Isakievsky Cathedral built. St. Isaac's Cathedral: a brief description of the long-term construction and a real treasury of colored stones. St. Isaac's Cathedral - Museum

When you come to St. Petersburg, one of the places to visit must be St. Isaac's Cathedral. Perhaps, none of the other Orthodox churches in Russia is covered with so many legends and secrets. The history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg has such a long chronicle, which in time is almost equal to the history of the city itself, that sometimes it's hard to believe. At the moment, it is the fourth building in a row, which was alternately erected under the same name in the same place by different rulers. It is about the secrets of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral over the centuries that will be discussed in this article.

The birth of an idea

The very beginning of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral is considered to be from the time of Peter the Great. As you know, the greatest monarch in the history of Russia was born on May 30, a day that is under the patronage of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, who was a monk in Byzantium during his lifetime.

Throughout his life, the king considered this particular saint to be his main patron, and therefore it is quite understandable why he decided to lay the first church for him. Although this monk does not have any special merits, it is customary to rank him among the saints due to the fact that he was persecuted by the emperor Valens in the 4th century AD. His most significant action was the foundation after the death of Valens of his own church, which glorified the consubstantial God the Son and God the Father. Even his nickname, Dalmatian, he received from the next abbot of this church - St. Dalmat.

First Church

However, no matter how glorified Saint Isaac was, Peter 1 ordered in 1710 to begin the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In particular, this can be argued by the fact that during the construction of the city on the Neva, several thousand people already lived here, who simply had nowhere to go to pray.

The new wooden church was built quite quickly, completely at the expense of the royal treasury. The construction project was carried out by the count, who invited the Dutch architect Boles to participate in the construction of the spire. The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral at this stage was carried out taking into account the main canon existing in the country - extraordinary simplicity. The church itself was an ordinary log cabin, which was simply upholstered with boards on top. The roof was sloping, which ensured good snow removal. During this construction, the height of St. Isaac's Cathedral was only about 4 meters, which simply cannot be compared with the currently existing structure.

Gradually, Peter carried out restoration work in the building in order to improve the design and appearance, but the church itself remained very modest. But this does not mean at all that it was not historically insignificant - it was here in 1712 that Peter 1 performed a wedding ceremony with Ekaterina Alekseevna, about which a special record has been preserved to this day.

Second church

The second stage in the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg began already in 1717. The wooden church simply could not withstand the weather and fell into disrepair. It was decided to build a new stone temple in its place. And again, this was done only at the expense of public funds.

It is believed that Tsar Peter himself laid the first stone in the foundation of the new church, making his contribution to the construction. The prominent architect G. Mattarnovi, who had served at the court since 1714, was involved in supervising the project. However, he did not have time to complete the construction due to his own death, and therefore the construction project of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg was entrusted first to Gerbel, and then to Yakov Neupokoev.

The church was finally completed only 10 years after the start of work. It was much larger than the original - over 60 meters in length. The construction was carried out in the style of "Peter's baroque", the building in its appearance incredibly resembled the Peter and Paul Cathedral. This similarity can be especially seen in the bell tower, in which the chimes were created in Amsterdam according to the same project as those in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The very construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was carried out on the former site now there is a rider. However, the place for development turned out to be incredibly unfortunate, since the constantly rising water level in the river significantly damaged the foundation.

The completion of this building can be attributed to 1935, when after a lightning strike the church almost completely burned down. Several attempts to reconstruct it did not bring any effect. It was decided to dismantle the temple and move it away from the river banks.

Third Cathedral

A new round in the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral can be counted from 1761. By a decree of the Senate on July 15, this case was entrusted to Chevakinsky, and after Catherine II ascended the throne in 1962, she only supported the decree, since it was customary to personify the cathedral with Peter 1. However, Chevakinsky resigned and A. Rinaldi became the chief architect. The solemn laying of the building itself was carried out only in August 1768.

The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral continued according to the project of Rinaldi until the death of Catherine. After that, the architect left the country, despite the fact that the church itself was built only up to the eaves. Such a long construction directly depended on the grandeur of the project - the cathedral was to have 5 complex domes and a high bell tower, and the walls of the entire building were supposed to be faced with marble.

Paul 1 did not like such high expenses, and he ordered the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg to be completed at an accelerated pace. On his orders, the architect Brenn simply spoiled the magnificent building - it caused bewilderment and grins with its absurd appearance. The third cathedral was consecrated on May 20, 1802 and consisted of 2 parts - a marble bottom and a brick top, which led to the writing of several epigrams.

New project

This cathedral owes much of its modern appearance to Emperor Alexander 1. It was he who ordered to begin its analysis, because the ridiculous view simply did not correspond to the ceremonial appearance of the central part of the capital. In 1809, a competition was announced among architects for a project that involved not so much the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, but finding a suitable dome for it. However, this competition did not bring anything, and therefore the creation of the project was proposed to the young architect O. Montferrand. He offered the emperor 24 sketches, focusing on completely different architectural styles, which the ruler would like very much.

It was Montferrand who became the new imperial architect, whose duties were to rebuild the cathedral, but at the same time preserve its altar part, where there were 3 consecrated altars. However, continuous problems went on - the architect had to draw up several projects that were mercilessly criticized by others.

Project 1818

The first project was created in 1818. It was quite simple and took into account all the instructions of the emperor, offering only to slightly increase the length of the cathedral and dismantle the bell tower. According to the plan, it was supposed to keep 5 domes, making the central one the largest, and the remaining four small. The project had already been approved by the ruler, construction began and began to be dismantled, but the architect Moduy made a very sharp criticism. He wrote a note with comments on the project, the content of which was reduced to 3 aspects:

1. Insufficient foundation strength.
2. Uneven settlement of the building.
3. Incorrect dome design.

All together it came down to one thing - the building simply could not stand it and collapsed, despite the supports. The case was considered by a special committee, which explicitly admitted that such a restructuring was impossible. The correctness of this fact was recognized by the author of the project himself, who appealed to the fact that he was guided by the instructions of the emperor. Alexander 1 was forced to take this into account and announce a new competition, significantly softening the existing requirements. The date of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was again pushed back.

1825 project

Montferrand was allowed to participate in the new competition only on a general basis, but he still managed to win it. He fully took into account in his project the comments and advice that were given by other architects and engineers. Approved in 1825, the Montferrand project embodies the type of St. Isaac's Cathedral that exists at the present time.

According to his decisions, it was decided to decorate the cathedral with four columned porticos, as well as add four bell towers cut into the walls. In its appearance, the cathedral began to look more like a square than a rectangle, on which the architect had previously relied.

Start of construction

It is generally accepted that the years of construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral went from 1818 to 1858, that is, almost 40 years. Despite the fact that the first project was ultimately not used, work began with a focus on it. They were conducted by engineer Betancourt, who was supposed to organically connect the old and new foundations.

In total, more than 10 thousand piles were used for the construction of the support, which were needed to strengthen and prevent the collapse of the building. The style of continuous masonry was used, since at that time it was considered the best for the construction of large buildings in the swampy area on which St. Petersburg is located. In total, it took about 5 years to update the foundation.

The next stage in construction is the cutting of granite monoliths. These works were carried out directly in the quarries near Vyborg on the lands of the landowners von Exparre. Here, not only a large number of granite blocks were found, but it was quite easy to transport them using the open road to the Gulf of Finland. The first columns were installed already in 1928 in the presence of members of the royal family and numerous Russian and foreign guests. The construction of the portico was carried out almost until the end of 1830.

Further, with the help of brickwork, very strong supporting pylons and the walls of the cathedral themselves were built. A ventilation network and light galleries appeared, which give the church a magnificent natural consecration. The construction of the floors began after 6 years. Not only brick, but also decorative coatings lined with artificial marble were built. Such double ceilings are a characteristic feature of this cathedral only, since they were simply not used before either in Russia or in other European countries.

The erection of domes

One of the most important aspects of the construction was the erection of domes. They had to be made as light as possible, but at the same time very durable, so metal was preferred over brick. Manufactured at the Charles Byrd factory, these domes are the third in the world to be made using metal structures. In total, the dome consists of 3 parts, each of which is interconnected with the other. In addition, for thermal insulation and to improve acoustics, the empty space was filled with conical pottery pots. After the domes were installed, they were covered with gilding using the method of fire gilding, during which mercury was used.

Completion of construction

The cathedral was officially consecrated on May 30, 1858 in the presence of the imperial family and Emperor Alexander 2 himself. During the consecration, troops were present who not only greeted the emperor, but also held back huge crowds of people who came to watch the opening.

Bloody Cathedral

It is impossible not to recognize the majestic beauty of the cathedral, but it has another side, and a very bloody one. According to official reports, about 100 thousand people died during the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, that is, about a quarter of those who generally took part in its construction. Such figures are simply amazing, since such losses often even exceed military ones. And it was a peaceful construction in the capital of a very enlightened state. Even according to approximate calculations, about 8 people were victims of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral every day - and this was during the construction of a Christian church.

However, there is an opinion that these figures are completely inaccurate and the approximate number of victims ranges from 10-20 thousand, many of whom died from diseases, and not at all from the construction itself, but at the moment it is impossible to find out exact information. It is believed that most people died from mercury fumes or accidents, because the work was carried out without basic safety rules.

Appearance

St. Isaac's Cathedral itself is a magnificent building built in the style of late classicism. Despite the fact that the architecture of this building is unique and is the tallest building in the central part of St. Petersburg, upon closer examination, you can see features of eclecticism, neo-Renaissance and Byzantine style.

At the moment, the height of the cathedral exceeds 101 meters, and the length with a width of about 100 meters, which makes it the largest Orthodox church in the city. It is surrounded by 112 columns, and the building itself is lined with light gray marble, which only adds to the majesty. The four facades, named after the cardinal directions, contain various statues of the apostles and bas-reliefs, including the image of the architect himself.

The interior decoration contains 3 altars dedicated to Isaac himself, the Great Martyr Catherine and Alexander Nevsky. There is stained glass decoration, which is typical for Catholic, not Orthodox churches, but in this case it was decided not to rely on this canon. Inside the cathedral is decorated with smalt mosaics.

Conclusion

The construction of one of the most beautiful and majestic cathedrals of the Russian Federation was carried out over several centuries. The temple looks majestic even in the photo, and the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral so long and thorough becomes completely understandable and explainable. Now this place is practically not used as a temple itself, but has been considered a museum since 1928, but this is quite significant. Even during the time of the Union, which rejected religion, no one dared to encroach on this cathedral, although the interior decoration was ruined.

In the 20th century, the temple was most damaged during the Second World War, when the Germans carried out bombings, but after that restoration work was carried out. After the fall of the USSR, services began to be held in the temple again, but this happens regularly only on holidays and Sundays, and on all other days the institution operates exclusively as a museum.

Since the beginning of 2017, attempts have been made to transfer St. Isaac's Cathedral to the free use of the Russian Orthodox Church, but the governor's decision caused waves of protest. Poltavchenko's decision was indirectly supported by President Putin, who said that the cathedral originally had a temple purpose. But on the eve of the elections, he withdrew such an unpopular opinion among the people, and at the moment the question of transferring the cathedral is no longer on the table. Whether it will rise in the future is still unknown, since representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church prefer to remain silent on this matter. However, their opinion is quite clear - the cathedral is a church, and therefore the issue should not affect politics, but be based solely on love and reverence for God.

1 temple: back in 1707 in the city under construction at the behest of Peter I The church of St. Isaac of Dalmatia was erected. * The emperor decided not without reason to honor him - he was born on the day of the holy memory of the reverend, May 30 according to the Julian calendar.

Here, in a hastily built church soaked in ship's pitch, married in 1712 Peter I and Marta Skavronskaya (Catherine I).

2 temple: the second, already stone, church of St. Isaac of Dalmatia was laid in 1717 y - the first one was already dilapidated by that time. The temple stood on the banks of the Neva, approximately at the place where the Bronze Horseman now stands. The building is very resembled the Peter and Paul Cathedral with its architectural design and high spire. However, the coastal soil under the church constantly sagged, and in 1735 it was badly damaged by a lightning strike. Then the architect Savva Chevakinsky was invited to assess the state of the cathedral. He did not dissemble and said that the building would not last long. It was necessary to change the location of the cathedral and build it anew. From that moment began the history of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which we know.

3 temple: Savva Chevakinsky was appointed in 1761 to head the construction of the new St. Isaac's Cathedral, but the preparations were delayed, and soon the architect resigned. His place was taken by Antonio Rinaldi, and the ceremonial laying of the cathedral took place only in 1768. Rinaldi supervised the construction until the death of Catherine II, and after that he went abroad. The building was erected only up to the eaves. At the direction of Paul I, Vincenzo Brenna took over the cathedral and changed the project.

Marble for cladding was redirected to the Mikhailovsky Castle, so the cathedral looked strange - brick walls rose on a marble base. This "monument of two reigns" was consecrated in 1802, but it soon became clear that it spoils the appearance of "ceremonial Petersburg". Under Alexander I, a competition for its ennoblement was held twice: in 1809 and 1813. All the architects offered to simply demolish it and build a new one, so the emperor instructed the engineer Augustine Betancourt to take over the reconstruction project of the cathedral personally.

He entrusted this matter to a young architect Auguste Montferrand. Masters were then available in St. Petersburg and more experienced, but the Frenchman turned out to be a clever diplomat. He made and handed over to the king at once 24 projects in a variety of styles, even in Chinese. The emperor liked this zeal, and Montferrand was appointed court architect.

4 temple: The new cathedral was laid in 1819, but the project had to be finalized by Auguste Montferrand for another six years. The construction dragged on for almost forty years, which gave rise to rumors about a certain prediction that the architect received from a clairvoyant. Allegedly, the sorcerer prophesied to him that he would die as soon as the cathedral was completed. Indeed, a month after the consecration ceremony of the cathedral, the architect died.

Another one legend says that Alexander II noticed among the sculptures of saints, with a bow greeting Isaac of Dolmatsky, Montferrand himself holding his head straight. Noticing to himself the pride of the architect, the emperor allegedly did not shake hands with him and did not thank him for the work, which made him upset, took to his bed and died.

In fact, Montferrand died from an acute attack of rheumatism, which happened after suffering pneumonia. He bequeathed to bury himself in St. Isaac's Cathedral, but Emperor Alexander II did not give his consent. The widow of Montferrand took the body of the architect to Paris where he was buried in the Montmartre cemetery.

Engineering marvel

During the construction of the cathedral, many technologies were used, original and daring for their time. The building was unusually heavy for marshy ground, and it took drive 10,762 piles into the base of the foundation. It took five years, and at the end the townspeople began to joke on this score - they say, they somehow hammered a pile, and it completely went underground. They scored the second - and not a trace of it. Third, fourth, and so on, until a letter arrived from New York: “You ruined our pavement! At the end of a log sticking out of the ground, the stamp of the St. Petersburg timber exchange "Gromov and K!"

Worth special attention granite columns of the cathedral. Granite for them mined on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Vyborg. Stonemasons invented a special way to extract monolithic blocks: they drilled holes in the rock, inserted wedges into them and beat until a crack appeared in the stone. Iron levers with rings were inserted into the crack, ropes were threaded through the rings. 40 people pulled the ropes and gradually broke out the granite blocks. Stones were delivered to the city by rail, although there was no railway in Russia at that time.

The installation of 48 columns took two years and was completed in 1830, and in 1841, for the first time in history, 24 columns weighing 64 tons each were raised to a height of more than 40 meters to be installed around the dome. It took more than 100 kilograms of pure gold to gild the dome, another 300 kilograms were required to gild the interior. St. Isaac's Cathedral - the fourth largest in the world, its weight is 300 thousand tons, and its height is 101.5 meters. Isaac's Colonnade remains the highest observation platform in the city center.

Pledge of the power of the Romanovs

The incredibly protracted construction of the cathedral could not but give rise to a lot of speculation and rumors, it seemed to everyone that there was something mysterious in this long-term construction, like in a veil that Penelope wove for Odysseus and secretly unraveled.

The cathedral, founded in 1819, was completed only in 1858, but even after the consecration, the temple was constantly in need of repair and improvement, the scaffolding remained unassembled for many years.

Eventually a legend was born that while the forests stand, the Romanov dynasty also rules. It also agreed that the royal treasury allocated funds for all the finishing touches. The scaffolding from St. Isaac's Cathedral was finally removed for the first time in 1916, shortly before resignation from the Russian throne of Emperor Nicholas II in March 1917.

Another myth says that the angels on the facades of St. Isaac's Cathedral have the faces of members of the imperial family.

Cathedral goes away

The incredible heaviness of the cathedral struck the imagination of contemporaries no less than it strikes us today. St. Isaac's Cathedral is the heaviest building in St. Petersburg. Many times he was predicted to collapse, but in spite of everything, he still holds on.

One of the urban legends says that the famous joker, one of the creators of the image of Kozma Prutkov, Alexander Zhemchuzhnikov, one night changed into the uniform of an aide-de-camp and traveled around all the leading architects of the capital with the order "to come to the palace in the morning because St. Isaac's Cathedral failed." It is easy to imagine the panic this announcement caused.

However, the legend that St. Isaac's Cathedral gradually and imperceptibly sinks under the weight of its own weight is still alive.

Foucault pendulum

The Bolsheviks tried to use Isaac for anti-religious propaganda. For this in 1931, a Foucault pendulum was hung in it illustrating the rotation of the earth. The Komsomol members gathered in the temple were delighted: many argued whether a matchbox placed on a special stand would be knocked down or not. Celestial mechanics did not fail: the swing plane of the pendulum visually turned, and the box fell properly. For some reason, Soviet newspapers called it "the triumph of science over religion." Although, as you know, Foucault's first experiment was carried out with the blessing of the Pope in order to prove the power of God.

St. Isaac's Cathedral - Museum

In 1963, the post-war restoration of the cathedral was completed. The Museum of Atheism was moved to the Kazan Cathedral, and the Foucault pendulum was removed, so that since then Isaac has been working as a museum. The pendulum, which amused tourists, now lies in storage in the basement of the temple. In the center of the dome, where the cable used to be fastened, the figure of a dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, has been returned. Here you can still see the bust of Auguste Montferrand, made of 43 types of minerals and stones - all that was used in the construction of the temple.

In 1990 (for the first time since 1922), His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church. In 2005, the "Agreement between the State Museum-Monument" St. Isaac's Cathedral "and the St. Petersburg Diocese on joint activities on the territory of the objects of the museum complex" was signed, and today services are held regularly on holidays and Sundays.

At the moment, there is a trial regarding the transfer of the cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The cathedral can accommodate 15 thousand people - not in any other church in Russia.

Emperor Peter I was born on May 30 according to the Julian calendar, on the day of memory of the canonized Byzantine monk Isaac of Dalmatia, so the monarch always treated the figure of this saint with special reverence. In 1710, the emperor issued a decree on the construction of a temple in honor of Isaac not far from the Admiralty building. A wooden church was erected on this site, or rather, a drawing room at the maritime department was converted for it with minor additions. Already in 1712, the sovereign got married here with his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.

In 1717, it was decided to start equipping the city with stone churches, and according to the plan, St. Isaac's Church was to be the first to undergo modernization. In the same year, Peter I personally laid the first stone of the new cathedral. If the first building was simple, like most buildings at the beginning of the emperor's reign, then the second was already conceived in the style of Peter's baroque. The construction of the shrine was completed after 10 years, and during all this time, three different architects supervised the work.

Then the temple was located on the spot where the famous "Bronze Horseman" is erected today. It was an unfortunate place, since the foundation of the structure was constantly eroded by the Neva. Constant costly repairs forced the city senate to look for a new location for the cathedral. Already in 1761, a corresponding decree was adopted.

But the laying of the third St. Isaac's Church took place only in 1768, after the approval of the decree of Catherine II, who ascended the throne. It was supposed to be a large cathedral with five domes of complex design and a high bell tower. However, due to the death of the empress and the change of the architect, the unfinished part was hastily completed, according to a greatly simplified project. The result was a sumptuous marble base up to the eaves, on top of which rose a simple brick superstructure. It had only one dome and a much lower bell tower than planned.

The temple was consecrated only in 1802. Since the church was built according to the decrees of three different autocrats, it was very discordant with the general appearance of the center of St. Petersburg. That is why already in 1809 a project was announced for the creation of a new building.

The improved project of St. Isaac's Cathedral was approved only by 1818; the Frenchman Auguste Montferrand became its author. The main condition of the new emperor was the preservation of the luxurious altar part, as well as the pylons under the dome. The cathedral significantly increased in size, acquiring completely new outlines: a large central dome with four smaller ones, a high colonnade. Over time, the project has undergone some changes, but its main part has remained the same. The consecration of the completed temple took place in 1858.

Rich façade decoration

Outside, the building is decorated with gray marble columns, and each of the four facades is decorated with unique sculptural scenes. The general style refers to the classicism of the late period with elements of neo-Renaissance, eclecticism, Byzantine direction.

The northern facade shows the scene of the resurrection of Christ, the corners of the pediments are decorated with statues of the apostles John, Peter and Paul. Doors and niches are made with relief images of saints, as well as scenes from the Bible.

The western one contains a bas-relief scene of the meeting between Emperor Theodosius and Isaac of Dalmatia, which symbolizes the unity of heavenly and worldly power. Also on this side of the temple there are bas-relief images of the miracles of Christ, sculptures of the apostles Thomas, Mark, Bartholomew.

On the southern facade of St. Isaac's Cathedral there is a relief, the plot for which was the biblical scene of the adoration of the Magi. Niches and doors are decorated with famous scenes from the New Testament, the pediments are crowned with sculptures of the apostles Matthew, Andrew, Philip.

Vostochny, overlooking Nevsky Prospekt, is decorated with a bas-relief depicting Emperor Valens and Isaac of Dalmatia. The saint blocks the path of the Byzantine sovereign, prophesying his quick death. For this, Isaac is bound with chains and sent to prison. Also on the pediments are sculptures of the apostles Luke, James and Simon.

Cathedral interiors

The luxurious interior of the temple and its scale are amazing. There are three altars here. The main one is dedicated to Isaac of Dalmatia, the right one - to Alexander Nevsky, the left one - to the Martyr Catherine. The interior planes are finished with valuable types of stone: malachite, marble, lapis lazuli, silt shale, shungite and so on. Separate plots are made using gilded bronze, glass and stone mosaics.

Many famous Russian artists of the 19th century worked on paintings here: K. Bryullov, F. Riss, F. Bruni, I. Burukhin and others. P. Claude, I. Vitali, N. Pimenov worked among the sculptors. In the window of the main altar there is such an element unusual for an Orthodox church as a stained-glass window. It depicts the scene of the resurrection of the Savior. Sketches and the direct embodiment of such a large glass painting (more than 28 square meters) are the work of German masters.

In general, more than 150 masterpieces from the masters of Russian painting are located inside the temple. The painting of St. Isaac's Cathedral was not without difficulties: classical frescoes were recognized as a method unsuitable due to the climatic features of the area. The artists decided to paint the interior with oil paints, but this idea was not the most successful either: the ground did not dry well, lagged behind the base. Because of this, artists sometimes had to rewrite entire paintings anew.

Only in 1855 was a composition suitable for painting invented. In addition, the walls began to be decorated with mosaics, which were much easier to implement in the local climatic conditions. These type-setting panels were highly appreciated at the World Exhibition in London, held in 1862. The spectacular combination of gilding, colored glass and stone creates a sublime atmosphere inside the temple.

During the Revolution of 1917 and the establishment of Soviet power, the decoration and decorations of the cathedral suffered quite a bit, silver and gold utensils were removed from there, all available gold details were removed. The church itself became the premises for an anti-religious museum.

During the air raids on the city during World War II, German pilots never aimed directly at the cathedral. Its facades suffered only from fragments, exploding shells.

The architect Montferrand built St. Isaac's Cathedral for 40 years, in connection with this, rumors were born that the master was supposed to die after the completion of the work. In reality, the author and leader of the project really lived only a month after the consecration of the church.

Opening hours, order of visit and cost

The doors of the cathedral are open from 10.30 to 18.00 every day except Wednesday. You can buy a ticket on the spot, but the ticket office closes at 17.30. In the warm season, from the beginning of May to the end of September, additional evening excursions are held at 18.00-22.30. From the beginning of June to the end of August, during the period of white nights, visits to the shrine are organized at night from 22.30 to 4.30.

It is necessary to study, even the one that we are given officially, only in the process of studying we must remember that the fake version of the development of the world that is given to us is, to put it mildly, a complete lie. Thanks to the Internet, in our time, some chronicles and books become available that accidentally survived the total destruction of historical documents in the 18-19 centuries, and a serious attitude to the facts of bygone days makes it possible to understand that not everything in our history was the way films and present official textbooks. They are not just trying to hide something very important from us - they blatantly lie to us all our lives. Everything is distorted! A vivid example is the history of St. Petersburg, and for now let's consider only the history of the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral.

The fact that the facts are deliberately distorted, you understand after graduation, and then only annoyance remains: ... we all learned a little something and somehow ... Although I personally studied normally, even at school or at the institute. History, completely distorted and turned upside down, was presented in schools and universities under the flag of Marxism-Leninism, patriotism and love for the motherland. It used to be - now they don't even teach you to love your homeland - it's forbidden, it's supposed to love the West and the American way of life.

Those who are profitable to deceive, go by proven, proven methods. The real facts, which cannot be hidden, no matter how hard you try, first succumb to the attacks of doubts, distortions and mass attacks of eminent paid "luminaries" of science, leading away from the truth, and then envelop them with a veil of information deception, through which only random single voices of opponents break through. Then, after a few years, they present the fake story they invented as an indisputable truth, widely advertising the next newly invented version in the media. You see, after several years of intensified processing of public opinion by means of mass infozombing, instead of doubt, indifference to all versions is born. And after one generation of mass processing, the people no longer remember how it really was. Distorted facts form a distorted idea of ​​the country and the place of a person in the historical process. At the same time, distorted psychological reactions of people to large historical periods or major historical events arise.

In most cases, the evidence is literally in front of your eyes, but people who are accustomed to trust official sources more often pass by the real facts, out of habit not noticing them. Total deception has taught citizens not to see the reality behind the fictional images inspired from childhood. Therefore, the people in their mass do not distinguish the presented official information from real life. This is beneficial to people who control the entire people, lifestyle, public consciousness, to keep everyone in slavery, providing the illusion of freedom.

Petersburg was taken for research, because it is a fairly young city (so the official version says), and its history is completely written in chronicles and textbooks. History close in centuries is easier to study. So why are there gross distortions of reality here as well? Who prevented the era of Peter I, "interesting and progressive." To read the imposed story, but rejoice. The "short" history of the great city makes it possible to catch false chroniclers in a lie, to present to contemporaries the discrepancy between descriptions of historical moments and the real state of things.

Alexander Column

For some reason, the megaliths described in encyclopedias are everywhere, but not in Russia. Nevertheless, there is a megalithic object in St. Petersburg itself, this is confirmed by historians, listing common signs of megaliths all over the world.
The blank for the Alexander Column would have an approximate weight of about 1000 tons, a complete analogue of the abandoned block in Baalbek. The Column itself weighs over 600 tons. This gives good reason to rank the historical buildings of St. Petersburg - St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column - as megaliths of the past. They look quite plausible, if you correctly interpret them, choosing the right facts, then you can make a description that does not detract from the greatness of these objects.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

In the history of St. Petersburg, all the facts can be verified, as there are official testimonies and documents. To confirm the truth of the appearance of St. Isaac's Cathedral, let's take the method of cross-combining dates and events. Enthusiasts have done a lot of research for this, their results are posted in various articles and Internet forums. However, they are diligently ignored by representatives of official science and the media. Yes, and let them ignore - they are paid, that is, corrupt. We ourselves need to figure it out.

St. Isaac's Cathedral - pages of falsified history

To begin with, we take the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, described in Wikipedia. According to the official version, the cathedral, which today adorns St. Isaac's Square, is the fourth building. It turns out that it was built four times. And it all started with a small church.

First St. Isaac's Church. 1707

first St. Isaac's Church

The first church of St. Isaac of Dalmatia was built for the workers of the Admiralty shipyards by order of Peter I. The tsar chose the building of the drawing barn as the basis for the future church. St. Isaac's Cathedral began to be built in 1706. It was built with the money of the state treasury. The construction was supervised by Count F.M. Apraksin, the Dutch architect Herman van Boles, who had already lived in Russia since 1711, was invited to build the spire of the church.
The first temple was completely wooden, built according to the traditions of that time - a frame of round logs; their length was 18 meters, the width of the building was 9 meters, and the height was 4 meters. Outside, the walls were upholstered with boards up to 20 centimeters wide, in a horizontal direction. For a good descent of snow and rain, the roof was made at an angle of 45 degrees. The roof was also wooden, and according to the tradition of shipbuilding, it was covered with a black-brown wax-bitumen composition, which was used to tar the bottom of ships. The building was called St. Isaac's Church and consecrated in 1707.

Solemn meeting of the St. Petersburg militia on St. Isaac's Square on June 12, 1814. Engraving by I. Ivanov.

Less than two years later, Peter I issued an order to start restoration work in the church. What could happen to a tree treated according to the ship's rules in just two years? After all, wooden buildings stand for centuries, showing the majesty and power of wood. The decision to restore, it turns out, was made in order to improve the appearance of the church, and get rid of the constant dampness inside the temple.
History shows that St. Isaac's Cathedral, even in the form of a wooden church, was the main temple in the city. Here in 1712 Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna got married, since 1723 only here employees of the Admiralty and sailors of the Baltic Fleet could take the oath. Records of this were preserved in the marching journal of the temple. The body of the first temple was very dilapidated (?) and in 1717 the temple was laid in stone.

Fact Analysis

According to official data, St. Petersburg was founded in 1703. From this year, the age of the city is calculated. Let's talk about Peter's real age next time, there will be more than one article.
The church was founded in 1706, consecrated in 1707, in 1709 it already required repairs, in 1717 it was already dilapidated, although the wood was impregnated with ship's wax-bitumen composition, and in 1927 a new stone church was already built. In lies!

If you take the album of Augustus Montferrand, you can see in it a lithograph of the first church, which is depicted exactly opposite the entrance to the territory of the Admiralty. This means that the temple stood either in the courtyard of the Admiralty, or outside it, but opposite the main entrance. It is on the album, released in Paris, that the main interpretation of the history of all the buildings of St. Isaac's Cathedral is built.

Second St. Isaac's Church. 1717

In August 1717, a stone church was laid in the name of Isaac of Dalmatia. And where can we go without it - Peter the Great laid the first stone in the foundation of the new church with his own hands. The second St. Isaac's Church began to be built in the style of "Peter's Baroque", the construction was led by the prominent architect of the Petrine era Georg Johann Mattarnovi, who had been in the service of Peter I since 1714. In 1721, G.I. Mattarnovi died, the construction of the temple was headed by the city architect of that time, Nikolai Fedorovich Gerbel. However, in the track record of N.F. Gerbel there is no indication of his participation in the construction of the stone St. Isaac's Church. Three years later, he dies, the construction is completed by the stone master Y. Neupokoev.

With such twists and turns, the church was built in 1727. The plan of the foundation of the temple is an equal-ended Greek cross 60.5 meters long (28 fathoms), 32.4 meters wide (15 fathoms). The dome of the temple was based on four pillars, the outside was covered with simple iron. The height of the bell tower reached 27.4 meters (12 sazhens + 2 arshins), plus a spire 13 meters long (6 sazhens). All this splendor was crowned with gilded copper crosses. The vaults of the temple were wooden, the facades between the windows were decorated with pilasters.

second St. Isaac's Church

In appearance, the newly built temple was very similar to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The similarity was strengthened by slender bell towers with chimes, which Peter I brought from Amsterdam for two churches. Ivan Petrovich Zarudny, the founder of the Petrine Baroque style, made a carved gilded iconostasis for St. Isaac's and Peter and Paul's Cathedrals, which only increased the similarity of the two churches.

The second St. Isaac's Cathedral was built close to the banks of the Neva. Now the Bronze Horseman is installed there. At that time, the place for the cathedral turned out to be clearly unsuccessful - the water eroded the coastline and destroyed the foundation. Strangely, the Neva did not interfere with the previous wooden building.

In the spring of 1735, lightning caused a fire, completing the destruction of the entire church.

Too many strange events in the destruction of the newly built building. It is also strange that in the album of A. Montferrand there is no image of the second building of the church. Her images are found only on lithographs of the northern capital until 1771. Yes, there is a model inside St. Isaac's Cathedral.

It is surprising that another temple stood on this site for many years, and the waters of the Neva did not interfere with it. According to official history, the same place was chosen for the installation of the monument to Peter I - again, water is not a hindrance. A stone - a pedestal for the Bronze Horseman was brought in 1770. The monument was built and erected in 1782. However, services in the church were conducted until February 1800, as evidenced by the records of its rector, Archpriest Georgy Pokorsky. Solid inconsistencies.

Third St. Isaac's Cathedral. 1768

Lithograph by O. Montferrand. View of St. Isaac's Cathedral during the reign of Empress Catherine II. Lithograph by O. Montferrand

In 1762, Catherine II came to the throne. A year before, the Senate decided to recreate St. Isaac's Cathedral. A Russian architect, a representative of the Petrine Baroque style, Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky, was appointed the head of construction. Catherine II approved the idea of ​​a new construction, closely associated with the name of Peter I. The start of work was delayed due to funding, and soon S.I. Chevakinsky resigns.
The head of construction was an Italian architect in the Russian service, Antonio Rinaldi. The decree on the start of work was issued in 1766, and construction began on the site chosen by S.I. Chevakinsky. The laying of the building in a solemn atmosphere was held in August 1768, in memory of such an important event a medal was even minted.

third St. Isaac's Cathedral

According to the project of A. Rinaldi, the cathedral was planned to be built with five complex domes and a high, slender bell tower. The walls were faced with marble. The exact layout of the third cathedral and its drawings, made by A. Rinaldi, are kept today in the expositions of the Museum of the Academy of Arts. A. Rinaldi did not complete the work, he managed to bring the building only to the eaves, when Catherine II died. Financing of the construction immediately stopped, and A. Rinaldi left.

Paul I came to the throne. It was necessary to do something with the unfinished construction in the city center, then the architect V. Brenn was called in to urgently complete the work. In a hurry, the architect was forced to significantly distort the project of A. Rinaldi, that is, not to take it into account at all. As a result, the size of the upper superstructure and the main dome decreased, and the planned four small domes were not erected. The building material was also changed, because the marble prepared for the decoration of St. Isaac's Cathedral was transferred to the construction of the main residence of Paul I. As a result, the cathedral turned out to be squat, ridiculous, as an inharmonious brick superstructure towered on a luxurious marble base.

Investigation notes

Here you can return to the word "recreate". What can it mean? Semantic meaning - recreates what is completely lost. It turns out that in 1761 the second building of the temple was no longer on the square?

As these constructions are described, only foreign architects worked on them. Why was the construction of the domestic Temple not entrusted to Russian architects?

In A. Montferrand's album, the third temple does not look like a construction site, but as an active building, around which people are walking. At the same time, the central entrance to the Admiralty is again visible on the lithograph, and the Admiralty building is surrounded by a lush garden. What is it? The fiction of the artist who carved the lithograph, or a special embellishment of reality? According to official history, the Admiralty building was surrounded by a deep moat, which was filled in in 1823, when the third temple was gone. The history of the services of St. Isaac's Cathedral indicates that services were conducted in it by Archpriest Alexei Malov until 1836.

The sharp discrepancy between dates and events makes you seriously think about where is fiction and where is the truth. Obviously contradictory facts are contained in the surviving descriptions of the construction and maintenance of St. Isaac's Cathedral, that is, in state documents. This is not just an innocent confusion, this is one of the many facts proving that the real state documentation of Russia was destroyed and falsified.

Catholic version

According to official historical facts, the first church of Isaac of Dalmatia was built on the banks of the Neva during the reign of Peter I, in 1710. A fire destroyed the church in 1717. The new church was built only in 1727, also on the banks of the Neva. The famous Admiralty Canal was dug in 1717, along which timber for ships was delivered from New Holland Island to the Admiralty. The Amsterdam cartographer and publisher Reiner Ottens drew up a plan of the area on which this part of St. Petersburg appears differently. According to his plan, the second St. Isaac's Church is drawn with signs of the Catholic Church. Its shape is like a Basilica or a ship. On the plan of R. Ottens, the third church, built according to the project of Rinaldi, is similar to the completion of the second church, to which only domes have been added on the plan.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is an outstanding monument of Russian architecture, one of the best cathedrals in Europe built in the 19th century, and one of the greatest domed buildings, inferior in scale only to the cathedrals of St. Peter the Apostle in Rome, St. Paul the Apostle in London and Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The grandeur of St. Isaac's Cathedral is given by its main dimensions: height 101.5 m, length 111.2 m, width 97.6 m.

Due to its vertically directed composition, this temple is the second tallest building in St. Petersburg after the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and has acquired an important city-forming significance. He organically entered the single architectural organism of St. Isaac's and Senate squares, uniting them compositionally.

The Senate Square began to be created in the middle of the 18th century, and was finally formed in the first half of the 19th century. Widely opened to the Neva, it is an integral part of the artistic decoration of the unique beauty of the Neva embankments. A particularly spectacular view opens from the opposite side of the Neva. On the left you can see the magnificent building of the Admiralty by architect A.D. Zakharov, on the right - elongated buildings of the Senate and the Synod by K.I. Rossi.

Against the backdrop of the cathedral, the sculptor E.-M. Falcone monument to Peter I (the Bronze Horseman). If for Senate Square St. Isaac's Cathedral was the last missing link, then for St. Isaac's Square it served as the beginning of its transformation into a single architectural whole.

In the center of St. Isaac's Square stands a monument to Nicholas I, made in 1856-1859 according to the project of O. Montferrand by the sculptor P.K. Klodt. Senate and St. Isaac's Squares are spatially connected with the main square of St. Petersburg - the Palace Square. Each of them has an architectural accent: a monument to Peter I, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Alexandria Column (1830-1834, architect O. Mauferrand). All three form a single complex of the central squares of the city, which is one of the largest and most complex in world architecture.