Almost all guests of the Northern capital consider it their duty to admire the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. This Orthodox church is located in the city center, at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the Griboyedov Canal. An island on the Neva, a nearby bridge and a square adjacent directly to the Kazan Cathedral are named after him.
The well-known religious building can impress an inexperienced tourist with its size: its height exceeds 70 m. The temple was built specifically to store the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, according to legend, capable of healing the sick and working miracles.
Architect and sculptor of the Kazan Cathedral
The history of the construction of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg is quite unusual. The famous landmark had a more modest predecessor - the Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God. This stone building, whose construction began in 1733, has become a remarkable example of the Baroque style in architecture. The distinctive characteristics of the church were the bell tower, located directly above the doors, and the dome made of natural wood.
The first architect and sculptor who participated in the creation of the future Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was Mikhail Zemtsov. The Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, built according to his design, was completed four years after the laying of the first stone. Before the first divine service, a deeply revered image of the Kazan Mother of God was transferred to it - an exact copy of the miraculous icon that mysteriously appeared in Kazan at the end of the 16th century. The relic was brought to the northern capital during the reign of Peter I and was previously kept in the Trinity Cathedral.
Of the interesting facts about the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, it is worth mentioning that it was considered "court". Empress Anna Ioannovna herself was personally present at its opening, and in 1773 the future Emperor Paul I was married here. Solemn prayers were regularly held in it in honor of the victories of Russian troops over the Napoleonic army in 1812.
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, Paul I decided to organize a competition for the best version of a new church. The monarch wanted the city to be decorated with an almost identical copy of the Vatican Cathedral of St. Peter. Even the projects of famous architects - Trombaro, Cameron, Gonzago and others - did not impress Pavel. In 1800, Count Stroganov, whose mansion was located near the church, presented to the tsar a sketch of a gifted young master Andrei Voronikhin. He was immediately approved, and the count was appointed head of the board of trustees in charge of construction work.
In 1801, the solemn laying of the first stone of the new building took place in the presence of the already new Russian ruler Alexander I. However, the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built not only according to the project and with the participation of the architect Voronikhin, but also with the help of his talented colleague N. Alferov. It was assumed that in the western part of the temple there would be an entrance, in the eastern part - an altar, and the northern and southern facades would be decorated with monumental colonnades of more than 90 columns with an impressive height of 13 m. However, in practice, only the northern colonnade was completed, and to this day is authentic decoration of Nevsky Prospekt. The columns are set in 4 rows.
The construction of the grandiose cathedral lasted 10 years, and at least 5 million rubles were spent on it. After the completion of the building, the emperor awarded its creator the honorary order of St. Vladimir 4th degree.
After the opening of the new church, the old church was immediately demolished. Further history the cathedral is rather unusual. Notable events include the following:
In 1812, after the victory over the French, about 30 banners left by the defeated Napoleonic troops and obtained as trophies were transferred here for storage. Also, about 100 keys to European fortresses and settlements that surrendered to the mercy of Russian military leaders, their flags and the personal staff of Davout, the commander-in-chief of the enemy army, were delivered to the cathedral. In the northern aisle of the sanctuary, the ashes of the outstanding Russian commander M.I. Kutuzov, a true hero of his Fatherland, are buried.
In the second half of the 19th century, performances and demonstrations of revolutionaries were regularly held on the square in front of the temple. Among them was the famous Plekhanov, the leader of one of the populist groups.
In 1913, during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a stampede took place in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, in which more than 30 people died.
In the first years of Soviet power, the temple became the object of looting: more than 2 tons of silver utensils and other valuables were seized from it. Since the early 1930s, the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism has been located within its walls. Divine services were resumed only after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s.
The appearance of the cathedral and the style of architecture
The cathedral's colonnade is considered a real gem of Nevsky Prospekt. The main highway of the city stretches in the direction from west to east, and Orthodox churches are oriented in the same way during construction. This often creates difficulties for architects. An unusual design solution made it possible to make the lateral - northern - part of the building overlooking the avenue, the front one.
The cross on the dome is also, in accordance with religious canons, turned to the avenue with an edge and is almost invisible from the northern facade. The cathedral itself is made in the form of a traditional Catholic cross.
There is no bell tower in the temple, and the belfry is located in the western part of the colonnade. On both sides of the latter there are large porticoes, as well as two pedestals, on which until the middle of the 19th century there were plaster statues of angels. For facing the facades of the building, an original material was used - lime tuff of a gray hue. It is also called the Pudost stone, since it is mined near the village of Pudost, Leningrad Region.
Opposite the cathedral there are monuments to M. B. Barclay de Tolly and M. I. Kutuzov. Bronze monuments look almost the same: famous military leaders are depicted in full growth and in cloaks, reminiscent of the times of antiquity. However, de Tolly's posture indicates calm, while Kutuzov energetically calls on the army to attack.
At the northern wall of the temple there are 4 bronze sculptural compositions depicting Alexander Nevsky, Prince Vladimir, John the Baptist and St. Andrew the First-Called. Their authors are, respectively, S. Pimenov (the first two sculptures), I. Martos and V. Demut-Malinovsky.
The bronze gates on the northern wall of the building completely copy the well-known "Paradise doors" of the Florentine baptismal house, dating back to the 15th century. The porticoes of the temple attract attention with beautiful bas-reliefs:
- The eastern passage from the side of the northern colonnade is decorated with a bas-relief by Martos, depicting how Moses extracts water from stones during the exodus of the Jews. A bas-relief by I. Prokofiev is symmetrically located above the western passage, dedicated to the erection by the same prophet of a copper serpent in the desert.
- The walls of the building, which have porticoes, are decorated with large bas-reliefs and small panels by sculptors Rashetta, Gordeev, Kashenkov, Anisimov and others. All of them describe the life of the Mother of God and the miracles associated with the icon of Our Lady of Kazan.
Icon of the Kazan Mother of God and the interior of the cathedral
Inside the cathedral is similar to the giant hall of the imperial residence. Monumentality is given to it by more than 50 columns of the Corinthian order, decorated with gilded capitals. The material for these elements was pink granite delivered to St. Petersburg from Finland. The columns divide the interior of the temple into 3 aisles - the nave. The width of the central nave is 4 times the width of the side ones, and the semi-cylindrical vault allows you to visually increase its space even more. The ceilings of the side aisles are organically inscribed with rectangular caissons and rosettes in the form of fantastic flowers, imitating real paintings and made of alabaster.
The mosaic on the floor in the temple is made of natural pinkish and gray marble brought from Karelia. The floor steps of the pulpit and the altar, as well as the pulpit, are lined with coral-crimson porphyry.
Most of the icons of the Kazan Cathedral were painted by the great painters of the late 18th - early 19th centuries: Bryullov, Borovikovsky, Shebuev, Basin, Ugryumov, Bessonov, Ivanov, Kiprensky and others. Their works adorn not only the iconostasis, but also the walls and pylons of the building. All canvases are made in the style of Renaissance artists.
Of the bas-reliefs inside, only two have survived to this day: "Taking into custody" by Rashett and "Carrying the Cross" by Shchedrin. The rest collapsed already 2 years after the victory over the French and were replaced by frescoes and oil paintings.
The iconostasis was created in the 1830s according to the sketch of the architect Ton and finished with captured silver, which the Russian troops got after the flight of the Napoleonic army. During the Soviet era, the precious lining was stolen, but now it has been completely restored. Above the northern and southern entrances there are sculptural compositions depicting the arrest of Jesus and his procession to the place of execution. The main shrine - the face of Our Lady of Kazan - is located on the left side of the Royal Doors.
Opening hours and excursions to the cathedral
The entrance to the temple is free. It is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am (Saturday and Sunday - from 6.30 am) until the end of the evening service. The most convenient way to get to the cathedral is by metro to the Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor stations, and you should get off at the Griboyedov Canal.
Sightseeing tours of the temple, where the guide will tell you about the history of its construction and shrines, last mostly 1.5-2 hours and cost from 600 to 4000 RUB, depending on the number of participants.
The Kazan Cathedral is a unique architectural monument that organically combines the features of Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
In the photo: Kazan Cathedral shortly after its consecration
Story Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg includes several building modifications.
In 1710, a chapel was built on Nevsky Prospekt next to the wooden building of the hospital, and later a wooden church of Our Lady of Kazan. A new stone church was founded by decree in September 1733, built according to the project of M. Zemtsov and was named Rozhdestvensky. A significant decoration of the built church was a multi-tiered bell tower 58 meters high.
On July 2, it was moved here from the Trinity Cathedral. And the Nativity Church began to be called Kazanskaya after the name of the icon. Later, the church received the status of the Cathedral, which became the main temple in the Northern capital.
By the end of the 18th century, the building was dilapidated and it was decided to build a new temple. The Emperor of Russia Pavel I wanted the new temple to be similar to it, and in 1799 a competition was announced for its project.
Sasha Mitrahovich 22.01.2016 11:32
“With what inexpressible delight I greeted the happy morning when I learned that the Empress had entered the capital and was proclaimed the head of the empire by the Izmailovsky regiment, who accompanied her to the Kazan Cathedral among a huge gathering of troops and citizens ready to take her vow of allegiance.”
Sasha Mitrahovich 09.01.2017 11:43
Apparently, it was precisely due to his involuntary participation in the accession of Catherine II that the old Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin was especially unpleasant to Paul I, and when he ascended the throne, he announced a competition for the design of a new one. In fairness, it must be said that objective circumstances also demanded this: on the main street of the capital, the modest Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral looked too unattractive.
The most prominent architects of their time - Charles Cameron, Pietro Gonzago, Jean Thomas de Thomon - took part in the competition for the best design of the cathedral. All of them had to solve a difficult task: the emperor demanded that the new cathedral be similar. This cathedral, seen by Paul I during his travels in Europe in the 1780s, struck his imagination. In particular, he was shocked by Bernini's colonnade, encircling the square in front of the cathedral. Now he wanted such a colonnade to decorate the facade of the Kazan Cathedral. None of the eminent architects could meet the requirements of the emperor. Only the little-known architect A. N. Voronikhin, who came from the serfs of Count Stroganov, succeeded in this. He proposed a solution, thanks to which the temple organically fit into the ensemble of Nevsky Prospekt.
According to Voronikhin's project, the columns were supposed to encircle the cathedral not only from the north (facing Nevsky) side, but also from the south, and around the temple - from the north, south and west - it was supposed to create three squares. But it was not possible to implement this expensive idea, and the colonnade, similar to the Roman one, adorned only the northern facade of the Kazan Cathedral.
Sasha Mitrahovich 09.01.2017 11:50
Preparations for construction began in November 1800, eight days after the approval of the Voronikhin project. "For the construction of the Kazan Church" a special commission was formed, the terms for the construction of the building (three years) and the cost estimate were determined. Immediately, they began to prepare a construction site, on the site of which there were eleven private houses. Their owners were resettled, giving each of the treasury five hundred rubles. The amount is quite sufficient for acquiring a household, and, however, it is interesting to compare it with the annual salary due to Voronikhin - 3,000 rubles.
After clearing the area, the digging of ditches, the pumping of water from the Ekaterininsky Canal (now the Griboyedov Canal), and the strengthening of the capricious St. Petersburg soil with piles began in full swing. In other words, things moved quickly. And a gilded tablet was already ready, announcing that “the most pious, most autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Paul the First of all Russia in his reign of the fifth year, and the Grand Master in the third year, laid the foundation for the holy temple.” But the crown bearer did not live to see the solemn laying of the first stone in the foundation of the temple, he was killed by the conspirators in his own bedroom.
His heir, Emperor Alexander I, had to lay the foundation of the cathedral, which he did - moreover, as if atoning for his guilt before the late father (and only the lazy did not talk about this fault), he was in such a hurry with the laying that he did not even wait for the coronation.
The laying of the Kazan Cathedral took place on August 27, 1801, the coronation of Alexander the Blessed on September 15. Voronikhin's fears that the new emperor would stop the construction of the Kazan Cathedral were not confirmed. Construction continued at the pace set by Paul I - sometimes they did not stop even at night.
Work connected with the Kazan Cathedral was in full swing not only in St. Petersburg. Stone was being broken near Gatchina (it was the so-called Pudost stone, which is often confused with Pudozh stone), marble was broken in the Olonets province, granite near Vyborg. Hundreds of workers - mostly simple peasants - tirelessly created one of the greatest buildings of the era.
But, despite all efforts, it was not possible to complete the construction within the time period (three years) determined by the late emperor. Russia has entered the era of foreign policy conflicts; began, as they would say now, interruptions in funding. Yes, and Voronikhin could not meet the estimate, which is why difficulties constantly arose. Only by the autumn of 1811 was the cathedral ready for consecration.
Sasha Mitrahovich 09.01.2017 11:59
In 1990, the relics were found in the museum depository, which were transferred to the Church in January 1991. A few more months later, the relics of St. Joasaph of Belgorod were discovered in the attic of the Kazan Cathedral, which were considered disappeared.
The Kazan Cathedral (Cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God) in St. Petersburg is located in the very center of the city and, due to its unusual architecture, is deservedly considered one of the symbols of the northern capital of Russia. This largest attraction is the Orthodox Cathedral of the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Church.
Cathedral consecrated in 1811. Construction lasted from 1801 to 1811.
Architect- A.N. Voronikhin.
Address Location: St. Petersburg, Nevsky prospect, 25.
How to get there: Nevsky Prospekt / Gostiny Dvor metro station. Exit from the metro to the Griboyedov Canal. The cathedral is located opposite the subway exit.
Opening hours: Daily. On weekdays - from 7:00 to 20:00 (end of evening service), on Sunday - from 6:30 to 20:00 (end of evening service).
The history of the construction of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
The history of the emergence of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg goes back to the first decade of the 18th century, when a chapel was built next to the hospital. Over time, it was replaced by a church built of wood, erected in honor of the Kazan Mother of God. In the early 30s of the 18th century, by the greatest command of the Empress of the Russian state Anna Ioannovna, a new stone church was laid, which became the main cathedral of St. Petersburg. However, by the end of the 18th century, it fell into disrepair, so it became necessary to build a new one.
This was the period of the reign of Paul I, who wished that the new building of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg would resemble the Roman Cathedral of St. Peter. A competition was announced, for which many famous masters of architecture of that time submitted their works. However, the victory went to the Russian architect A.N. Voronikhin, and in 1801 construction, which lasted 10 years, began. The construction of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was carried out exclusively by Russian serfs, using local building materials. After the victory of the Russian army over the troops of Napoleon, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan became a symbol of the military glory of Russia.
The uniqueness of the design of the Kazan Cathedral was that the temple was built along Nevsky Prospekt and faced it with its northern side. The canons of Orthodox architecture demanded that the entrance be located in the western aisle. The architect Voronikhin found a brilliant solution by building a semicircular colonnade consisting of 96 columns 13 meters into the sky. Vertical flutes covering the columns from top to bottom give them a feeling of lightness and airiness. This grandiose building opens onto the main street of the city of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the lack of funds did not allow the construction of the same colonnade at the southern facade of the Kazan Cathedral.
Until the October Revolution of 1917, regular services were held in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the cross on the dome of the cathedral was replaced with a gilded ball decorated with a spire, and the Museum of the History of Religion was organized in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, which existed until 1991. Later, the exhibits were moved to another room, and the temple was returned to the parishioners. Today, the dome of the temple again crowns the cross, and the belfry has been replenished with a new bell, cast by the masters of the Baltic Shipyard.
Kazan Cathedral - a description of the appearance.
Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg has three entrances, each of which is decorated with a portico, six columns of which support a triangular pediment with bas-reliefs. All-seeing eye". In the niches of the northern facade, parishioners and tourists are greeted by bronze statues of Prince Vladimir, the great Alexander Nevsky, as well as St. John of Kronstadt and St. Andrew the First-Called. In addition, its walls, as well as the walls of the western entrance, are decorated with bas-reliefs on biblical themes. The north gate cast in bronze, which is an exact copy of the “Paradise Gates” of the Florentine baptismal house, also evokes admiration. They are created by the hands of the Russian master Vasily Ekimov.
Another example of foundry art that strikes the viewer with the meticulousness of the details is the cast-iron grate, encircling a small area in a semicircle opposite the western entrance to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Since 1837, an integral part of the architectural complex of the Kazan cathedral and Nevsky Prospekt are bronze-cast monuments to the great Russian commanders M.I. Kutuzov and M.B. Barclay de Tolly.
For the decoration of the facades of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Pudost stone was used, from which most of the buildings and palaces of the city were built. For the manufacture of 56 columns supporting the vaults of the temple, Voronikhin chose the pink granite of the Karelian Isthmus. Foreign experts who were present during the construction of the Kazan Cathedral were delighted with the skill of Russian workers who broke out huge massifs of granite from the rock and processed the columns with great precision, practically without using measuring tools.
Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg inside, photo and description.
Despite the severity and conciseness, the interior of the temple is similar to the palace halls. And the light pouring through the large windows creates the illusion of lightness of the massive dome, which is 16 meters in diameter. Of the original bas-reliefs that adorned the interior of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, only two have survived today, the rest have been lost.
The unique iconostases of all limits, lined with captured French silver, were looted during the years of Soviet power. Today, the former grandeur of the images made by the academicians of painting O. A. Kiprensky, V. K. Shebuev, A. I. Ivanov, and F. P. Bryullov has been restored.
Of course, the main relics of the temple for more than two centuries is miraculous icon Mother of God of Kazan and the tomb of the great commander M. I. Kutuzov. Banners and standards, as well as symbolic keys to the city gates and fortresses of Europe taken during the Patriotic War of 1812, are hung on the lattice surrounding his tombstone, made according to Voronikhin’s sketches.
Many tourist routes around St. Petersburg are laid with a mandatory visit to the Cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God, despite the fact that the temple is active. Therefore, during the tour you need to observe silence and adhere to certain rules of conduct. In particular, photography and video filming inside the temple is prohibited.
Here you can not only get acquainted with the external and internal decoration of this architectural and historical monument, but also to purchase various souvenirs, icons and crosses consecrated in the temple, literature and photographs of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, as well as to put candles. Those who wish can collect holy water. Kazan Cathedral annually attracts those who appreciate the alliance of amazing architecture, indescribable beauty of the building and true faith.
One of the most beautiful Orthodox churches northern capital, erected at the beginning of the 19th century in the central part of Nevsky Prospekt. The Cathedral of the St. Petersburg diocese, which is a temple of Russian military glory and has the status of an object of cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia.
Numerous facts testify to the exceptional significance of the Nativity Church for the reigning house of the Romanovs. It was within its walls that in June 1762 the Synod and the Senate swore allegiance to Empress Catherine II, who came to power as a result of a coup d'état, and later prayers of thanksgiving were served in the temple on the occasion of the end of the Russian-Turkish war (1774) and the brilliant victory of Alexander Suvorov over Turks at Focsani (1789).
By the end of the 18th century, the Church of the Nativity, although it was kept in proper order, nevertheless fell into disrepair, and on Nevsky Prospekt, in addition to the magnificent magnificent palaces of the nobles, churches of other faiths appeared - a Catholic church and an Armenian church, consecrated in the name of St. Catherine. The Nativity Church was inferior to new buildings in elegance, therefore, until the beginning of the 19th century, the question of its reconstruction and decoration was raised several times, but things did not go further than the development of projects for a new cathedral church, in which architects Semyon Volkov, Nikolai Lvov and Giacomo Quarenghi took part.
The heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, also thought about the new temple, which should overshadow all the nearest buildings with its ceremonial appearance. In 1781, the Tsarevich, who went incognito on a trip to Europe, and his wife visited the "eternal city" - Rome, which left an indelible impression on his soul. The heir to the throne was especially struck by St. Peter's Cathedral with a magnificent colonnade, therefore, only three years after ascending the throne, Paul I in 1799 ordered the construction of a new cathedral on the site of the Nativity Church and the wish to consecrate it in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God - the ancestral shrine of the Romanovs .
Competition for the best design and construction of the cathedral
Well-known architects of those years - Charles Cameron, Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon, Pietro Gonzago - took part in the announced competition for the best design of the new cathedral church, but none of the projects of the emperor, who wanted to see a colonnade similar to the Roman one in the design of the new cathedral, impressed, only a distant resemblance to the original in Rome was present in the project of the master of strict classicism Charles Cameron, and it was on his project that the sovereign chose.
But already in November 1800, the autocrat, unexpectedly for everyone, gave preference to the project of the hitherto unknown Russian architect and artist Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin. The project of this architect was presented to Emperor Paul I by Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov, President of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The talented architect, who shortly before received the title of academician of "perspective painting" and taught at the Academy of Arts, was previously a serf of the count, and it was the nobleman who saw the talent in the young man and sent him to study in Moscow, giving him freedom after training. A. N. Voronikhin was able to take into account all the wishes of the autocrat, so the colonnade included in the project of the temple organically fit into the surrounding landscape and united the ensemble of the cathedral with the general architectural appearance of Nevsky Prospekt.
After the approval of the project, a commission was created to supervise the construction of the temple, the chairman of the board of trustees of which was Count Alexander Vorontsov, members - Prosecutor General Pyotr Obolyaninov (favorite of the sovereign) and actual state councilor and vice president of the Academy of Arts Pyotr Chekalevsky, responsibility for the construction of the temple was entrusted to the author of the project Andrei Voronikhin, and control over the observance of architectural subtleties - to the eminent architect Ivan Starov.
According to the cost estimate for the construction of the grandiose cathedral, almost three million rubles were allocated from the treasury and the commission accepted the obligation to build the cathedral in three years.
Immediately after the budget was drawn up, work began on preparing the place for the foundation, after which the solemn laying of the temple was planned. However, the sudden death of Emperor Paul I (he was killed by conspirators in March 1801) pushed back the construction of the cathedral, it seemed, for a long time. But his successor and son, Tsar Alexander I, fully supported his father's plans, so he began his reign with the solemn laying of the Kazan Cathedral, which took place in August 1801 in the presence of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the Grand Dukes and nobles.
For the first time in the history of Russian architecture, foreign masters were not invited to the construction of the Kazan Cathedral and foreign materials were not used. All work, starting with the laying of the foundation, the erection of the temple building and its decoration, was carried out by Russian architects, masons, and artists. The stone for the walls of the temple and its cladding was mined in quarries near Gatchina - the village of Pudost, which is why it received the name Pudost stone, marble for columns and interior decoration - in the Vyborg and Olonets provinces, granite for cladding the basement of the building - near Pyuterlaks.
Along with the construction of the temple itself, painstaking and time-consuming work was carried out to break out, deliver, process and install granite columns for the outer colonnade in their proper places. More than three hundred peasants from St. Petersburg, Vologda and Yaroslavl provinces worked at quarries near Vyborg, breaking out the necessary pieces of granite from the rocks, and after giving them the desired shape, they loaded them onto ships that delivered the stones that had undergone initial processing to the workshop on Konyushennaya Street, where they were given completed columns.
Three years allotted for the construction of the cathedral passed, but the front of work was too extensive, and the foreign policy situation in the empire (Russia at the beginning of the 19th century was in a constant state of war) did not contribute to the rapid completion of construction. In addition, in the process of work, it turned out that the initially allocated money would not be enough, so the government had to issue new banknotes and allocate more than 1.3 million rubles for these purposes. In total, 4.7 million rubles were spent on the construction and decoration of the cathedral.
Nearly ten years after the laying of the temple, work on its construction and decoration was completed, and in September 1811, the rite of its consecration in the presence of the royal family and courtiers was performed by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Ambrose (Podobedov). The main throne, as Tsar Paul I planned, was consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the side aisles - in the name of St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves (northern) and in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (southern). For the main shrine of the cathedral - the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God - on the day of the consecration of the temple, a riza was made of gold and precious stones (diamonds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, corals, emeralds).
For the bell tower arranged in the colonnade of the cathedral, bells were cast, the largest of which was called festive, was decorated with the image of the Kazan Mother of God and weighed more than 4 tons, the second was called polyeleos and weighed a little more than 2 tons, the third - everyday, weighing nearly 1 ton, also, a bell was raised to the bell tower, cast back in 1734 for the first Nativity Church by decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna.
For the realization of a grandiose plan, A. Voronikhin was awarded the Order of St. Anna, II degree, and received a lifetime pension. And after the death of the architect in 1814, a tombstone with the image of the Kazan Cathedral was erected over his grave, located at the Lazarevsky cemetery.
Some time later, the Nativity Church, which was part of the ensemble of the new cathedral, was dismantled, and the cathedral itself was unofficially called the cathedral church of St. Petersburg for a long time, and only in 1858 after the consecration of the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia this status was officially assigned to the new church.
In 1812, a cast-iron grate appeared on the western side of the cathedral - a unique work of cast iron. Created according to the sketch of A. Voronikhin, the 153-meter lattice, made with filigree clarity and the finest sophistication, is a real work of art. Between its figured pillars with flutes resting on a massive base, there are rhombuses with lace patterns, and the top of the lattice is decorated with a frieze with floral ornaments. The unique lattice has survived to this day and is part of the ensemble of the Kazan Cathedral.
The fate of the cathedral in the XIX-XX centuries
The fate of the cathedral from the first days was closely intertwined with the fate of the empire, and he himself became not only the spiritual center of the northern capital, but also a monument to the victories of the Russian army. During the Patriotic War of 1812, before the holy image of the Kazan Mother of God, Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov prayed for victory over the enemy, and as the French were expelled from Russia, the banners and standards of the Napoleonic regiments, as well as the keys to the French fortresses taken by the Russian army, were brought to the cathedral. In total, 107 banners and standards and 97 keys were hung on the walls of the cathedral. It was in the Kazan Cathedral for the first time that a thanksgiving service was served for the deliverance of the Fatherland from the enemy.
The cathedral became the final resting place of the great commander M.I. Kutuzov - in June 1813 he was buried with honors in the north-eastern part of the temple, and a bronze fence was erected over the grave, the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was installed and the coat of arms of the Most Serene Prince of Smolensk was strengthened. The memorial significance of the Kazan Cathedral as a monument to the victories of the Russian army in 1837 was emphasized by the sculptures of commanders M. I. Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly installed at the side portals of the cathedral.
In 1825, the parish of the cathedral was established, covering the territory between the Ekaterininsky Canal and Novo-Mikhailovskaya Street, as well as between the Red, Stone, Konyushenny and Police Bridges of the city and numbering several thousand parishioners. At the end of the 19th century, through the zeal of the clergy of the cathedral, a day shelter for the poor was opened (1871), an almshouse for helpless and elderly women (1881), a free canteen for the poor, crippled and students of an orphanage (1892), a house of industriousness for needy women (1896).
The beautification of the cathedral continued under the following sovereigns, so by the beginning of the 20th century the cathedral was not only repaired twice, but its sacristy was replenished with many gifts from sovereigns and nobles, especially valuable of which were - the Gospel in a silver frame (a gift from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna), a golden chalice, adorned with precious stones (a gift from Empress Maria Feodorovna), a cross made of lapis lazuli (a gift from Sovereign Alexander III), a tabernacle for the main altar, a diskos and a chalice made of Ural stone with platinum ornament (contribution of Count A. S. Stroganov).
The significance of the temple for the reigning Romanov dynasty did not decrease either - at the most crucial moments of the reign, the autocrats always prayed in the Kazan Cathedral (by the way, only in this temple of St. educational institutions prayers and consecrations were performed, the most memorable of which were the ordinations to the rank of bishops Ambrose (Ornatsky), Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) and Macarius (Bulgakov).
Over the years, the cathedral was visited by prominent people of his time - the Russian poet Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky and the Russian writer, philosopher and thinker Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. In 1825, a Russian general, one of the leaders of the Russian army during the Patriotic War of 1812, Count Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich, was buried in the cathedral (Emperor Nicholas I himself was present at the service), and in 1893 - the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Among the many solemn prayer services performed in the Kazan Cathedral from the very day of its consecration, the prayer service for the 300th anniversary of the ruling house of the Romanovs, served in 1913 and marked, in addition to the splendor of the service and the presence of royal persons at the celebrations, was exceptional in pomp and elegance, a huge crowd of people , which is why a tragedy occurred in the cathedral - 34 people were crushed to death by the crowd.
In 1917, the centuries-old foundations of the empire changed - the absolute monarchy was replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the intolerance of the new leaders of the country towards the recent past of Russia resulted in legalized persecution of the church and its ministers. But even before the Kazan Cathedral was closed, in January 1921, Metropolitan Veniamin (Kazan) of Petrograd and Gdov consecrated the “cave” chapel of the temple in the name of the Patriarch of Moscow Hermogenes. And already in 1922, as part of the campaign to confiscate valuables from Orthodox churches, all the property of the cathedral was requisitioned - precious salaries and vestments were barbarously torn off the icons, silver and gold church utensils, liturgical books and vestments of priests were confiscated. Some of the icons were handed over to the State Russian Museum, and the main shrine - a list of the miraculous Kazan icon - after repeated transfers was placed in the Cathedral of St. Prince Vladimir on the Petrograd side.
In the same 1922, the Kazan Cathedral was transferred to the “renovationists” church movement loyal to the new government, and after the closure of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in 1928, the Kazan Church was given the status of the cathedral of the Leningrad Renovationist diocese. In this status, the cathedral existed until January 1932, after which it was nevertheless closed, and already in November of the same year, the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism was opened in the temple building.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the persecution of the church subsided somewhat, which had a positive effect on the fate of the Kazan Cathedral. The atheistically minded leadership of the country had to reduce the degree of intense anger towards religion and return to Russian national traditions, the fundamental element of which has always been the Orthodox faith and the Word of God. In the first year of the war, temples began to open again all over the country, museum exhibits were taken out of the Kazan Cathedral and it became the center of patriotic education for Leningraders. And although worship in the cathedral did not resume, in August-September 1941, soldiers leaving for the front took an oath in front of it, and an exhibition of patriotic posters and paintings was placed in the colonnade. The monuments to the legendary commanders M. I. Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly were not disguised, protecting them from shelling, but left as they are, so that the inhabitants of the city and the soldiers would constantly remember the great past of their Fatherland. To maintain the patriotic spirit, soldiers of the Leningrad Front were brought to the grave of M.I. Kutuzov, and a little later, a bomb shelter, the headquarters of one of the military units, a kindergarten and other organizations were located in the basement of the cathedral.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Museum of the History of Religion was again located in the building of the cathedral, which, by the way, remained almost the only museum of its kind in the country of the Soviets, so in the post-war years it became the place of storage of many church relics transported from the closed Moscow Central Museum of Atheism. Among the priceless relics were the relics of many Russian saints - St. Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, St. Seraphim of Sarov, Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky, St. Joasaph of Belgorod.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the building of the Kazan Cathedral was restored, but it still belonged to the museum. Only in 1990, when the church community was officially registered, led by hegumen Sergiy (Kuzmin), parishioners began a campaign to return the cathedral to believers. Turning to the residents of the city for support, they collected signatures and in 1991 church life in the cathedral was revived. In 1992, the main chapel of the cathedral was solemnly consecrated, in 1994 a cross was erected on the dome, in March 1998, the rite of complete consecration of the cathedral was performed by Metropolitan Vladimir (Kotlyarov) of St. Petersburg, and already in December 1999, the Kazan Cathedral was completely transferred to the jurisdiction Petersburg diocese and in 2000 it was again given the status of the diocese's cathedral church.
The fate of the cathedral today
At present, the Kazan Cathedral is an active temple in which daily, Sunday and festive services are held, the mitred archpriest Pavel Krasnotsvetov serves as rector, the clergy of the cathedral consists of 21 clergy - priests, deacons, psalmists and altars, and in addition to its main shrine - a list of the Kazan icon The Mother of God is revered by the parishioners of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker by Athos painters, relics from Jerusalem and a reliquary with particles of the relics of some saints.
Since April 2015, a cultural and educational center has been functioning at the cathedral, combining all the key areas of church activity - missionary, educational, educational, informational, social. In the structure of the center there are adult and children's Sunday schools, a youth club, a library, an art studio and a choral singing studio for children, there is a lecture hall, and free thematic concerts and exhibitions are held in the crypt of the cathedral.
The appearance of the cathedral and its interiors
Architect A. Voronikhin created a truly majestic building, the architectural ensemble of which is a vivid example of the mature classicism style with Empire elements and still impresses the guests of the northern capital. The temple building, made by Russian craftsmen, has become an amazing monument of architecture and painting, combining both the forms of a Roman basilica and the cross-domed forms of an Orthodox church. Elongated along Nevsky Prospekt for 72.5 meters from west to east and 57 meters from north to south, the building of the cathedral, which has the shape of a four-pointed Latin cross and is crowned in its middle part with a high, slender dome on a drum cut through by windows and decorated with pilasters, on the north side, facing Nevsky Prospekt, is decorated with a monumental colonnade of 96 granite columns of the Corinthian order, ending with massive porticos, which are through passages.
The architect included this decorative element in the ensemble at the behest of Emperor Paul I, who dreamed of seeing a temple in the capital of the Russian Empire, no less majestic than St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, so one common detail - a semicircular colonnade, creates a deceptive impression of the complete similarity of both temples. But this is where their similarity ends, moreover, there is a significant difference between them. If the colonnade of St. Peter's Cathedral plays the role of an element closing the space around the temple, then the colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral is opened towards the avenue and harmoniously blends into the overall architectural appearance of the city's main thoroughfare. The colonnade has another, more important meaning - since the building of the temple is located along the avenue and turned sideways to it, the inclusion of the colonnade in the ensemble made it possible to visually make this part of the cathedral the main entrance, and the portico in its middle part gives the impression that it is there that the main entrance to the back.
The facades of the building and columns are lined with pudost stone, and sculptures and bas-reliefs decorating the side passages, doors and porticos are an important element of the building's decor. Famous sculptors of the 19th century - Ivan Martos, Ivan Prokofiev, Stepan Pimenov, Fyodor Gordeev, Vasily Demut-Malinovsky - worked on the sculptural decoration of the facades of the cathedral and its interiors. The monumental bronze doors of the northern façade facing Nevsky Prospekt are modeled on the “Paradise Gates” of the Baptistery in Florence, and the façade itself is decorated with bronze sculptures depicting the saints - John the Baptist, St. Andrew the First-Called, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and Alexander Nevsky. Bas-relief compositions on the themes of the Old and New Testaments are placed in the attics of the portals and above the altar apse.
The porticoes of the southern and western facades are also decorated with columns, and each of them is decorated with 20 flutes (vertical grooves), creating the impression of lightness, although the weight of each of the columns is almost 28 tons.
Single dome, uncharacteristic for Orthodox churches, did not become a drawback in the appearance of the cathedral, on the contrary, the majestic dome mounted on a high massive drum only emphasized the exceptional importance of the temple as the center of the spiritual life of St. Petersburg.
The interior decoration of the cathedral building, divided by 56 granite columns into three naves, is no less solemn than its facades. Marble, granite, semiprecious stones. So, the mosaic floor is lined with pink and gray Karelian marble, the steps of the altar, pulpit and the base of the royal place - one of the most beautiful natural stones in the world - crimson-colored Shoksha quartzite. The royal gates and the main iconostasis, originally made according to the sketch of A. Voronikhin, were replaced in 1836 with new ones - from the silver taken from the French during the Patriotic War of 1812 (more than 6.5 tons of silver were used in total), and by 1876 the iconostases were updated aisles. The project of the main iconostasis and the Royal Doors was developed by the architect Konstantin Ton, and the icons were painted by famous painters of the 19th century - Vladimir Borovikovsky, Orest Kiprensky, Grigory Ugryumov, Karl Bryullov, Fedor Bruni.
On both sides of the iconostasis there were four columns of jasper, however, after 1922 they disappeared from the cathedral along with the unique iconostasis of K. Ton and the Royal Doors. Nowadays, the iconostasis and the Holy Doors have been restored to the smallest detail from old black-and-white photographs, only in the absence of such an amount of silver as was used in the construction of the iconostasis by K. Tonn, the technique of silver plating was used in the reconstruction. The overall picture of the splendor of the interiors is complemented by wall paintings that adorn the walls and pylons of the temple, as well as a huge bronze chandelier for 180 candles.
Useful information for tourists
The Kazan Cathedral is the current cathedral church of the diocese, so you can visit it and admire the facades and interiors absolutely freely every day, only on weekdays the cathedral is open from 8.30 am, and on weekends from 6.30 am until the end of the evening service.
You can get to the cathedral by metro, getting off at the Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor station (from this station there is a transition to the Nevsky Prospekt station) to the Griboyedov Canal. The building of the cathedral is located just opposite the metro exit.
In 1801, the construction of the Kazan Cathedral began. His project was developed by Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin, the former serf of Baron Stroganov, who eventually managed to become the most skilled architect and "senior professor" of the Academy of Arts.
At the request of Peter I, the Kazan Cathedral, the largest religious building in the Russian capital, was to be made similar to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome - main temple Catholic Europe. This requirement explains the introduction of an external colonnade into the composition of the Kazan Cathedral, vaguely reminiscent of the colonnade of the Roman prototype; its two wings, curved in plan, consist of seventy-two fluted Corinthian columns, bearing an entablature with a balustrade.
However, when designing the cathedral, Voronikhin was guided primarily not by the demand of the tsar, but by urban planning considerations. Therefore, he placed his colonnade on the side of the northern facade of the temple, which, according to the canons of the church, is considered secondary, but faces Nevsky Prospekt, the most important thoroughfare of the city.
The cathedral itself, which has the shape of a “Latin cross” elongated from west to east, stands at some distance from the avenue. But the elastically deployed wings of the colonnade reliably connect the building with the street and at the same time form a small but spacious square in front of the entrance to the cathedral. The continuous construction of the highway breaks here, an additional perspective appears, effectively closing in on the central portico of the colonnade and the dome rising above it on a slender drum. Massive side porticos, as if stopping the rapid run-up of the colonnade to the sides, are located along the axes of the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal and Plekhanov Street, which extend from the prospect. The dome highlights the intersection of important highways in the skyline of the city. The architect managed to organically introduce the building into the "fabric" of the already established quarters and made it the dominant feature of the area.
The composition of the Kazan Cathedral reflected the innovation of Voronikhin the city planner and his ability to understand the situation that had developed earlier, to develop the techniques outlined in the works of his predecessors. Indeed, in the main planning concept of the cathedral, one cannot help but see the development of the system that began to be used as far back as the 18th century when placing religious buildings on the opposite side of Nevsky Prospekt - with an indent from the red line in the gaps between residential buildings. But Voronikhin significantly increased the town-planning significance of this technique, gave it a completely different scale and scope.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the tendency to deepen the ideological and artistic content of works of architecture, to increase their figurative power, intensified. Architecture could achieve this goal in close alliance with the fine arts, whose role in revealing the general theme was to become especially responsible. The Kazan Cathedral was, in essence, the first building in the history of Russian classicism, which embodied a new attitude to the problem of the synthesis of arts.
Sculptures play a very important role in the composition of the facades of the Kazan Cathedral. The most significant of them are located on the northern facade facing Nevsky Prospekt. The attics crowning the side porticoes of the outer colonnade of the cathedral are filled with long bas-relief friezes. The plots of the bas-reliefs are borrowed from the Bible. Above the eastern portico is the relief “Moses flowing water from a stone”, created by I.P. Martos. “The Copper Serpent” is the theme of another relief, executed by I.P. Prokofiev. However, the biblical scenes served the artists only as a pretext for revealing the incomparably more significant and very characteristic theme of classicism of the hero who comes to the aid of his people at a difficult hour. The pathetic heroism of the Frisians and the elevated, major structure of the architecture of the building perfectly complement each other. On the sides of the huge door of the northern entrance to the cathedral, decorated with high reliefs, there are bronze sculptures of princes Vladimir and Alexander Nevsky, John the Baptist and St. Andrew the First-Called in niches. They were cast according to models created by the largest sculptors of classicism - S. S. Pimenov, I. P. Martos, I. P. Prokofiev, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky and A. A. Anisimov. Powerful, severe sculptures, perceived by the viewer from a close distance, are in harmony with the monumental colonnade. The inclusion of statues of real heroes of Russian history along with images of legendary characters, according to the builders of the Kazan Cathedral, should have strengthened the national, patriotic theme.
The construction of the Kazan Cathedral, which lasted ten years, was completed shortly before the start of the Patriotic War of 1812. The major, solemn architecture of the building turned out to be consonant with the heroism of the fight against foreign invaders and the pathos of victory over the enemy. Life itself connected the cathedral with the most important historical events for the fate of Russia, made the building a monument of Russian military glory. From the Kazan Cathedral, after a solemn prayer service, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov went to the active army. And here in June 1813, when the enemy had already been expelled from the homeland, the ashes of the great commander were brought from the small German town of Bunzlau. Kutuzov's body was buried in a crypt built in the northern aisle of the temple; nearby, on special brackets built into the wall, they placed trophy banners and keys to the cities that surrendered to the Russian armies.
The memorial significance of the Kazan Cathedral in 1837 was secured by the installation of monuments to M. I. Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly in front of the side porticos of the outer colonnade. They organically entered the architectural and sculptural ensemble of the cathedral. Bronze figures of commanders, perfectly perceived against the backdrop of colossal portals, were cast according to the models of the sculptor B. I. Orlovsky. Granite pedestals were designed by the architect V.P. Stasov.
According to the compositional solution, both monuments are almost identical: the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 are depicted in full growth, cloaks are thrown over their shoulders, falling in picturesque folds. But the interpretation of each figure has its own characteristics. Barclay's pose embodies watchful expectation. The figure of Kutuzov, on the contrary, seems to be the personification of an offensive impulse: with a decisive gesture of his hand with a marshal's baton, the commander, as it were, gives a signal to his troops to pursue the fleeing enemy.
The secular, civic character inherent in the architecture of the Kazan Cathedral is also characteristic of its interior, reminiscent of a huge palace hall. Rows of high granite columns do not divide, but unite the space of this hall, allowing it to be filled with light pouring from the windows. Triangular in section, domed pillars are placed so well that they are almost invisible to the viewer. Thanks to this, it seems that the dome they support is floating freely at a great height.
In 1810-1811, already completing the construction of the Kazan Cathedral, Voronikhin decided to modify his original plan by designing a second outer colonnade in front of the southern facade of the building. The side porticos of both colonnades were supposed to be connected by a fence surrounding the square created in front of the western main entrance to the cathedral. The outbreak of the war prevented the implementation of this project, and now only a cast-iron grate installed in 1812 reminds of it.
In the "cast-iron lace" of Leningrad, this fence is one of the best decorations. Often placed vertical rods create a kind of neutral background in each of its links, against which dense ornamental "spots" in the form of a rhombus stand out in contrast. At the top of the lattice there is a wide strip of floral ornament, balancing the granite plinth with its mass. The cast-iron links are supported by massive cartelized columns crowned with balls. Their strict rhythm enlarges the scale of the fence. This rhythm is echoed by a wide step of diamond-shaped patterns. And, despite the large length of the fence - 153 meters, the pattern of the lattice does not seem to be either monotonous or small. The fence perfectly withstands the neighborhood with a huge building.
© Architectural and artistic monuments of Leningrad, Art, L., 1982
