St. Petersburg Cathedrals
(St. Petersburg, North-Western Federal District, Russia)
A magnificent city in every sense, many of St. Petersberg's most striking and historically significant buildings are its cathedrals, which often play an important part of the city's beautiful skyline. St. Isaac's Cathedral (Isaakievskii Sobor) is amongst the most famous in St. Petersburg, dating back to the early 19th century and boasting an enormous priceless dome, created with over 100 kilos of actual gold.
Completed in 1811 after a ten-year construction period, Kazan Cathedral (Kazanskii Sobor) dominates the Nevskii Prospekt and features no less than 96 Corinthian columns. During the oppressive period of communism, many of St. Peterburg's churches were either closed or demolished, although the St. Nicholas Cathedral (Nikol'skii Sobor) kept its doors open from that day to this. This cathedral is often nicknamed the Sailor's Church, as it was often used by many religious seamen from St. Petersburg.
Named after the saints of Peter and Paul and boasting an enormous spire, the Peter and Paul Cathedral stands on the Petrograd side of St. Petersburg and is to be found within the actual Peter and Paul Fortress.
On the eastern side of the city centre, the Cathedral of Smolnyi Monastyr (Smolnyi Sobor) deserves a special mention and dates back as far as 1748, although it was not actually completed in its entirety until the 1830s. Sightsees should also pencil in a trip to the awesome Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
St. Isaac's Cathedral (Isaakievskii Sobor)
Address: Isaakievskaia Ploshchad 4, St. Petersburg, RU-190000, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 315 9732
St. Nicholas Cathedral (Nikol'skii Sobor)
Address: Nikolskaia Ploshchad 1, St. Petersburg, RU-190068, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 714 6926
Kazan Cathedral / Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (Kazanskii Sobor)
Address: Kazanskaia Ploshchad 2, St. Petersburg, RU-191186, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 314 5856
Peter and Paul Cathedral
Address: Petropavlovskaia Krepost 3, St. Petersburg, RU-197046, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 238 4540
Smolny Cathedral (Smolnyi Sobor)
Address: Ploshchad Rastrelli, 3 / 1 Chernyshevskaya, St. Petersburg, RU-193060, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 271 7632
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood / Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ
Address: 2b Naberezhnaya Kanala Gribeodova Ulitsa, St. Petersburg, Russia, RU
Tel: +7 0812 314 4053