What is the Kazan Cathedral dedicated to? The architecture of the Kazan Cathedral in the northern capital

The Kazan Cathedral (Cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God) in St. Petersburg is located in the very center of the city and, thanks to its unusual architecture, is deservedly considered one of the symbols of the northern capital of Russia. This major 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.

The address: St. Petersburg, Nevsky prospect, 25.

How to get there: Metro station "Nevsky Prospekt" / "Gostiny Dvor". Exit from the metro to the Griboyedov canal. The cathedral is opposite the metro 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 Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg dates back to the first decade of the 18th century, when a chapel was built next to the hospital. It was eventually 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 was dilapidated, so it became necessary to build a new one.

This was the period of the reign of Paul I, who wished the new building of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg to resemble the Roman Cathedral of St. Peter. A competition was announced, to which many famous masters of architecture of that time presented their works. However, the victory went to the Russian architect A.N. Voronikhin, and in 1801 the 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 project of the Kazan Cathedral was that the temple was built along Nevsky Prospekt and was facing it with the northern side. The canons of Orthodox architecture required the entrance to be in the western aisle. Architect Voronikhin found a brilliant solution by building a semicircular colonnade, consisting of 96 columns, directed 13 meters into the sky. The vertical flutes covering the columns from top to bottom give them a sense of lightness and airiness. This grandiose building opens onto the main street of the city of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the lack of funds prevented the construction of the same colonnade near 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 the Kazan Mother of God, 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 church is crowned with a cross again, and the belfry has been replenished with a new bell, cast by the masters of the Baltic shipyard.

Kazan Cathedral - description of the appearance.

The Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg has three entrances, each of them is decorated with a portico, six columns of which support a triangular pediment with bas-reliefs of the "All-Seeing Eye". In the niches of the northern facade, parishioners and tourists are greeted with bronze statues of Prince Vladimir, the great Alexander Nevsky, as well as Saints John of Kronstadt and 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 northern gates cast in bronze, which are an exact copy of the "Paradise Gates" of the Florentine baptismal house, also cause admiration. They were created by the hands of the Russian master Vasily Yekimov.

Another example of foundry art, striking the viewer with the thoroughness of the details, is the cast-iron grate, which encircles a small square in a half-circle opposite the western entrance to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Since 1837, bronze-cast monuments to the great Russian commanders M.I.Kutuzov and M.B. Kutuzov have been an integral part of the architectural complex of the Kazan Cathedral and Nevsky Prospekt. Barclay de Tolly.

For the decoration of the facades of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the 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 pink granite from the Karelian Isthmus. Foreign experts who were present at the construction of the Kazan Cathedral were delighted with the skill of the Russian workers, who broke out huge masses of granite from the rock and processed the columns with great precision, practically without using measuring instruments.

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg inside, photo and description.

Despite the severity and brevity, 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, 16 meters in diameter. Of the original bas-reliefs that adorned the interior of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, today only two have survived, the rest have been lost.

Unique iconostases of all limits, faced with trophy French silver, were plundered during the years of Soviet power. Today, the former greatness of the images made by 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 are the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God 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 grate that surrounds his tombstone, made according to Voronikhin's sketches.

Many tourist routes in 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 excursion, you need to maintain silence and adhere to certain rules of behavior. In particular, photography and 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 buy various souvenirs, icons and crosses consecrated in the church, literature and photographs of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, as well as light candles. Those who wish can collect holy water. Kazan Cathedral annually attracts those who appreciate the alliance of amazing architecture, indescribable beauty of the structure and true faith.

Architecture, painting, sculpture

Kazan Cathedral is an outstanding monument of architecture and fine arts. This temple was built by the architect A.N. Voronikhin in collaboration with the best sculptors and artists of the first half of the 19th century.
The cathedral was built in the Empire style, in imitation of the temples of the Roman Empire. Its architecture combines the forms of a basilica (purely Roman) and a cross-domed church. The building stretches from west to east in the form of a four-pointed Latin cross and is crowned with a slender dome in the middle.
The closest in time and style to the prototype of the Kazan Cathedral is St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The outer colonnade from the side of Nevsky Prospect reminds of this first of all. This is the architect A.N. Voronikhin followed the wishes of Emperor Paul I.
Inside, the temple has the shape of a Roman basilica, divided by four rows of granite monolithic columns of the Corinthian order into three corridors - naves.
Outside and inside, the cathedral is richly decorated with sculptures created by the best Russian sculptors. External bronze sculptures by Pimenov, Martos and Demut-Malinovsky represent saints Vladimir, Andrew the First-Called, John the Baptist and Alexander Nevsky. They were cast by the talented craftsman Ekimov. He also cast the northern doors of the cathedral from bronze, which are an exact copy of the doors made by the sculptor Ghiberti for a baptismal house in Florence in the 15th century.
The relief sculptural works both outside and inside were created by sculptors Gordeev, Rachett, Prokofiev and others.
Painting is an integral part of the interior of the cathedral. Artists of the late 18th - early 19th centuries K. Bryullov, Bruni, Basin, Shebuev, Borovikovsky, Ugryumov, Bessonov and others painted the iconostasis of the cathedral, its walls, dome pillars - pylons. All these beautiful works are executed in an academic style, in a manner imitating the masters of the Italian Renaissance. The most remarkable pictorial work in the church is the altarpiece "The Taking of the Virgin into Heaven" by K.P. Bryullov.
Kazan Cathedral became the first church in Russia built by a Russian architect in a purely European style. In it, architecture, sculpture and painting are combined in a unique harmony and grace.
Kazan Cathedral is one of the most remarkable monuments of architecture and fine art not only in Russia, but throughout the world. As the architect A.Aplaksin notes: “Throughout the eighteenth century, we learned from Europe its arts, and only at the beginning of the nineteenth century we had completely independently passed the test of knowledge of European art.

With the Kazan Cathedral, Russia caught up with Europe, having risen to the level of knowledge and the image of beauty. "
The style in which the cathedral was built cannot be defined unequivocally. It is usually defined as the style of Russian classicism in its mature stage. Agreeing that the Kazan Cathedral really has the features of this dominant style in Russia at that time - columns, porticoes, triangular pediments, we also note the specificity of the architecture of the cathedral, which makes it related to other architectural styles. Classicism is, first of all, an imitation of the Greek architecture of its classical Athenian period. There is no desire in it to amaze the imagination with its gigantic size, grandeur, splendor, at least from the exterior. It is a soft, calm, "estate" style. Its typical representatives in Russian architecture are I.E. Starov, C. Cameron, D. Quarenghi, J. Thomas de Thomon, i.e. those architects who participated in the competition for the best design of the cathedral, and whose projects did not receive approval from Paul I. The architecture of the Kazan Cathedral also goes back to the classics, but not to the Greek, but to the Italian, Renaissance times, and not to its early form - Florentine, and not to the late - Venetian, but to the high "Roman" Renaissance. This metropolitan sovereign style is combined in the Kazan Cathedral with the features of another, also sovereign, Empire style ("imperial") that has just been born in Europe.
Aplaksin writes: “Voronikhin conceived his project in the style of high Renaissance, but no matter how hard he tried to remain unchanged to his task, he could not overcome the influence of his era, and on the Kazan Cathedral there is a very noticeable touch of the Empire style, modern to the author of the style. the main theme, on the contrary, makes it more vital and truthful. Every work of true art should reflect an era in itself. " The Empire style is reflected in the use of straight floors: passages, doors, windows are blocked horizontally, which is typical for the Empire style. Empire style and all the ornamentation of the cathedral.
The columns and pilasters decorating the temple are all of the Corinthian order. The cornices are also made according to the proportions of the Corinthian order. Above the cornices there is an attic, sometimes turning into a balustrade. The outer columns, lined with Pudost stone, are covered with flutes - vertical grooves (each column has 20 flutes), which gives the impression of lightness, although each column weighs about 28 tons. The height of the outer column is about 14 m, the lower diameter is 1.45 m, the upper one is 1.1 m. The colonnade on the side of Nevsky Prospekt consists of 94 columns, the portico on the south side of the cathedral has 20 columns, the portico on the west side has 12 columns.

The total number of columns forming the colonnade and the portico is 136. In terms of the plan, the cathedral has a cross-domed shape based on a Latin cross. The length of the cathedral from west to east is 72.5 m, from north to south - 57 m. The width of the central part - from the dome to the western doors - is about 2 times less.
The interior of the cathedral is divided by monolithic granite columns into three corridors - naves. The central nave is four times wider than the side naves and is covered with a semi-cylindrical vault. The side aisles 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 APAplaksin, "which hardly had anything foreign, except for the name, other materials of non-Russian origin for the entire building ... were not used."
There is an interesting mosaic floor of the cathedral, laid out with gray and pink Karelian marble. The floors and steps of the altar and pulpit, the base of the royal place and the pulpit are faced with crimson Shoksha quartzite (porphyry), which was highly valued all over the world. The Russian government donated slabs of this stone to France for the facing of Napoleon's sarcophagus in Paris. All these rocks, together with black shungite slates, were also used as inserts in the floors of the cathedral. As already indicated, during the construction of the cathedral, practically no foreign materials were used. In this regard, the Kazan Cathedral can rightfully be considered a museum of Russian natural stone, which is the great merit of both Voronikhin and Stroganov, who wanted to use only domestic minerals in the construction of the cathedral.
It should be noted that the distribution of marble colors on the floor and the shape of the marble mosaic are linked to spatial solutions. In the domed part, the floor is designed in the form of diverging circles, repeating the lines of the dome and vaults, which gradually taper upwards. In the main nave, the floor pattern - alternating colored stripes of gray, black and red octagonal tiles - accentuate the elongation of the space.
The cross-domed solution of the architecture of the temple is especially clearly seen in its interior. The building stretches from west to east in the shape of a Latin cross and is crowned with a dome in its midsection. The dome has a light graceful shape and 16 windows are located along its drum through which light enters the cathedral. The same role is played by the numerous windows located along the perimeter of the temple. The dome has two vaults: the lower one, clearly visible from the inside of the temple, and the upper, outer one, covered with tin. The inner dome was originally painted.

The cross crowning the dome rises 71.6 m above the ground level. 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 building practice, developed and applied a metal structure.
The building of the Kazan Cathedral is a magnificent synthesis of architecture and sculpture. However, Voronikhin's plan was not fully realized, not all elements of the sculptural decoration have survived to this day. And yet, the sculptural decoration of the cathedral attracts special attention.
You should immediately make a reservation. In contrast to the Western, Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, since Byzantine times, has rejected religious worship of sculptural images of saints, recognizing only picturesque and mosaic icons. True, in ancient Russian churches, especially in Kiev and Vladimir, one can see a rich sculptural ornament from the outside. But it, as a rule, is of animal and vegetable character and is a decorative decoration of the temple. One can also recall the church wooden sculpture in the northern Russian churches of the 15th-17th centuries, especially in the Perm land. But the Church did not consider these images canonical. Of course, such prohibitions were not dogmatic. It is rather a church tradition. However, the Orthodox Church has always been extremely careful about the observance of traditions.
From the end of the 17th century, and especially from the times of Peter the Great, this tradition began to be disrupted under the influence of European culture. Temples, especially iconostases, are beginning to be decorated with wooden carved sculptures, in which our masters have achieved the greatest art. But these images were also not equated with icons, but rather served as an adornment of the temple, like paintings on religious subjects. In the era of classicism, round - marble or bronze sculpture - already plays a prominent role in the decorative design of temples. In this respect, the Kazan Cathedral is one of the brightest Orthodox churches in Russia. 11 sculptors worked here, the names of which were widely known to the entire artistic world of Russia.
Sculptural work was carried out mainly from the outside of the cathedral. These works can be divided into two groups: relief and round sculpture. Outside, there are fourteen large and small bas-relief panels. All of them are carved from Pudost stone, facing the outer walls of the cathedral.
The altar attic - on the eastern outer side of the cathedral - is decorated with a colossal bas-relief sculpture by Jean-D. Rachette "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem".

On the north side of the cathedral, i.e. from the side of Nevsky Prospekt, on the attic of the eastern passage, there is a bas-relief by the great sculptor I. Martos on the Old Testament plot "The removal of water from a stone by Moses in the desert". Above the western passage there is a bas-relief of the same size by professor of sculpture IP Prokofiev "The Raising of the Brass Serpent by Moses in the Desert". The dimensions of these two bas-reliefs (14.91 mx 1.42 m).
In the center of both compositions - the leader and prophet of the Old Testament Israel Moses, who led the Israelite people out of Egypt. For forty years, under his leadership, the Israelites went to the Promised Land - Palestine. When the people began to languish with thirst, Moses drew water from it by touching the rock with the rod. When on the threshold of the Promised Land the Israelites began to murmur against the Lord, the desert boiled with snakes. At the behest of God, Moses ordered to erect an image of a serpent from copper and everyone who looked at it remained alive.
For Christians, the brazen serpent has a representative meaning. According to the Savior's word: "As Moses lifted up a snake in the wilderness, so I must exalt the Son of Man, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (Gospel of John, 3: 14-15). Each composition consists of forty dynamic human figures. On the side of the square, on the attic of the western passage, there is a bas-relief made by the Italian sculptor Scoliari "Giving the Tablets to Moses", and on the attic of the eastern passage there is a bas-relief by his own work "The Burning Bush". The fireproof bush - the Bush, in the form of which the Lord appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb (Sinai), according to the Orthodox theological tradition, symbolizes the eternally Pure and Immaculate Mother of God. The tablets are stone tables received from the Lord on the same mountain by Moses, which contained the ten commandments, on which the Old Testament morality is based, which became the main morality of all people who worshiped the One God.
In addition to five large bas-reliefs on the three walls of the cathedral, which have porticoes, there are 12 small bas-relief panels of almost square shape. Work on them was completed in 1807. All of them are dedicated to the deeds of the Most Holy Theotokos and the miracles of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Four bas-reliefs facing Nevsky Prospect were made by the then rector of the Academy of Arts FG Gordeev. These are "Annunciation", "Adoration of the Shepherds", "Adoration of the Magi", "Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt".
On the western portico there are bas-reliefs: "The Assumption of the Mother of God", "The Taking of the Mother of God into Heaven", "The Protection of the Mother of God", "The Appearance of the Image of the Kazan Mother of God". They were made by sculptors Kashenkov, Rachett, Vorotylov, Anisimov, respectively.

On the southern portico there are bas-reliefs "The Conception of the Mother of God" and "The Nativity of the Mother of God" by Martos, "Introduction to the Temple" and "The Betrothal of the Mother of God to Joseph" by Rachette. Architect A.Apleksin writes about these bas-reliefs: "They are all so good and original that it is difficult to find the best among them, but they seem especially interesting:" Annunciation "," Adoration of the Shepherds "," Assumption "and" Appearance of the Kazan Icon ".
Speaking of the round sculpture that adorns the northern facade of the cathedral, four statues cast in 1807 by master Yekimov should be noted. On the left side there is a bronze statue of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, and on the right - the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Both statues were made by a remarkable sculptor academician S.S. Pimenov. These are the saints of the Russian Church. They are the warriors who guard the temple from the encroachments of the infidels. Saint Vladimir, the Baptist of Russia, holds a sword in his left hand, and a cross in his right, trampling on the pagan altar. It is curious that the clearing of this statue was carried out by the artist Semyon Tyeglev, who to the statue of St. Vladimir "added a very rich antique altar, decorated with ornaments and bas-reliefs that are decent to it," to replace the stump. The statue of St. Alexander Nevsky, who defended the Russian land and the Orthodox faith from the German and Swedish Catholic knights, depicts him after a victorious battle. At his feet is a sword with a lion, the emblem of Sweden. The Russian shield rests on it.
Closer to the north entrance to the cathedral, there are two more statues. On the left side - Saint Andrew the First-Called, on the right - Saint John the Baptist. As Voronikhin put it, these are the saints "who are closest to Christ, God-preceding and God-following." The statue of St. Andrew the First-Called was made in 1809 by Academician V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, the statue of St. John the Baptist, considered the best of the sculptural works of the Kazan Cathedral, Associate Rector of the Academy of Arts I. P. Martos. All four statues took 1,400 pounds of bronze.
It is pertinent to note the fact that the mentioned four statues were not the only ones that were supposed to decorate the facades of the cathedral. Statues of Moses (Prokofiev and Vorotylov), the Apostle Paul and the Prophet Elijah (Demut-Malinovsky) were prepared for the niches of the western portico. But just like the southern colonnade of the cathedral, which was not erected due to lack of funds, these statues were not installed.
The same can be said about the statues of the archangels Gabriel and Michael, who for thirty years stood in front of the cathedral on granite pedestals at the passageways of the colonnades. From the history of the cathedral it is known that the original composition of the statues belonged to Voronikhin and by the day of the consecration of the temple they were installed by I. Martos, cast from plaster and painted in bronze.

However, due to insufficient equipment of the foundry workshop of the Academy of Arts, they could not be cast in bronze. Over time, the statues collapsed. In 1910, the Kazan Cathedral Jubilee Restoration Commission, through its chairman, the cathedral rector, Archpriest Sosnyakov, attempted to restore the Martos angels, but due to material reasons, this issue remained unresolved.
Finally, speaking of the external sculpture of the cathedral, it should be noted that the central link of the sculptural decoration of the northern facade is bronze doors framed with marble. They represent a copy of the doors of the Florentine temple, the glorified Battistero (from the Latin Baptisterium - baptismal house).
At the end of the XIV century. the government of the Florentine Republic and the corporation of Florentine merchants decided to decorate the newly built church with bronze doors depicting some scenes from the Old Testament. The manufacture of these doors was commissioned by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1403. The master worked for 21 years to create this masterpiece.
The doors caused general admiration. In the words of Michel-Angelo, they were worthy to become the Gates of Paradise. In 1452 the doors were gilded and installed in the doorway of the Baptismal House. Ghiberti created 10 bronze compositions on the doors on the Old Testament subjects. The arrangement of these compositions, if you count them from the top, in pairs, from left to right, will be in the following order:

1. "Creation of Adam and Eve. Their fall into exile from paradise."
2. "The Sacrifice of Abel and His Killing by Cain".
3. "The Murder of the Egyptian by Moses and the Exit of the Jews from Egypt".
4. "The offering by Abraham as a sacrifice to God of the son of Jacob."
5. Isaac's blessing to Jacob.
6. "The sons of Jacob in Egypt buying bread from Joseph."
7. "Jews in the Desert and Moses Passing Legislation on Mount Sinai."
8. "The enclosure of the ark around the walls of Jericho, the destruction of Jericho."
9. "The defeat of the proud Nikanor, who threatened to destroy Jerusalem."
10. "Meeting of Solomon with the Queen of Sheba".

When the construction of the cathedral was completed, the construction commission decided to reproduce the plaster cast of the doors, donated to the Petersburg Academy of Arts by N.A. Demidov, in bronze.

The casting and embossing of this copy was entrusted to "the foundry and chasing master of the Academy of Arts Vasily Ekimov". He was given 182 pounds and 39 pounds of copper to work. But, having entrusted Ekimov with the casting of the gate, he was not given a consultant. Not knowing the sequence of the depicted plots, Yekimov placed "Italian paintings" rather arbitrarily.
The first four panels are arranged in the same way as in Ghiberti, and the rest are in the following order: 10, 7, 6, 5, 8, 9. This error does not really matter, firstly because Ghiberti himself does not have clear chronological sequence. Secondly, when considering the panels, their content is far from immediately clear, since Ghiberti, following the Italian style of the Renaissance, was accustomed to surrounding biblical characters with the accessories of contemporary Italian life. A special merit of Ghiberti was that he strove to endow plastic with perspective, i.e. a means that until that time was considered the exclusive accessory of painting. V. Ekimov also brilliantly succeeded in this task. The ornamentation of frames and door trims belongs to Voronikhin and is made of marble.
Concluding our review of the cathedral's exterior, we note the lights placed on the temple pediments, of which two - on the western and southern porticos - are carved from stone, and on the north - from gilded bronze. In addition to the external bas-reliefs, inscriptions consisting of bronze letters were placed on black slate boards. They were also placed in the friezes of the passageways and in the friezes of each portico. There were eighteen inscriptions in total. They all praised the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos. Above the passageway of the eastern wing of the colonnade was placed the inscription: "It is worthy to eat as truly blessed Theotokos", above the passageway of the western wing: "The Most Blessed and Most Immaculate and Mother of Our God." In the frieze of the northern portico the inscription: "Blessed is the One Coming in the Name of the Lord", in the frieze of the western portico: "Open the doors to us", in the frieze of the southern portico: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth." Above the main doors of the northern portico there is an inscription: "Gracious Rejoice, the Lord is with You", above the right doors: "Blessed are you in women and blessed is the fruit of your womb", above the second doors on the right side: "This will be the Great and the Son of the Most High will be called." On the left side of the main gates above the first doors: "The Holy Spirit will find on You and the power of the Highest will overshadow You", above the second: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in Boz, my Savior." Above the middle doors of the western entrance there is an inscription: "This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous will enter nya." Above the doors on the right side of the middle: "Wondrous is God in His Saints, the God of Israel", on the left side: "In the churches, bless the Lord God."

In the wall of the southern portico there are inscriptions, in the middle: "Sing the Lord a new song, as the Lord has done wondrously", above the first door on the right: "Sing the praise of His church of the reverend", above the second on the right: "And see His glory as the Only Begotten from the Father." Above the first door, to the left of the middle entrance: "Enter into His gates in confession, into His palaces in singing," above the second: "The true light enlightens every person who comes into the world." All bronze gilded letters - 174 large and 575 small. They were cast in a bronze factory at the Academy of Arts. When the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism appeared in the building of the temple, all the inscriptions from the walls of the temple were removed.
Moving on to the internal sculpture of the temple, we note that according to Voronikhin's project, there should have been much more of it than has come down to us. A lot of sculptural works that were originally here perished as a result of the catastrophe of 1814. Due to the dampness in the unfinished building, the plaster began to crumble together with the stucco molding and most of it was replaced in 1820 by decorative painting. The sculptural works placed on the frieze and the bas-reliefs in the drum of the dome, depicting the twelve holidays, were removed and replaced with fresco painting in the grisaille technique. Replaced with oil painting and sculptural work depicting four evangelists in the sails of the dome by Prokofiev, Moiseyev, Shchedrin and Goshar.
Of the entire internal sculpture, only two bas-reliefs remained, placed above the northern and southern entrances. On the north side: "The Taking of Christ in the Helicopter by the Soldiers" by J.-D. Rachette, and on the south - "The Procession of Christ to Calvary" by F. Shchedrin. These are magnificent bas-reliefs that emphasize the significance of the loss of the bulk of the sculpture in 1814. The first composition reproduces the moment when Christ, abandoned by all, was captured by the soldiers brought by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane (helipad).
The figure of the Apostle Peter is expressive, drawing a short sword and trying to protect his Teacher. The sculpture depicts the holy apostle in impetuous movement, which perfectly characterizes the devoted soul of the Supreme Apostle Peter.
Another bas-relief depicts the Savior's journey of the cross to Golgotha. In the center of the composition is Christ falling under the weight of the cross. A touching impression is made by a group of myrrh-bearing wives to the right of Christ and the kneeling Evangelist John, Christ's beloved disciple.
Analyzing the painting of the Kazan Cathedral, we note, first of all, that all the paintings in the temple were performed by the artists of the academic school, but who began to create in different eras. Therefore, by their nature, their work is markedly different from each other.

According to the generally accepted assessment, the most significant artists among the painters who worked in the cathedral are Borovikovsky, Shebuev, Bessonov, Ugryumov, Ivanov, Kiprensky and Bryullov.
For all the similarity of the manner of their writing, developed in the halls of the Academy of Arts, each of them has a pronounced artistic individuality.
The most characteristic of the time and style of the Kazan Cathedral are the paintings by V.L. Borovikovsky, who owns the iconography of the Tsar's Doors of the Main Iconostasis and four more icons depicting the Holy Great Martyr Catherine, Saints Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, Tsar Constantine and Tsarina Elena. Currently, the church houses his works on the Royal Doors and the image of St. Catherine.
Immediately, we note that these works, like the works of other artists of this era, do not at all look like old Russian icons. In essence, it is more of a painting on religious subjects that was formed within the walls of the Academy of Arts under the influence of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist, first of all, Raphael, canonized by the Academy. Even the best, talented painters and sculptors of that era, for all their undoubted religiosity and love for religious subjects, were secular artists and transferred this secular spirit into their creations that adorned temples.
They glorified not God, but His creation - nature and, above all, man. Proceeding from the formally understood position about man as the likeness of God, they came to the opposite conclusion that God is the likeness of man and, although the most pious of them would theoretically be horrified by such a heretical thought, in practice it all came down to this. They were undoubtedly influenced by the images of the Greco-Roman gods, whose statues were found in huge numbers during excavations in Italy in the 15th-18th centuries. This kind of images of Christ, the Mother of God and saints, to some extent acceptable in secular painting, of course, had a detrimental effect on the development of icon painting in the Catholic world. The icon disappeared into a beautiful painting. It should be noted that most of the popes and the Jesuit Order encouraged this process in every possible way. The Protestants, however, from this process of the secularization of the icon, drew extreme conclusions and embarked on the path of direct iconoclasm.
Despite the enormous influence of the Italian classical school on the development of Russian painting, it should be noted that this influence was not absolute.
Russian painters, taking up the writing of icons, tried in every possible way to avoid gross glorification of the flesh, they strove to express unearthly beauty with earthly means extremely subtly and delicately.

Hence the preference for the "divine Raphael" completely pagan images created by Michel-Angelo or Rubens. In this sense, Borovikovsky was one of the most subtle and talented artists.
His painting clearly shows the influence of Raphael and earlier artists of the Renaissance, in whose works the carnal principle has not yet prevailed over the spiritual. Compared to his predecessors and many of his contemporaries, Borovikovsky moves away from the strict canons of classicism towards sentimentalism and early romanticism. His painting is softer, more tender, "more intimate" than the painting of Ugryumov or Shebuev. At the same time, the influence of the frivolity of the Elizabethan Rococo style remains in his icons.
In this regard, the image of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is especially characteristic. The Holy Great Martyr Catherine, whose name in Greek means "eternally pure", lived at the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries. in the Egyptian city of Alexandria - the center of education of that time. According to legend, she came from a royal family, was the daughter of the ruler of Xanthos, shone with a rare mind, beauty, education and moral purity. The life of Saint Catherine also testifies that she was distinguished by a passionate thirst for knowledge of the truth, which she unsuccessfully tried to find in the books of the pagan sages. Having learned philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and other sciences, she could not satisfy her ardent spirit with them and, on the advice of her mother, a secret Christian, turned to a certain hermit Christian, who instructed her in the true faith, after which she was awarded a wonderful vision, in whom Christ Himself called her his bride and, as a sign of His betrothal, gave her a precious ring.
At this time, the emperor Maximinus, a fierce enemy of Christianity, under which the persecution of Christians reached its climax, was staying in Alexandria. Appearing to the emperor, Saint Catherine denounced the errors of the pagans and openly confessed her faith to him. Seduced by her beauty, the emperor tried to persuade her to paganism and even arranged a dispute, to which he invited 50 pagan philosophers and orators. However, she turned out to be superior to all philosophers in her knowledge, the power of words and "strength of mind". The result of the dispute was that the philosophers themselves recognized the truth of Christianity. Then the tsar tried to seduce Saint Catherine with marriage and power, but failing in this too, he betrayed her to public torture, and then threw her into prison, testing her with hunger. But the Lord, even in prison, did not leave His bride without care and, appearing before his tormentor two days later, the saint still shone with beauty and was calm and strong in spirit. The angry tormentor gave orders to wheel and behead the saint. Seeing this suffering, the wife of King Augustus, the commander Porfiry and 200 soldiers also turned to Christ and were executed.
The relics of Saint Catherine (head and left hand) are in the monastery on Mount Sinai. This is one of the holiest places for Christians around the world.
Commemoration of Saint Catherine is celebrated on November 24 / December 7. This is the name day of all Orthodox women who bear the name Catherine.
The image of the great martyr, created by Borovikovsky, strikes with a subtle combination of heavenly and earthly beauty. Thin and, at the same time, bright color, golden hair, delicate skin and gaze directed to Heaven create this unique harmony of the earthly and the Heavenly. The splendidly drawn texture of the luxurious royal clothes obscure the gloomy instruments of execution - the sword and the wheel - from the worshipers. Of course, this is not an Orthodox icon in a strictly canonical sense, but it is a high work of art, imbued with a deep religious feeling. It is no coincidence that for a long time the image of St. Catherine, painted by Borovikovsky, was copied by many artists.
The same can be said about the images of the evangelists created by Borovikovsky for the Royal Doors of the main iconostasis. The beautiful faces of the pensive Evangelist Matthew, immersed in his work, the dreamy face of John, imbued with deep faith, the intelligent, courageous, open face of Luke and, finally, the completely absorbed creation of his Gospel, the slightly stern face of the Evangelist Mark - all these are masterpieces of Russian religious painting of the early 19th in.
I would like to especially dwell on the Face of the Most Holy Theotokos from the composition "Annunciation". This image shows a clear departure from the principles of classicism and the transition to realism. The ideal expression of the image of the Mother of God for Borovikovsky is not the face of a certain goddess, shining with ideal earthly beauty, which was typical for the work of Catholic artists, but the simple, kind face of a young peasant woman immersed in humble prayer. Borovikovsky, as it were, anticipates early realism, not devoid of features of sentimentalism in the images of peasant women created by Venetsianov.
The works of V. Shebuev, representing the Three Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, placed in the dome pylons, are of a different character. VK Shebuyev is one of the founders of Russian historical painting, although his best works are devoted to religious painting.
The images of the Three Saints were recognized as the best works of Shebuev in the Kazan Cathedral.

Saint Basil the Great, whose image is placed on the southeastern pylon, is one of the greatest Church Fathers who laid the foundations of Orthodox theology. A man who possessed the deepest knowledge in the field of various sciences, he preferred asceticism in the Egyptian, Palestinian and Mesopotamian deserts to the quiet life of a venerable theologian, and only at the end of his short life became Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia in Asia Minor. He fought the then influential heresy of the Arians, for which he was persecuted.
Composed a liturgy named after him. He wrote a number of dogmatic works, of which the treatise "On the Holy Spirit" should be noted. He died in 379 at the age of 50. Commemoration of St. Basil the Great 1/14 January. The Kiev prince Vladimir took the name Vasily in holy baptism.
On the Shebuev icon, the Saint is depicted kneeling in the altar, dressed in a priestly robe, with an omophorion over his shoulders, raising his hands to heaven. Before him is a throne with the Holy Gifts, above which a white dove hovers - a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Next to the saint, a young deacon is depicted, in affection he put his right hand to his chest. The Council of the Academy of Arts recognized this work as the best of the three Shebuev's works and instructed the artist Utkin to reproduce this image by engraving on copper.
On the northeastern pylon is the image of St. Gregory the Theologian.
Saint Gregory was born around 328, like Saint Basil the Great in Cappadocia, and was brought up by his parents, especially his pious mother Saint Nonna, in the spirit of Orthodox Christianity. He received an excellent education in Athens, where he met Saint Basil, with whom he remained in friendship for the rest of his life. For a long time the friends stayed together in the wilderness and, according to St. Gregory, "lived luxuriously in suffering," that is, in exploits and asceticism. "Both had one exercise - virtue, and one condition - before leaving here, to live for the future, renouncing this here" - writes the Orthodox theologian G.V. Florovsky about them. At the same time, he highly appreciated "wisdom", that is. philosophy. "Learning should not be humiliated, as some people argue about, - on the contrary, you need to see everyone like yourself in order to hide your own shortcomings in the general lack and avoid exposure of ignorance." Developing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, struggling with numerous heresies, he was constantly subjected to severe persecution by the enemies of Orthodoxy, even to the point of encroachment on his life. Only for a short time did he occupy the chair of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. At his own request, the 11th Ecumenical Council (381) dismissed him from the Constantinople See. He spent the rest of his days in his homeland in Cappadocia, leading a strictly ascetic lifestyle and continuing to engage in theological works.

Saint Gregory died in 389. His relics were transferred to Constantinople in 950. Some of them were transferred to Rome. The memory of St. Gregory the Theologian is celebrated on January 25 / February 4. On the icon, painted by Shebuyev, St. Gregory is kneeling. With his left hand, he supports the black hood removed from his head. His prayer gaze is directed upward. Behind him is a young warrior wearing a royal crown. This is probably the pious Emperor Theodosius, who restored Orthodoxy in the Roman Empire, persecuted under the Emperor Valentes. The king is accompanied by three elders, dressed in armor and lost in thought. Behind the saint, an elderly sexton is busy fanning the censer, the subdeacon with a burning candle plunged into prayer.

Among Ugryumov's other works, mention should be made of the Image of Christ the Savior located to the left of the Royal Doors of the Nativity of the Mother of God iconostasis, worthy of the brush of K.P. Bryullov himself. Christ is written in full height. He looks brightly and openly at the worshipers. When you look at His pure and beautiful face, all earthly sorrows are forgotten and you want to follow Him and the big Cross, which He holds in His left hand. He beholds all "afflicted and burdened" who have come to Him for truth and mercy.
Ugryumov's works include a small, beautifully painted icon-painting "Adoration of the Magi". Aged in a revivalist spirit, it can be compared with the best Italian works of the masters of the late Renaissance.
Finally, let us note the masterpiece of religious painting in the Kazan Cathedral - the altarpiece of KP Bryullov "Taking the Mother of God into Heaven".

Karl Pavlovich Bryullov - the greatest Russian artist of the first half of the 19th century. Along with Pushkin and Glinka, he is one of the geniuses of that era, so rich in diverse talents. According to A. Aplaksin: "His works, like the works of his peers, Pushkin and Glinka, are distinguished by their purity, crystalline purity, beauty that was not subsequently achieved by Russian artists. His work is beyond time and place.
Neither the style of the era, nor his homeland had any influence on him, he was admired by the pure, crystalline forms of the great universal examples of ancient and Italian art. "Indeed, you can't say better!" Universal examples of art. "Of course, this should be characteristic of the descendants of French Huguenots who moved to Germany, and from there to Russia.And Russia not only gave shelter to the Franco-German surname Brullo, but also contributed to the greatest flourishing of the talents of its representatives.Karl Bryullov, like Pushkin and Glinka, is a genius of a world scale, but unlike them without a certain national coloring. He could be born and create in any country, but his true homeland, the homeland of his spirit, was Italy. It is no coincidence that he went to die in Rome. His idol was Raphael. This is what he wrote about the Sistine Madonna, whom he saw twenty-four years, being in Dresden: "... the more you look at this picture, the more you feel the incomprehensibility of these beauties, every feature is thought out , full of expression. Grace is combined with the strictest style. "
The Mother of God of the Kazan Cathedral, written by Bryullov, is his Madonna. Her image appeared in his mind long before 1836, when he was commissioned to paint Her altarpiece. And although the artist himself was dissatisfied with his work, one can see in it what he himself said about the Sistine Madonna: "Grace is combined with the strictest style ...". The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is thematically close to the Orthodox Assumption. But what a huge difference in the manner of the artistic embodiment of this plot in the old Russian icons and in the painting of the genius Russian-European artist! High above the earth on a light cloud stands the Bryullov Mother of God. Two Archangels in the form of ethereal spirits support Her. Cherubim carry the cloud upward on their heads. The entire pictorial group expresses a rapid upward movement. The Mother of God crossed her arms reverently on her chest and raised her eyes to "grief." She gazes with joy and humility at the Almighty Creator, visible by Her alone. New Heavenly Forces strive to meet Her from above. An Orthodox person, looking at this masterpiece of Bryullov, as well as other images and paintings-icons of the Kazan Cathedral, should not forget that art, including temple art, has a tendency to develop.

On this complex and contradictory path, there may be deviations, sometimes very significant, from the classical Orthodox canons. Having recognized this fact, it should be borne in mind that behind this non-canonical form was often hidden a deep religious feeling of an artist, sometimes a genius, but so in love with earthly beauty that heavenly beauty takes in his imagination an improved copy of the earthly.
But let's not forget that this aesthetic ideal was so all-embracing that the greatest Christian masters of the pen and brush, such as A. Ivanov, V. A. Zhukovsky, N. V. Gogol, and later F. M. .Dostoevsky.
We recognize the Kazan Cathedral as a masterpiece of architecture and fine art and, at the same time, an Orthodox church, the only one possible in the most European city of Russia at a time of unbridled admiration for Western culture.
The iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral should be recognized as a synthesis of all three plastic arts.
The history of its creation is very dramatic, and its fate is truly tragic. The original project of the iconostasis was developed by A.N. Voronikhin, but in connection with the approach of Napoleon's troops to St. Petersburg, the design work was stopped. Only in December 1812 did it become possible to renew them.
At the same time, an outstanding event in the history of the Kazan Cathedral took place. December 23, Field Marshal Prince M.I. Kutuzov sent to Metropolitan Ambrose of Novgorod and St. Petersburg several bars of silver and a letter with the following content: "Bless this gift brought by the soldiers to the Giver of Victory. Brave Don Cossacks are returning God from the temples His stolen treasure. I was entrusted with the duty of delivering this silver to Your Eminence. decoration of the Holy Faces, then got into the prey of unholy predators and, finally, by the brave bottoms from their claws, plucked out. The leader of the Don Cossack Army, Count M.I. Platonov and together with him all his warriors and I wish that these ingots weighing forty poods of silver, were converted into images of four Evangelists and served as the decoration of the Church of the Kazan Mother of God in St. Petersburg. All costs required for the statues of these Holy Faces, we take on our own account. I ask Your Eminence to take the trouble to order to find skilled artists who could satisfy our godly conquerors by carving them of silver, by their zeal brought to the temple of God, the Faces of the Holy Evangelists ... In my opinion, these faces would be very decent to stand near the Royal Doors, so that they would be the first to amaze the eyes of a pilgrim entering the temple.

At the foot of each statue, the following inscription should be carved: "Zealous offering of the Don army" ... Servant and preacher of peace, hurry up to erect a monument of battle and vengeance in God's temple, but when erecting it, say with gratitude to Providence: the enemies of Russia are gone, God's vengeance befell the Russian land, and the path they traveled is strewn with their bones to intimidate predatory violence and proud lust for power. "
Having received this letter, His Eminence Ambrose contacted the Commission about the construction of the cathedral, and Voronikhin quickly made sketches of statues, which he intended to place in pairs on two pedestals near the dome pylons. Alexander I liked Voronikhin's project and the Tsar expressed his idea that the size of the statues should correspond to the vault of the altar, since in the event of a shortage of silver, Kutuzov would deliver it as needed. The sovereign also said that "the best artists should be used for this matter." The commission chose Martos. In May 1813, Martos presented the models of the statues to the Commission, but they were not approved by the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Prince Golitsyn. In his letter to the Minister of Education, Count Razumovsky, he explained his position on this issue: “Connoisseurs, art lovers will, of course, be amazed at the art of Martos, but all kinds of people enter the temple of God. It may be that those who have no idea about the grace of the arts will be tempted, seeing the Evangelists only naked and in a position so constrained. "
Prince Golitsyn recommended introducing certain features into the image of the Evangelists, which are more consistent with the Orthodox perception of fine art. His opinion was accepted by both the Commission and the Academy of Arts. Martos responded with a letter representing a vivid example of a passionate apologetics for free creativity, in which he tries to defend the idea that, on the one hand, the statues of the four evangelists are not the images "before which Orthodox people dedicate their sacrifices in singing prayers and lighting candles: but they must will compose ordinary sacred things that serve to one decoration of the temple. "
On the other hand, Martos, defending the nudity of sculptural images, carries the idea that "the body is a wonderful garment, in the minds of artists, woven by divine fingers, which no human cunning can imitate."
With all the brightness and passion of this apologetics, it must be admitted that in relation to the Orthodox church, the March statues can hardly be considered successful.

The matter was further complicated by the fact that the construction of the cathedral was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. In April 1914, two months after Voronikhin's death, the plaster collapsed and the plaster images of the Evangelists in the sails of the dome perished. For a short time, the idea arose to replace them with silver ones, but later it was put aside. Be that as it may, but the case of the "Don silver" was postponed for a long time, until it was decided to create a new iconostasis from it to replace the Voronikhinsky one.
This graceful iconostasis, which has existed since 1811, was considered temporary from the very beginning, since despite the interesting composition and elegance of decoration, it was too small for such a huge temple as the Kazan Cathedral. Each of its details was undoubtedly perfect and taken separately, without relation to the cathedral, it was of high artistic value. One can regret that nothing has survived from it, except for drawings and drawings, but there is no doubt that a different iconostasis was needed for the cathedral of the capital.
On March 3, 1834, out of the "zealous donation of the Don army" it was decided to make an iconostasis according to the drawing of the architect K.A. Tones. About the same amount of silver was added to the Don silver, the total amount of which reached more than 85 pounds. To this must be added the silver of the Royal Doors, preserved from the Voronikha iconostasis. Thus, the total amount of silver used for the iconostasis reached 100 pounds.
From an architectural point of view, the iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral is considered the best work of Ton, which is extremely successfully combined with the architecture of the temple and its decoration. Its central part is a huge arch standing on paired columns. The columns are made of Siberian jasper. They were previously in His Imperial Majesty's Office. They replaced the silver columns from the old Voronikha iconostasis. The side parts of the iconostasis are simple enough to highlight the dignity of its central part. The Tsar's Gates remained unchanged, but apart from them and the icons located on the iconostasis, everything was altered in 1836. The small iconostases were also changed, but to a lesser extent than the main one, as A. Aplaksin notes, “we have to regret the disappeared thin bas-relief paintings on evangelical and biblical subjects, placed on the lower field of the iconostases. "
But what you really do not stop regretting is about the iconostasis of K.A. Tones. As mentioned above, in 1922 it was disassembled and melted into silver ingots. It is difficult to find an architect whose creative legacy is less fortunate than that of Ton.

Almost all the churches of St. Petersburg, built by this architect, with whom the transition from imitation of Western styles to national origins began in our art, were destroyed. There were only railway stations in St. Petersburg and Moscow on the railway connecting the capitals, and the Grand Kremlin Palace, which had been thoroughly altered inside, the author of which they tried not to even mention. In Soviet times, the name of Tone was pronounced only with a negative connotation. The mere fact that Emperor Nicholas I preferred his creations to the creations of other architects should have doomed his name to oblivion. But the historical truth will prevail sooner or later. The name of Ton is more and more often found on the pages of the works of art critics. His bas-relief portrait adorns the wall of the Moscow railway station. The reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow has been completed.

Oleg Pavlukhin

The Kazan Cathedral (Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God) is one of the largest temples in St. Petersburg, made in the Empire style.

The St. Petersburg temple got its name from its revered shrine - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, the patroness of the city and the Romanov dynasty:

For the shrine, Emperor Paul I, who ascended the throne, ordered the erection of a magnificent temple to replace the dilapidated Nativity of the Theotokos Church:

View of Nevsky Prospekt with the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin from the Green (Police) Bridge. Drawing by A. N. Benois after a drawing by an unknown artist, mid-18th century:

A competition was announced among the architects, in which such famous architects as Charles Cameron, Jean Thomas de Thomon and others participated.

However, not satisfied with the results, the development of the project was entrusted to the then little-known architect A.N. Voronikhin. The success of the young architect was not accidental. Firstly, Voronikhin's project corresponded to the desire of Emperor Paul I to build a temple in the capital, similar to St. Peter's in Rome. Secondly, the architect was a pupil of Count A.S. Stroganov, president of the Academy of Arts:

A. S. Stroganov A. N. Voronikhin

Portrait of Andrei Voronikhin in the Kazan Cathedral:

Unrealized project of the Kazan Cathedral by G. Quarenghi:

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Kazan Cathedral building took place on August 27, 1801. By that time, Paul I had already been killed and his son, the new emperor, Alexander I, participated in the laying.

Commemorative plaque with the inscription "The consent of PAUL I started 1801":

Commemorative plaque with the inscription "The care of ALEXANDER I finished 1811":

The construction of the temple lasted ten years and was ranked among the most important state construction projects. During the construction from the foundation to the golden cross, only materials of Russian origin were used, as A.S. Stroganov wished, proposing to build the cathedral as a work of nationality to the end.

The main material was porous limestone, the so-called Pudost stone, from which all the external columns of the cathedral, capitals, entablatures, carved bas-reliefs were made, the facades and partially the interiors of the temple were faced. Emperor Paul I wished that the temple under construction at his behest would be similar to the majestic Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. This wish was reflected in the grandiose colonnade of 96 columns erected by A.N. Voronikhin in front of the northern facade.

The colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral opens to Nevsky Prospect. This architectural solution allowed A.N. Voronikhin to solve the problem that faced all the builders of churches on Nevsky. The avenue stretches from west to east, and Orthodox churches are organized in the same way - in the west - the entrance, in the east - the altar. Therefore, many religious buildings were forced to stand sideways to the main thoroughfare of the city. The colonnade made it possible to make the northern, side part of the cathedral, front.

On the opposite side, the cathedral was supposed to be decorated with the same colonnade, but the plan of A.N. Voronikhin was not completed:

Entrance from the side of Nevsky Prospect:

Icon and sculptures of angels above the western entrance:

The sculpture for the Kazan Cathedral was made in 1804-1807 by the greatest masters of that time: F.G. Gordeev, I.P. Martos, I.P. Prokofiev, F.F. Shchedrin and others:

Interesting excursions are held in the temple for everyone, in which the guide tells in detail the history of the cathedral:

There is a long queue to the miraculous icon, since there are quite a few who want to worship the shrine:

View of the drum of the main dome. Height 62 meters:

The main iconostasis of the cathedral with the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God, designed by K.A. Ton in 1836:

About 1600 kg of silver was used to make the iconostasis, most of which was donated by the Don Cossacks ataman Platov. In 1922 the iconostasis was destroyed and all the silver was confiscated. In our time, the iconostasis has been restored according to the surviving sketches, drawings and photographs:

Not far, near the southwestern pillar, is the Tsar's place. The emperor prayed here during the service. The stone carving was made by the famous Samson Sukhanov. Now at this place there is an icon case with an icon of Nicholas II with Tsarevich Alexei:

Central nave of the cathedral. Monolithic granite columns, combined with gilded bronze details, create a solemn impression:

The events of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the name of Field Marshal M.I.Kutuzov are directly connected with the history of the Kazan Cathedral.

At the very beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander I, when the cathedral was just beginning to be built, Kutuzov was the governor of St. Petersburg. He perfectly understood the significance of the grandiose plan undertaken by Count Stroganov and Andrei Voronikhin, and did everything possible for the normal work of the "Commission for the construction of the Kazan Cathedral." Kutuzov showed deep interest in the construction of the cathedral in the following years. His name enjoyed the highest authority in St. Petersburg and it was not by chance that on July 17, 1812, immediately after the start of the Patriotic War, the St. Petersburg nobility elected him the head of the St. Petersburg noble militia. Preparing to leave for the front, Kutuzov prayed in the Kazan Cathedral in front of the miraculous icon for the salvation of Russia. Subsequently, MI Kutuzov donated forty poods of silver to the Kazan Cathedral, taken by the Don Cossacks of MI Platov from the French, who plundered valuables in Russian churches.

Soon the Kazan Cathedral was destined to become a kind of monument in honor of the victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the tomb of one of the greatest Russian commanders, His Serene Highness Prince M.I.Kutuzov.

In 1814, the grave of Kutuzov was fenced with a low lattice of dark bronze with gilded wreaths:

Memorial plaque in red marble. The decoration of the grave of Kutuzov is the last thing that Voronikhin did in the Kazan Cathedral:

Above the grave, there are bunches of keys from French fortresses taken by Russian troops:

In 1999, near the grave of M.I.Kutuzov, the St. Andrew's flag was fortified, brought from the city of Bizerte in Tunisia. It belonged to one of the ships of the Russian navy that came to Tunisia in 1920:

On the day of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the expulsion of Napoleon's troops from Russia, December 25 (January 7, new style), 1837, bronze monuments to the commanders M.I.Kutuzov and M.B.Barclay de Tolly by the sculptor B.I.Orlovsky were opened under gun fireworks. This is how the creation of the architectural ensemble of the Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospect was completed:

Today the cathedral is living a full-fledged parish life. Divine services are held.

The fence, erected in 1811-1812, became the main attraction of the semicircular square, and later the square. With a smooth arc (153 meters long), it separated the square from the garden of the Orphanage. 14 powerful granite pillars of the Doric order are cut with wide flutes and crowned with balls. A lattice of thin rods with large rhombuses and a juicy frieze was cast at Ch. Byrd's iron foundry. Each rhombus is made up of floral curls that frame a middle circle with radiating rays. The frieze at the top meets the high plinth: bunches of grapes and flowers are woven into a wavy spiral pattern of branches and leaves. The fence ends with massive granite pedestals, on which the sculptures of the apostles Peter and Paul were supposed to be installed.

By the perfection of the drawing, the accuracy of the proportions, the verified contrasts of the heavy stone pillars and the openwork lace of the lattices, the Voronikha fence belongs to the masterpieces of architecture and decorative art of high classicism. It looks great in the light and among the greenery, and against the background of the solemn colonnades of the Kazan Cathedral.

The fountain at the Voronikhinskaya grid is the second fountain at the Kazan Cathedral, it can be seen in the park on the western side of Kazanskaya Street at the main entrance to the cathedral. This is Voronikhinsky square, conceived by the author of the cathedral, Voronikhin, Andrey Nikiforovich.

The history of the fountain is rich - it is a drinking fountain, one of three fountains built in 1809 by the famous French architect Tom de Thomon for the Tsarskoye Selo road. Previously, this fountain stood on Pulkovskoye Highway, in the old way, at the 13th verst on the road from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo. The fountain had not only the role of an architectural object, it was also used for its intended purpose - to give water to horses. It was there until 1935, then it was restored and moved to a landscaped square in front of the western facade of the Kazan Cathedral.

The fountain is a massive granite square with bowls filled with water and the upper part in the form of a solid arch. The fountain is decorated with the mask of the god of water and seas, Neptune (it was in the hands of restorers) and the date "1809" on the arch.

TO azan Cathedral is one of the main and most beautiful churches in St. Petersburg.
The Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is located on Nevsky Prospekt next to the metro, in the heart of tourist routes and almost all tourists visiting St. Petersburg must see it. I have long wanted to write a detailed post about him ...

Paul I really wanted to build something Great that would overshadow the temples in Rome. The cathedral was built in the Empire style in 1801-1811 by the Russian architect A. N. Voronikhin.

Artist Alekseev F.Ya. View of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The cathedral is dedicated to the Kazan Mother of God. This St. Petersburg shrine, which belonged to Tsarina Praskovia Feodorovna, is a copy of the famous icon miraculously revealed in 1579 in Kazan to a nine-year-old girl Matryona Onuchina and after 33 years inspired the Russians to fight the Polish invaders.

The St. Petersburg icon was brought to the capital by Peter I and placed in the modest Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Nevsky Prospect with a wooden dome and a bell tower above the entrance. The church was somewhat similar to the temple in the Peropavlovskaya fortress. The Kazan Cathedral was built in the place of this church.

There used to be an obelisk in front of the cathedral (the view looked like). A temporary wooden obelisk was erected for the celebration of the consecration of the cathedral on September 15, 1811. They did not have time to make it out of stone, as did the cast-iron fence. The obelisk stood for 15 years and then it was removed.

There was also a column from the cathedral near the temple. It was a spare and was originally planned to be used as an obelisk. But alas, it didn't work out. Voronikhin put a golden ball on the column and made a monument out of it for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Arts. Now the column stands on a pedestal in the academic garden on Vasilievsky Island.

The church was opened on September 6 (17), 1733. Her image on the left, (the author is not known to me).

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

Paul I got married in this church and when it fell into disrepair he planned to build a beautiful temple worthy of Nevsky Prospect.

In 1799, Emperor Paul I announced a competition for the design of a new cathedral. Among the participants in the competition were famous architects: P. Gonzago, C. Cameron, D. Trombarot, J. Thomas de Thomon. However, not a single submitted project was approved.

A year later, Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov, near whose residence the temple was located, proposed to the emperor a new project created by a young talented architect (and former serf of the Stroganovs) A.N.
Voronikhin.

Surprisingly, it was this project that received approval, and Count Stroganov became the chairman of the board of trustees during the construction of the cathedral.
The forty-year-old talented Voronikhin had not yet managed to build any significant buildings by that time. He studied architecture and painting with V.I.Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov, was engaged in self-education, and having received his freedom, he traveled abroad. He became Stroganov's "home" architect.

Emperor Paul I wished that the temple under construction at his behest would be similar to the majestic Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome.

This wish was reflected in the grandiose colonnade of 96 columns erected by A.N. Voronikhin in front of the northern facade. If the colonnade of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome closes the square, then the colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral opens up to Nevsky Prospect.

In 1800, the "Commission on the construction of the Kazan Church" was created, headed by Count AS Stroganov. In 1801, she reported to the emperor about the need to build a bell tower and houses for the clergy.

To this request, Paul I refused: "Peter does not have a bell tower in Rome, and we do not need anything even more! As for the clergy, these will not be left without housing." In my opinion, the right decision. The cathedral does not need a bell tower.

Later, the clergy got a residential building on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Kazanskaya Street. The bell tower was never built, the bells were placed in the openings on the cathedral colonnade. And time has shown that it was the right decision.

For facing the brick walls, they used Pudost stone, mined near Gatchina. In addition, marble, limestone, granite are widely used here for 56 monolithic columns in interiors. Voronikhin was the first to use the metal roof structure of the dome with a span of 17 meters.

The cathedral often appeared on postcards. He is a favorite of artists and photographers.

The height of the cathedral is 71.5 meters. Inside the temple there are 56 columns of the Corinthian order made of pink Finnish granite with gilded capitals.

The monumental doors of the northern entrance (from the side of Nevsky Prospect) are a bronze copy of the famous "Paradise Gates" of the Florentine Baptistery, executed by the 15th century Italian sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Post about the original)))

The iconostasis of the main chapel was remarkable. In 1834-1836 it was faced with trophy silver taken from the French. 40 poods of this silver was sent by the Don chieftain M.I. Platov. After 30 years, the iconostases of the northern and southern aisles were also faced with silver. After the confiscation of church valuables, the iconostasis was lost. The Bolsheviks took almost 2 tons of silver from the cathedral. Currently, the silver on the iconostases has been restored.

The interior of the temple resembles a huge palace hall. Rows of tall granite columns unite the space of the hall. The light pouring from the windows gives the impression that the dome is soaring at a great height.

The interior is no less beautiful. Better to come during daylight hours when the light falls down through the windows ...

From the south, the cathedral was supposed to be decorated with the same colonnade, but the plan of A. N. Voronikhin was not brought to the end. The cathedral does not have a bell tower; the belfry is located in the western wing of the colonnade. Having secured the ends of the colonnade with monumental porticoes, Voronikhin designed the driveways along the canal and the street, towards which the western facade of the cathedral was facing.

Sculptures in front of the entrance to the cathedral.

According to Voronikhin's design, bronze figures of princes Vladimir and Alexander Nevsky, John the Baptist, Andrew the First-Called are installed in the porticos. Not all of the statues were erected due to lack of funds. Unfortunately, the sculptural decor of the interiors has hardly survived, which was later replaced by paintings.

After the Patriotic War of 1812, the cathedral acquired the significance of a monument to Russian military glory. In 1813, the commander M.I.Kutuzov was buried here (or rather, some parts of his body) and the keys to the captured cities and other military trophies were placed.

In 1837, in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Napoleon's defeat, bronze monuments to the famous Russian commanders M.I.Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly were solemnly unveiled on a semicircular square in front of the Kazan Cathedral. The author of the project was the outstanding Russian architect V.P. Stasov, and the figures of the commanders themselves were cast according to the models of the outstanding sculptor B.I.Orlovsky.

The St. Petersburg icon of the Kazan Mother of God was immediately recognized as miraculous, helping in difficult trials. Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, before leaving for the army, prayed in front of this image, and when the victory over Napoleon was won, he brought all the silver taken from the French by the Cossacks to the Kazan Cathedral.

During the years of the siege, both monuments were left in place and did not begin to be closed. It was believed that the generals raised the morale of the soldiers. Passing them along Nevsky Prospect, the military invariably saluted both field marshals.

Barclay de Tolly and Kutuzov
In the 12th the French were frozen
And now grateful Ross
I put them in the cold without hats!

In Soviet times, there was an anecdote about them: Barclay de Tolly holds his hand near his stomach: "The stomach hurts!" Kutuzov points with a rod to the building on the opposite side: "Here is a pharmacy!" - on the opposite side in the house at the corner of Nevsky and Bolshaya Konyushennaya street a pharmacy has been located for a long time.

On March 6 (19), 1876, the first demonstration of the populist group "Land and Freedom" took place here. Plekhanov spoke here for the first time. After the October Revolution, his temporary monument was located between the statues of Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly.

Here, student demonstrations reached their peak, starting at the Anichkov Bridge.

On Bloody Sunday, 1905, the crowd instantly erected barricades of benches in the newly-formed square near the cathedral.

The Governor of St. Petersburg at that time was a creative person and believed that all squares of St. Petersburg should have fountains. Not only for the sake of beauty, but for political reasons. He believed that public meetings are impossible on the square where there is a fountain. The fountain will relieve the tension of the crowd. Alas ... he did not manage to create fountains in all squares, but a fountain appeared in front of the cathedral.

All-seeing eye ... Masons, take it off at that time weren't joking ... the same eye on the dollar ...

In 1932 it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism.

Our city also needed the intercession of the Kazan Mother of God during the Great Patriotic War. There is a legend that in January 1943 the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was taken out of the Prince Vladimir Cathedral, where it was then kept, and carried around the city. On January 18, the blockade was broken.

Since 1991, the Kazan Cathedral has been a functioning temple, which has coexisted with the museum's exposition for several years. Since 2000 - the Cathedral of the St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Gardens were planned on the roof of the cathedral in Soviet times. Fortunately, this did not happen.

Now the cathedral itself, taken two hours ago.

View from the cathedral to Nevsky and Singer's house.

North facade. In front of him is a grandiose colonnade of 96 columns 13 meters high.

I walk past the cathedral along the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal.