhin used a metal structure. The exterior of the dome was originally covered in dark gray tin-iron.

Four bronze sculptures were placed in the niches of the northern portico: Prince Vladimir (sculptor S. Pimenov), Andrew the First-Called (V. I. Demut-Malinovsky), John the Baptist (I. P. Martos) and Alexander Nevsky (S. Pimenov). At the feet of the latter there is a sword with a lion, the symbol of Sweden. A Russian shield rests on a lion.

The bronze entrance doors on the north side of the building are a copy of the doors of the baptistery (baptismal house) in Florence, work Lorenzo Ghiberti(XV century). Their casting and chasing was carried out by Vasily Ekimov after the construction of the Kazan Cathedral was completed. To do this, he needed 182 pounds and 39 pounds of copper. But Yekimov was not given a consultant who would tell him how to properly place ten biblical stories. In the end, he did it arbitrarily. The "Florence Gate" was installed in its place in 1811.

The northern attics above the side passages are decorated with panels depicting Moses in the center. The panel above the eastern passage, called "The Outflow of Water by Moses in the Desert", was created by IP Martos. Above the western passage is a bas-relief "The Copper Serpent in the Desert". It was created by I. I. Prokofiev. The author of the bas-reliefs of the northern portico ("The Annunciation", "The Adoration of the Shepherds", "The Adoration of the Magi", "The Flight into Egypt") was F. G. Gordeev.

Of the bas-reliefs inside the temple, two have survived: "Procession to Golgotha" by F. F. Shchedrin and "The Taking of Christ by Soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane" by D. Rashetta.

The main altar was dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Chapel with right side consecrated in the name of Christmas Holy Mother of God, where the iconostasis was transferred from the old Nativity Church. On the left side there was a chapel in the name of Saints Anthony and Theodosius.

The hall of the Kazan Cathedral really looks like a hall of the palace. The icons for the Kazan Cathedral were painted by V. Borovikovsky, O. Kiprensky, A. Ivanov, F. Bryullo, K. Bryullov. The interior of the building is decorated with 56 monolithic columns made of red granite mined on Sorvali Island near Vyborg. The bronze capitals of the columns were created at the factory of Ch. Byrd by the caster Taras Kotov. The floor in the hall is covered with several thousand plates of Shoksha stone and Olonets marble. One of the first visitors described the interior of the Kazan Cathedral:

"The new paintings and all the sculptural works in this Temple are the works of Gg. Academicians and fellow members of the same Academy, namely: G. Shebuev wrote in the dome a vault with the image of the Lord Almighty in Glory, and two images of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian under this dome ; G. Yegorov, local images of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Descent of the Holy Spirit; G. Bessonov, the image of the Last Supper; The Royal Doors of the large iconostasis were painted by G. Borovikovsky." [Cit. according to: 7, p. 29]

Stone pedestals, still standing on both sides of the colonnade, were intended for sculptures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel. The sketch of the figures was commissioned to Academician A.I. Ivanov back in 1803. But the Commission for the construction of the cathedral rejected Ivanov's work. The new project was created by the sculptor I.P. Martos. By the time the temple was opened, he had made the figures from plaster, covered them with bronze paint, with the expectation that the figures would be cast in bronze. But it was not possible to replace them with bronze ones. The plaster archangels were so dilapidated that in 1824 they had to be removed.

The fate of the cathedral was changed by the Patriotic War of 1812. Originally built for an icon, it has turned into a repository of war relics. Before taking command of the Russian army, Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov prayed in the cathedral. Military trophies were brought here, including 107 army banners and regimental standards of the Napoleonic troops, 94 keys from the conquered eight fortresses and 17 cities, and the staff of Marshal Davout. To date, there are six captured banners and 26 keys in six bundles.

In December 1812, General Platov, through Kutuzov, handed over to the church the silver that the Russian army had taken from the retreating French. The field marshal proposed, in accordance with the desire of the soldiers, to make four figures of evangelists from precious metal for the interior decoration of the Kazan Cathedral. Models of the figures were made by I. A. Martos, but the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod A. N. Golitsyn did not like this project. A few years later, they decided to use silver for the manufacture of a new iconostasis. But in connection with the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, there was no money for this work. The original iconostasis was replaced with a silver one only in 1836. It was created by the architect K. A. Ton.

The rush during construction quickly led to the crumbling of the plaster inside the building. In 1814, it had to be removed, and with it the bas-reliefs decorating the iconostasis with images of the evangelists. They were replaced by painting on plaster.

Kazan Cathedral before 1917

On December 21, 1812, when Russian troops reached the borders of the empire, the Kazan Cathedral became a place for celebrating the complete liberation of the Russian land from the invaders. In February 1913, the keys of the city of Warsaw arrived at the Kazan Cathedral, which were delivered to the capital by General Vasilchikov.

A special event for the Kazan Cathedral was the funeral of Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov on June 13, 1813. His grave is located opposite the Kazan icon.

Kutuzov died on April 16, 1813 in Bunzlau. There, his body was embalmed, for which the insides were taken out and buried in a local cemetery. Subsequently, a legend arose that the field marshal ordered to bury his heart at the place of death, on the Saxon Highway, so that the soldiers could see that his heart remained with them. This myth was dispelled in 1933, when Kutuzov's coffin was opened:

ACT. Leningrad, 1933, September 4th day. Commission consisting of: director of the Museum of the History of Religion of the USSR Academy of Sciences - prof. Bogoraz-Tana V. G., scientific secretary of the museum Blakanova V. L., head. Funds of the Museum of Vorontsov K.K., in the presence of a representative from P.P.OGPU comrade. Borozdin P. Ya. drew up this act on the following.
The crypt in which Kutuzov M.I. was buried was opened. The crypt was located in the basement of the museum. Upon opening the crypt, a pine coffin (covered in red velvet with gold braids) was found, in which there was a zinc coffin, screwed with bolts, inside of which a skeleton with the remains of rotten matter was found. On the left, a silver jar containing an embalmed heart was found in the heads. The whole opening process was photographed - 5 pictures were taken.
This act is drawn up in 2 copies [Cit. according to 2, p. 96]...

The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra was hung over Kutuzov's grave.

The Kazan Cathedral was the place from where the Emperor and members of his family went to the active army. The return of Alexander I to the capital began with his visit. Until the end of the war with Napoleonic France, the temple remained a place for celebrating the most significant victories of Russian and allied troops. On September 2, 1813, the capture of Berlin was celebrated here, one year later - the victory at Brienne and the capture of Danzig. In April 1814 and July 1815, the capture of Paris was celebrated here.

Kazan Cathedral played an important role in the life of the royal family. IN St. Isaac's Cathedral members of the royal house were baptized, in Petropavlovsk they were buried, and here they were married. Every year in March, the accession to the throne of Alexander I was celebrated here. Every year on August 30, the procession to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. This day was considered a day off in St. Petersburg.

In the 1840s, the dome of the Kazan Cathedral was covered with light green paint. Later, its coating imitated bronze.

On October 26, 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was buried in the Kazan Cathedral. Due to the huge number of people wishing to say goodbye to the composer, it was decided to let visitors into the temple by tickets. In total, 8,000 of them were issued. Only Tchaikovsky's music, which was performed by the choir of the Imperial Opera, was used at the liturgy. From the Kazan Cathedral, the funeral procession proceeded to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where the composer was buried.

The candle lighting of the temple was replaced by electric in 1903.

In 1910, a proposal was considered to restore the figures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel on pedestals near the colonnades. But neither the government nor the clergy of the Kazan Cathedral had the money for this.

Approximately two weeks before the February Revolution of 1917, at the initiative of the Public and Mobile Theater, a memorial service was served in the Kazan Cathedral for V. F. Komissarzhevskaya.

Kazan Cathedral after 1917

For some time after the October Revolution, the temple administration continued to develop its religious activities. At the very beginning of 1918, the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky, planned to arrange a cave temple named after St. Hermogenes, who would have to repeat the dungeon of the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, where St. Hermogenes died.

But very soon the policy of the Soviet government in relation to the church led to the fact that its development was out of the question. On the contrary, the number of parishioners decreased. As noted in 1924, on the feast of the Kazan Icon, there were only 60 people in the cathedral, mostly old women. Due to the sharp decrease in the number of the parish, donations were also reduced. The clergy did not have enough money to maintain the building.

In the spring of 1924, the Soviet government took care of the state of architectural monuments, which continued to rank Kazan Cathedral. Then the poor condition of the roof of the building was revealed, which on September 23 was supplemented with water in the basements due to the devastating flood. Subsequent restoration of the walls and interiors of the cathedral was carried out by architects A.P. Aplaksin, A.A. Parland, artists N.A. Bruni, E.K. Lipgard.

In April 1932, the Kazan Cathedral was closed to the faithful. At the request of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, work began in the Kazan Cathedral on the arrangement of the first museum on the history of religion and atheism by the 15th anniversary of October. The Kazan icon of the Mother of God was transferred to the Prince Vladimir Cathedral, other valuable icons, paintings and church utensils - to the Russian Museum. Only the "Last Supper" by S. A. Bessonov on the vault of the altar remained in the temple, as well as the works of artists A. I. Ivanov, G. I. Ugryumov, S. S. Shchukin and F. I. Yasnenko, as well as a painting by F. Alekseev over the grave of Kutuzov. The cross of the dome was replaced with a ball with a pike. The opening of the museum did not take place on time, it happened on November 15th. By the autumn of 1933, the building received artistic lighting.

In the autumn of 1941, an exhibition entitled "The Military Past of the Russian People" was arranged near the colonnade of the church. The Museum of Atheism was temporarily closed, its place was taken by the exhibition "Patriotic War of 1812", which worked throughout the war. In the basement of the building housed one of the departments of the headquarters of the Leningrad Front. During the blockade, three shells hit the Kazan Cathedral, the dome and roof had more than 1600 holes. In 1951, its overhaul began under the leadership of Ya. A. Kazakov. Works in the interiors were carried out in 1952-1956, facades were repaired in 1964-1968.

On January 6, 1990, for the first time in the practice of domestic television, a live broadcast of the Christmas all-night vigil. Similar Christmas and Easter television broadcasts are now held annually.

Since 1991, the Kazan Cathedral has been open for worship again; the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has been returned to it. In 1994, a golden cross reappeared on the dome of the cathedral. On April 6, 1998, the voice of the Kazan Cathedral was "returned", a bell cast at the Baltic Factory was installed on its belfry. In 2000, the Kazan Cathedral became the main cathedral church Petersburg, the Kazan icon was returned here. The Museum of the History of Religion moved to a building on Pochtamtskaya Street. By 2003 (the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg), the craftsmen of the Baltic Factory cast a four-ton bell over two meters high, which became the largest bell in the Kazan Cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. / Photo: miroworld.ru
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Europe is capable of presenting progressive ideas to anyone who sets off on a journey through it. A vivid example of this is the trip of the Russian Emperor Paul I to Italy, where he was honored with a personal meeting with the Pope and was so inspired by the beauties of the Vatican that he ordered a copy of it to be erected in St. Petersburg. And his order was carried out.

Your own Vatican

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. / Photo: travel-ru.ru
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Upon returning to their native lands and being on the throne, in Last year of his already short reign, Emperor Paul I managed to lay the foundation for the realization of his plan. They did not spend much time looking for a place for building, especially since the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located on Nevsky Prospekt, had long since fallen into disrepair.

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg./ Photo: aeslib.ru
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It turned out with one construction to "kill two birds with one stone" - to demolish the old building and erect a new temple, which adorned the appearance of the city. Either in the Pavlovian period there was an embargo on foreign goods, or there was not enough money for overseas things.

The interior of the Kazan Cathedral. / Photo: infourok.ru
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Stroganov personally persuaded the ruler to build a temple exclusively from domestically produced materials, and even apply the construction plan of a Russian architect, while pushing through the sketches of a former serf, A. Voronikhin. Stroganov personally trained the latter, and rewarded him with freedom for diligent study.

Second colonnade

Postcard "Kazan Cathedral of St. Petersburg". / Photo: kolpakovs.ru
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The protege quickly assessed the possibilities of the area presented for development and decided to build a trusted object with some differences. The reason for this was the need to turn the altar to the east, without violating the accepted norms and projections for the construction of temples.

Kazan Cathedral on the map of St. Petersburg. / Photo: kolpakovs.ru
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Such a hitch prevented the implementation of an exact copy of the Vatican Cathedral of St. Peter, for this reason it was decided to turn the colonnade to Nevsky Prospekt. Such a step made it possible to simultaneously create a “ceremonial” side zone and please the royal person. Few people know that it was not possible to fully realize the project conceived by Voronikhin.

The original plan of the Kazan Cathedral. / Photo: infourok.ru
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The idea implied that the southern part of the cathedral would be a mirror image of the northern one, and it was there that the second colonnade was to be located. If the primordial project would nevertheless find its place in life, then today there would be a semblance of an alien spaceship on Nevsky Prospekt.

waiting angels

View of the Kazan Cathedral from the Griboyedov Canal. / Photo: kolpakovs.ru
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Continuing the theme of the differences between the planned project and the finished cathedral, it is worth mentioning a couple of sculptures. To this day, the pedestals remain empty, and in fact the archangels were supposed to sit on them. It is worth saying that they were not empty all the time. Until the 24th year of the 19th century, copies of the archangels made of plaster were located at the ends of the wings, which were planned to be replaced with original bronze ones, but this did not happen. Why?

View of the Kazan Cathedral from Kazanskaya Street./ Photo: tvereparhia.ru
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The reason is still not known. However, the people put forward their own version of this, saying that the archangels refused to take their place until an honest, worthy and wise politician appears in Russia! The bell tower and houses for the clergy were also supposed to become part of the cathedral, but when the project was approved, Paul wished to remove them, arguing that there was nothing of this in the Vatican.

Kutuzovsky heart

Monument to Kutuzov M. I. near the Kazan Cathedral. / Photo: infourok.ru
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For most scientists, the main mystery was the location of the heart of the mighty commander Mikhail Illarionovich. Many legends boil down to the fact that only the body of Kutuzov was delivered to Petersburg, and his heart, by the will of the commander himself, was left on the road in Prussia.

Monument to Field Marshal Kutuzov M. I. near the Kazan Cathedral. / Photo: kolpakovs.ru
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But meticulous scientists were not satisfied with this, and those, having decided to get to the bottom of the truth, in 1933 decided to open the grave located in the Kazan Cathedral. What do you think they found there? And there was a jar with an unembalmed "legendary" organ of the commander. Thus, a beautiful legend collapsed to smithereens.
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Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism

Brochure “Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism”./ Photo: tvereparhia.ru
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Kazan Cathedral is one of the most famous sights in St. Petersburg. It belongs to the largest temples of the city and is an ancient architectural structure. Among the monuments in front of the temple, B.I. Orlovsky installed two sculptures - Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly.

The history of the creation of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg

The construction of the cathedral began in the 19th century and lasted for a long 10 years, from 1801 to 1811. The work was carried out on the site of a dilapidated Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. A. N. Voronikhin, well-known at that time, was chosen as the architect. Only domestic materials were used for the work: limestone, granite, marble, Pudost stone. In 1811, the consecration of the temple finally took place. Six months later, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, known for working miracles, was handed over to him for safekeeping.

During the years of Soviet power, which had a negative attitude towards religion, a lot of expensive things (silver, icons, interior items) were taken out of the temple. In 1932, it was completely closed and did not hold services until the very collapse of the USSR. In 2000, it was given the status of a cathedral, and 8 years later, a second ceremony of its consecration took place.

Short description

The temple was built in honor of the Kazan miraculous icon Mother of God, which is its most important shrine. The author of the project adhered to the Empire style of architecture, imitating the churches of the Roman Empire. It is not surprising that the entrance to the Kazan Cathedral is decorated with a beautiful colonnade, designed in the form of a semicircle.

The building stretched 72.5 m from West to East and 57 m from North to South. It is crowned with a dome located at a height of 71.6 m above the ground. This ensemble is complemented by numerous pilasters and sculptures. From Nevsky Prospekt you are greeted by sculptures of Alexander Nevsky, St. Vladimir, Andrew the First-Called and John the Baptist. Directly above their heads are bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the life of the Mother of God.

On the facade of the temple there are six-column porticos with a bas-relief " All-seeing eye", which adorn the triangular pediments. The entire upper part is decorated with a voluminous attic. The shape of the building itself copies the shape of a Latin cross. Massive cornices complete the overall picture.

The main building of the cathedral is divided into three naves (corridors) - side and central. It is shaped like a Roman basilica. Massive granite columns serve as partitions. The ceiling height is more than 10 m, they are decorated with rosettes. To create credibility, alabaster was used in the work. The floor is paved with gray-pink marble in the form of a mosaic. The pulpit and the altar in the Kazan Cathedral have areas with quartzite.

The tombstone of the famous commander Kutuzov is placed in the cathedral. It is surrounded by a lattice, designed by the same architect Voronikhin. There are also the keys to the cities that fell under it, marshal's batons and various trophies.

Where is the cathedral

You can find this attraction at the address: St. Petersburg, on Kazanskaya Square, house number 2. It is located near the Griboyedov Canal, surrounded by Nevsky Prospekt on one side and Voronikhinsky Square on the other. Kazanskaya street is located nearby. A 5-minute walk from the metro station "Gostiny Dvor". The most interesting view of the cathedral opens from the side of the Terrace restaurant, from here it looks like in the picture.

What is inside

In addition to the main shrine of the city (the Kazan icon of the Mother of God), many works by famous painters of the 18th and 19th centuries are kept here. These include:

Sergei Bessonov;
Lavrenty Bruni;
Karl Bryullov;
Petr Basin;
Vasily Shebuev;
Grigory Ugryumov.

Each of these artists contributed to the painting of the pylons and walls. They took the work of Italian colleagues as a basis. All images are in academic style. The scene “The Taking of the Virgin into Heaven” turned out to be especially bright. The renovated iconostasis, richly decorated with gilding, is also of interest in the Kazan Cathedral.

Here's what you need to know:

Ticket price - entrance to the cathedral is free.
Worship services are held every day.
Opening hours - on weekdays from 8:30 to the end of the evening service, which falls at 20:00. From Saturday to Sunday it opens one hour earlier.
It is possible to order a wedding ceremony, baptism, memorial service and prayer service.
Throughout the day, the cathedral has a duty priest, who can be contacted on all matters of concern.
Women need to visit the temple in a skirt below the knees and with a headscarf covered. Cosmetics are not welcome.
You can take photos, but not during the service.

Group and individual tours lasting 30-60 minutes are held daily around the cathedral. For a donation, they can be carried out by the temple workers, there is no specific schedule here. The program includes acquaintance with the history of the temple, inspection of its shrines, relics and architecture. At this time, visitors should not speak loudly, interfering with others and sitting on benches. Exceptions in the Kazan Cathedral are made only for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Schedule of services: morning liturgy - 7:00, late - 10:00, evening - 18:00.

The history of the temple is really very rich! The old church, after the destruction of which the new Kazan Cathedral was erected, was the site of significant events for Russia:

1739 - the wedding of Prince Anton Ulrich and Princess Anna Leopoldovna.
1741 - gave her heart here to Emperor Peter III great Catherine II.
1773 - the wedding of the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and Paul I.
1811 - giving the oath to the troops of Catherine II.
1813 - the great commander M. I. Kutuzov was buried in the new cathedral. The trophies he received and the keys to the cities that fell under him are also stored here.
1893 - the great composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky was buried in the Kazan Cathedral.
1917 - the first and only election of the ruling bishop took place here. Then Bishop Veniamin Gdovsky won.
In 1921, the winter side altar of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes was consecrated.

The cathedral has become so popular that there is even a 25-ruble coin with its image in circulation. It was issued in 2011 by the Bank of Russia with a circulation of 1500 pieces. For its manufacture, gold of the highest standard, 925th, was used.

The greatest interest is nevertheless the main shrine of the cathedral - the icon of the Mother of God. In 1579, a severe fire broke out in Kazan, but the fire did not touch the icon, and it remained intact under a pile of ashes. Two weeks later, the Mother of God appeared to the girl Matrona Onuchina and ordered her to dig up her image. It is still unknown whether this is a copy or the original.

Rumor has it that during the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks confiscated the original image of the Virgin Mary from the Kazan Cathedral, and the list was written only in the 19th century. Despite this, miracles near the icon continue to occur from time to time.

Kazansky Cathedral- this is a very valuable building for St. Petersburg, the analogues of which are almost impossible to find. It is mandatory included in most excursion routes in St. Petersburg, which annually pass thousands of tourists from all over the world. This is an important object of cultural, religious and architectural heritage of Russia.

The Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Kazan Cathedral) in St. Petersburg was built in 1801-1811 by the architect A. N. Voronikhin to store a revered list of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kazan. After the Patriotic War of 1812, it acquired the significance of a monument of Russian military glory. In 1813, commander M. I. Kutuzov was buried here and the keys to the captured cities, standards, banners, Davout's marshal's baton and other military trophies were placed, some of which are kept in the cathedral today. During the construction, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was taken as a model. On the outside of the cathedral there are 182 columns made of Pudost stone, inside the temple there are 56 columns of the Corinthian order made of pink Finnish granite.

Photos are clickable, with geographic coordinates and binding to the Yandex map, 02.2014.

1. Modern view of the Kazan Cathedral from above

2. The original project of the Kazan Cathedral, not completed. It was planned to build two colonnades - northern and southern, only the northern one was realized

3. Panorama of the northern facade of the Kazan Cathedral

5. Pediment "The All-Seeing Eye"

6. The dome of the cathedral. The cross crowning the dome rises 71.6 m above ground level. The Kazan Cathedral is one of the tallest domed buildings. The dome is supported by four powerful pillars - pylons. The diameter of the dome exceeds 17 m. During its construction, Voronikhin, for the first time in the history of world construction practice, developed and applied a metal structure

9. Colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral, includes 96 columns

10. In front of the cathedral in 1837, according to the project of the sculptor Orlovsky, monuments to Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly were erected. During the Great Patriotic War, they were disguised and the soldiers, passing by them, gave them a military greeting. Near the monuments they took an oath of allegiance to the Motherland.

11. Bas-relief "The outflow of water from a stone by Moses in the desert", I.P. Martos

12. Bas-relief "Appearance to Moses in burning bush", P. Scolari based on the model of I. Commander

13. Monument to M.I. Kutuzov

14. The facades of the cathedral are lined with gray Pudost stone. The Pudost stone is a calcareous tuff mined near the village of Pudost in the Gatchinsky district of the Leningrad region (the quarries were exhausted in the 1920s), its deposits date back to the Late Pleistocene and were formed on the site of a small lake. Pudost stone is easily processed and changes color depending on the lighting and weather, taking on various shades of gray and yellowish-gray. The stone is interesting in that the original viscosity was preserved inside, while the outer part acquired the hardness of burnt brick. It took 12,000 cubic meters of Pudost stone to cover the Kazan Cathedral

15. Mummers

16. Capital of the Kazan Cathedral column

17. A person compared to the columns of the Kazan Cathedral, the total number of external columns is 182. The columns are assembled from blocks of Pudost stone, and the joints between them are worn out. Due to the fragility of the stone, immediately after the creation of the columns, it was rubbed with the so-called Riga alabaster, but this did not help the preservation of the corlons.

18. Bronze statue of St. Vladimir, the Baptist of Rus', in his left hand he holds a sword, and in his right - a cross, trampling a pagan altar with it. Sculptor Pimenov S.S., 1807, cast by Ekimov

19. Bronze sculpture of St. Andrew the First-Called, sculptor V.I. Demut-Malinovsky, 1807, cast by Ekimov

20. The two-meter basement of the cathedral and its colonnades is made of huge blocks of Serdobol granite. Stairs leading to the colonnade are made from slabs of red-pink rapakivi granite.

21. Bronze statue of Alexander Nevsky, sculptor S. Pimenov, 1807, cast by Ekimov. At Alexander's feet is a sword with a lion, the emblem of Sweden, and a Russian shield rests on it.

22. Sculpture of John the Baptist, sculptor I.P. Martos, 1807, cast by Ekimov. All four statues took 1,400 pounds of bronze.

23. Bas-relief "Adoration of the Magi" on the northern portico, F.G. Gordeev

24. Each such column weighs 28 tons, height is about 14 meters

25. Capital

26. Column up close

27. Cross on the dome

28. Cathedral pigeons

29. Monument to Barclay de Tolly, from above the high relief "Copper Serpent" by I.P. Prokofiev

30. Bas-relief "Presenting the tablets to Moses on Mount Sinai", P. Scolari based on the model of Laktman

31. The carved portal of the northern doors of the temple is made of Ruskeala marble. The northern gates of the cathedral were cast in bronze on the model of the famous "Paradise Gates" of the 15th century in the Florentine baptistery (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Ghiberti), V. Ekimov. This is a copy, but with mixed plots

32. Bronze compositions on Old Testament scenes on the original in Florence cast from left to right in pairs:
1 "The Creation of Adam and Eve. Their Fall into Exile from Paradise".

2 "The sacrifice of Abel and his murder by Cain".

3 "The killing of the Egyptian by Moses and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt."

4 Abraham offered his son Jacob as a sacrifice to God.

5 "Isaac's blessing of Jacob."

6 "Jacob's sons in Egypt buying bread from Joseph."

7 "Jews in the wilderness and Moses making laws on Mount Sinai."

8 "The enclosing of the ark around the walls of Jericho, the destruction of Jericho."

9 "The defeat of the proud Nicanor, who threatened to destroy Jerusalem."

33. Inside the temple there are 56 columns of the Corinthian order made of pink Finnish granite with gilded capitals. The interior of the cathedral is divided by granite monolithic columns into three corridors - the nave. The central nave is four times wider than the lateral ones and is covered with a semi-cylindrical vault. The side naves are covered with rectangular caissons. The ceiling is decorated with rosettes imitating painting in the form of a stylized flower. They are made of French alabaster, the only material, according to A.P. Aplaksin, "which hardly had anything foreign, except for the name, other materials of non-Russian origin for the entire building ... was not used."

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35. Commemorative plaque with the inscription "The permission of PAUL I began in 1801"

36. Commemorative plaque with the inscription "The care of ALEXANDER I ended 1811"

37. In 1812, honorary trophies were delivered to the Kazan Cathedral: French military banners and the personal baton of Napoleonic Marshal Davout. The Kazan Cathedral began to turn into the first museum of war relics in Russia in 1812 on the initiative of Kutuzov. At the same time, Russia was at war with Persia, and 4 Persian banners taken near Lankaran were delivered to the cathedral. At the beginning of the XX century. in the inventory of the cathedral, there were 41 French banners and standards, 11 Polish, 4 Italian, 47 German, and 5 military badges - 3 French and 2 Italian. Total - 107 banners and standards. Here, on June 11, 1813, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov was buried. Above the grave there are 5 standards and one banner, which have survived to this day. Later, a painting by the artist Alekseev "Miracle from the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow" was placed over the grave. The painting depicts the liberation of Moscow by the militia under the leadership of K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky in October 1612 with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

38. Grave of Kutuzov

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40. After the successful liberation by Russian troops under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly Western Europe From Napoleon, the keys to the French fortresses taken by the Russian troops began to arrive in the cathedral. 97 keys were placed on the walls of the cathedral, most of them are now in Moscow, but 6 bunches of keys are located above the grave of M.I. Kutuzov: from Bremen, Lübeck, Aven, Mons, Nancy and Gertrudenberg