Spilled Blood
This
church is known to Petersburgers as the Church of the Savior on the
Spilled Blood - or even just the Church on the Blood - as it marks the
spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt
on March 1, 1881. Designed by Alfred Parland in the style of 16th and
17th-century Russian churches, the Church of the Resurrection provides
a stark (some would say jarring) contrast to its surroundings of Baroque,
Classical and Modernist architecture.
Alexander II died of wounds inflicted in an attack by the terrorist
group People's Will. Immediately, his heir, Alexander II, declared his
intention to erect a church on the site in his father's memory, and
moreover to have this church built in "traditional Russian"
style - in distinction to what he saw as the contaminating Western influence
of Petersburg.
The Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul
The
Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul is the oldest church in St. Petersburg,
and also the second-tallest building in the city (after the television
tower). It is intimately linked to both the history of the city and
to the Romanov dynasty, as it is home to the graves of nearly all the
rulers of Russia since Peter the Great.
Work began on the first, wooden church to be erected on the site just
one month after St. Petersburg was officially founded, and the church
was consecrated on April 1, 1704. In 1712, the current, stone Peter
and Paul Cathedral started to be built, to a design by Domenico Trezzini.
This one took slightly longer to build - 20 years, in fact - and was
consecrated on June 29, 1733.
ST. PETERSBURG
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