A Glimpse of Russia’s Imperial Past - St. Petersburg Travel Tips - Packages/Deals & Travel Agents Near Me

There are many other churches worth visiting in St. Petersburg, but these were certainly the ones that we found the most inspiring.

If I hadn’t become a high school history teacher, I probably would have become an architect. As it is, I feel that my knowledge of history complements my interest in architecture, and the wonderful world of buildings illustrates my understanding of history. Wherever I go, home or away, I enjoy observing the local architecture. When my husband, Larry, and I went on a cruise last year to Russia and the Baltics, we had the amazing opportunity to tour the buildings and museums of St. Petersburg – an experience that took my appreciation of design to a whole new level. Each of St. Petersburg’s magnificent structures captures a story – sometimes even multiple layers of stories that take place over centuries. Here are a few of our favorites.

The Church of Our Savior has the classic onion-dome profile that I have always associated with Russia. It looks like a fantastic confection of mosaics, marble and gilded domes. Built between 1883 and 1907, on the spot where Emperor Alexander II (who abolished serfdom in Russia) was assassinated, the church design was inspired by classic Russian architecture; particularly St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow on Red Square. The building’s interior, which commemorates the Emperor, is decorated with marble and extensive mosaic work. Closed during the Bolshevik era in the 1930s, and restored over a period of 25 years beginning in 1970, Our Savior was finally reopened in 1997.

Once St. Petersburg’s main church and the largest cathedral in Russia, St. Isaac’s Cathedral was constructed over a 40-year period beginning in 1818. Designed by French architect Auguste Montferrand, the cathedral is distinguished by its grand facades, enormous gilded dome, and impressive interiors. Larry, who has done a little bit of stone carving, was awed by the church’s columns. On the outside, huge columns are carved from single blocks of red granite; inside, the glossy green and blue columns are carved from malachite and lapis lazuli. There are also wonderful paintings and mosaics, plus a glorious stained glass window. Three hundred steps lead up to the colonnade, and though today the church functions more as a museum than a place of worship, it is said to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers.

After St. Isaac’s Cathedral, we visited the Cathedral of Peter and Paul inside the Peter and Paul Fortress (which is itself worth a tour). It is the city’s oldest church, consecrated in 1704. Baroque in design, the structure shows the influence of Western European, and especially Dutch, architecture. The bell tower’s spire is gilded with copper and topped by the figure of a flying angel. Most of the Romanov rulers of Russia from Peter the Great onward are entombed here in extravagantly carved graves, which are often decorated with fresh flowers.

For a picturesque combination of classic Russian and baroque architecture, Vladimir Mother of God Icon Church is ideal. Built in the 18th century to house the icon from which it takes its name, the church is in one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods. It is topped with five onion domes, which are in turn topped with Orthodox crosses, and is embellished with porticos, facades, and chapels that were added during the century after its construction. Among the church’s more notable parishioners was Fyodor Dostoyevsky.