The Kazan Cathedral
The Kazan Cathedral is the only functioning Orthodox church on Nevsky Prospekt It is the burial-place of Field Marshal Kutuzov. Since 1837 monuments to him and Barclay de Tolly sculpted by Boris Orlovsky stand outside the cathedral.
Address of the Kazan Cathedral of Saint-Petersburg, Nevsky prospect, the house 25.
Working hours of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg On A Daily Basis. On weekdays from 8.30 until the end of the evening service, in weekend - from 6.30 until the end of the evening service.
How to get
Metro station:Nevsky Prospect, Gostiny Dvor. Exit from the metro station to the channel Griboyedov. The cathedral is in front of the exit from the metro.
The kazan cathedral in Saint-Petersburg - the orthodox temple, located in the heart of the city. The facades of the temple are to Nevsky prospect and Griboedova channel. This is one of the largest buildings in the Northern capital. It& grow to a height 71,5 meters. On his behalf named the island in the delta of the Neva river, the bridge at the intersection of Nevsky prospect and Griboedova's channel and the street, which departs the temple.
The history of the creation of the Kazan Cathedral
In 1710, tsar Peter I ordered transport of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God in st. Petersburg, and kept in the church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Posad street of Petrogradskaya side. Then for a long time the icon was placed in one of the main temples of the capital - the Trinity cathedral. Under empress Anna Ioanovna in 1737, specially for the icon on the Neva "першпективе" erected the church of the Nativity of the Virgin. Believe that it was built by the project of Michael Zemtsova, one of the first petersburg architects. Christmas church was located on the place where the square in front of Kazan cathedral. Its magnificent tiered bell tower with a spire was noticeable decoration of Nevsky prospect, but has not yet become the main street of the city and was built up mainly of two-story buildings.
In the second half of the 18TH century, the role of the railway began to change. By the end of the century the appearance of ветшавшей the church no longer suited the new purpose of Nevsky prospect. And since 1801 begins construction of a new temple.
In the second half of the 18TH century, the role of the railway began to change. By the end of the century the appearance of ветшавшей the church no longer suited the new purpose of Nevsky prospect. And since 1801 begins construction of a new temple.
The Project of Kazan cathedral
In what had been accused of AND. N. Voronikhin his enemies and rivals. Some have argued, that the Kazan cathedral is a replica of the cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. Others - that the colonnade of the cathedral is borrowed from THE. AND. Bazhenova of his неосуществленного project of one of the wings of the Kremlin palace. The third accused Voronikhin in the direct use of баженовского project parisian House of persons with disabilities. The reason for such rumor was the unexpected appointment of the architect and the builder of the cathedral of the little-known Andrei Voronikhin, a former serf of the president of the Academy of arts of column A. WITH. Stroganov. It seemed the more strange that in the competition of the projects of the cathedral took part very well-known architects: Cameron, Quarenghi, Tom de Томон. And Voronikhin was not among them. The Desire of Paul I make the cathedral look like a cathedral of St. Peter in Rome contrary to the intention of Voronikhin organically include the cathedral in the structure of Nevsky prospekt, as it prevented the hard canons of the cult construction. In accordance with them the altar part of the should be located in the eastern part of the temple, and the main entrance to the west. But then colonnade was located to the side of the Big Bourgeoisie (today Kazanskaya) street. A brilliant guess architect link Nevsky prospect to the cathedral grand 96-four actual rows column colonnade of corinthian order to satisfy the vanity of Paul and turned the cathedral in the centre of one of the first in st. Petersburg architectural ensembles. And if the colonnade of the cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, describing almost a complete circle, creates a closed medieval square, the role of the colonnade of Kazan cathedral, the architectural environment of the surrounding space is just the opposite. Her open and at the same time a collective organizing character once and for all defined artistic and semantic center of Nevsky prospect.
Completely the project was not completed. On a plan of Voronikhin is the same colonnade was to decorate the opposite, the southern facade of the temple. Whether this project is carried out, Petersburg enriched would ensemble, a grand scale which would be equal to the scale of the urban ensembles Karl Russia, which appeared only after two decades after the outstanding works of Andrei Voronikhin.
Photogallery of the Kazan cathedral.
Completely the project was not completed. On a plan of Voronikhin is the same colonnade was to decorate the opposite, the southern facade of the temple. Whether this project is carried out, Petersburg enriched would ensemble, a grand scale which would be equal to the scale of the urban ensembles Karl Russia, which appeared only after two decades after the outstanding works of Andrei Voronikhin.
Photogallery of the Kazan cathedral.
The dome of the Cathedral of Kazan. Icon of Kazan Mother of God. The colonnade of the cathedral.
The icon of the Virgin of Kazan that gave the cathedral its name is one of the most precious copies of a legendary icon that appeared in Kazan in the 16th century. The fate of the original is unknown. The copy was made (or significantly renewed) at the very end of the 17th century on the orders of Tsarina Praskovia (wife of Peter I's brother, Ivan V, and mother of Empress Anna loannovna). Since the Polish intervention and the liberation of Moscow in 1612 by volunteers led by Minin and Pozharsky, the Virgin of Kazan has been considered the protectress of Russian forces and, since 1649, of the House of Romanov.
The Cathedra of the Icon of the Virgin of Kazan, one of the great masterpieces of Russian Classicism, is among the largest places of worship in Russia. The building is 71.5 metres high; its internal length east to west is 72.5 metres; the span of the dome 17.1 metres. Its colonnade, a favourite motif with professional photographers, has remained for almost two centuries perhaps the finest adornment of Nevsky Prospekt.
The building has a Latin-cross ground plan; hence the unusual spatial arrangement and acoustics that make the cathedral a realm of harmony and silence broken only by singing on religious festivals. The chief vertical elements in the interior are the broad piers supporting the dome and a two-row colonnade ol 56 polished red granite columns (each 10.7 metres high with its base and cast bronze capital). The sanctuary with its vast apse is separated off by an iconostasis in the Venetian style designed by Konstantin Thon (1836). The iconostasis, cast from looted Russian silver recovered from the French in 1812, was confiscated after the revolution and is now being gradually recreated with funds provided by parishioners.
In August 1733 it was determined "by Her Imperial Majesty's personal order to build, on (Nevsky Prospekt), beyond the Green Bridge over the Moika, on the right-hand side, a church." On 6 September Anna Ioannovna herself laid the first stone in the foundation of the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin.
The famous icon of the Virgin of Kazan that Peter I had had brought to St Petersburg was installed here.
In the 1790s Paul I decided to replace the church and in 1800 he approved the design by Andrei Voronikhin (1760-1814), who had been recommended by Count Stroganov, the man responsible for organizing the construction. The foundation : stone of the cathedral was laid a year later, in August 1801, by the new emperor, Alexander I.
Voronikhin based his project on St Peter's in Rome, a gigantic domed basilica- 132.5 metres high with the crosswith a square in front, enclosed by a tremendous circula colonnade. (Until 1990 it was the largest Christian church in the world.)
The Kazan Cathedral is a much more intimate edifice, barely half the size of its famous prototype. The richly articulated exterior of the building was executed in Pudost limestone and abundantly decorated with reliefs and sculpture by Ivan Martos, Stepan Pimenov, Ivan Prokofiev, Kiodor Gordeyev, Jean-Dominique Rachette and Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky. The finishing work was carried out in great haste, and for the massive doors they used casts made from existing moulds of Lorenzo Ghiberti's masterpiece, the Golden Doors of the Baptistery in Florence, that had been commissioned back in the 1760s by Nikita Demidov. The sculptural decoration was intended to be even richer, but the work was interrupted by war in 1812 and never resumed. Empty pedestals by the colonnade are reminders of the builders plans. The cathedral is strongly associated with Kutuzov, who laid its chief icon upon himself before setting off to join the army in 1812. and all Russian tsars from Alexander 1 onwards.
In the 1990s the cathedral was returned to the Orthodox Church and on feast days services are conducted here by the Metropolitan.
The building has a Latin-cross ground plan; hence the unusual spatial arrangement and acoustics that make the cathedral a realm of harmony and silence broken only by singing on religious festivals. The chief vertical elements in the interior are the broad piers supporting the dome and a two-row colonnade ol 56 polished red granite columns (each 10.7 metres high with its base and cast bronze capital). The sanctuary with its vast apse is separated off by an iconostasis in the Venetian style designed by Konstantin Thon (1836). The iconostasis, cast from looted Russian silver recovered from the French in 1812, was confiscated after the revolution and is now being gradually recreated with funds provided by parishioners.
In August 1733 it was determined "by Her Imperial Majesty's personal order to build, on (Nevsky Prospekt), beyond the Green Bridge over the Moika, on the right-hand side, a church." On 6 September Anna Ioannovna herself laid the first stone in the foundation of the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin.
The famous icon of the Virgin of Kazan that Peter I had had brought to St Petersburg was installed here.
In the 1790s Paul I decided to replace the church and in 1800 he approved the design by Andrei Voronikhin (1760-1814), who had been recommended by Count Stroganov, the man responsible for organizing the construction. The foundation : stone of the cathedral was laid a year later, in August 1801, by the new emperor, Alexander I.
Voronikhin based his project on St Peter's in Rome, a gigantic domed basilica- 132.5 metres high with the crosswith a square in front, enclosed by a tremendous circula colonnade. (Until 1990 it was the largest Christian church in the world.)
The Kazan Cathedral is a much more intimate edifice, barely half the size of its famous prototype. The richly articulated exterior of the building was executed in Pudost limestone and abundantly decorated with reliefs and sculpture by Ivan Martos, Stepan Pimenov, Ivan Prokofiev, Kiodor Gordeyev, Jean-Dominique Rachette and Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky. The finishing work was carried out in great haste, and for the massive doors they used casts made from existing moulds of Lorenzo Ghiberti's masterpiece, the Golden Doors of the Baptistery in Florence, that had been commissioned back in the 1760s by Nikita Demidov. The sculptural decoration was intended to be even richer, but the work was interrupted by war in 1812 and never resumed. Empty pedestals by the colonnade are reminders of the builders plans. The cathedral is strongly associated with Kutuzov, who laid its chief icon upon himself before setting off to join the army in 1812. and all Russian tsars from Alexander 1 onwards.
In the 1990s the cathedral was returned to the Orthodox Church and on feast days services are conducted here by the Metropolitan.