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 erected alternately 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 described 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, the day that is under the patronage of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, who was a monk in Byzantium during his lifetime.
All his life the king considered this particular saint histhe 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 founding of his own church after the death of Valens, which glorified the consubstantial God the Son and God the Father. He even got his nickname, Dalmatian, from the next hegumen of this church - St. Dalmat.
First Church
However, no matter how glorified St. 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 Count Fyodor Apraksin, 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 building.
GraduallyPeter carried out restoration work in the building 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 project for the construction 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 clock-chimes were created in Amsterdam according to the same project as those in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Samothe construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was carried out on the banks of the Neva. The former site is now occupied by a statue of the Bronze Horseman. However, the location for the development turned out to be incredibly unfortunate, as 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 Council
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 supposed 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. By his order, the architectBrenn 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 match 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 continued - 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 mostlarge and the other 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:
- Insufficient foundation strength.
- Uneven building settlement.
- 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, Montferrand's project embodies the type of St. Isaac's Cathedral that exists today.
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, which the architect relied on earlier.
Startconstruction
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 to build 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 step 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 until almost 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. Were built not onlybrick, but also decorative coatings lined with artificial marble. Such double ceilings are a characteristic feature of this cathedral only, since they have simply never been used before either in Russia or in other European countries.
Building domes
One of the most important moments 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.
Blood 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 acceptedparticipation 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 died every day of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral - 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, as the work was carried out without basic safety rules.
Appearance
In itself, St. Isaac's Cathedral 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 and 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 ofarchitect.
The interior decoration contains 3 altars dedicated to Isaac himself, the Great Martyr Catherine and Alexander Nevsky. There is a stained glass design, 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 sm alt mosaics.
Conclusion
The construction of one of the most beautiful and majestic cathedrals in the Russian Federation has been going on for 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 devastated.
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 inon 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.
