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In. name: English Church of the Savior on Blood

Church of the Resurrection of Christ, better known as the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - orthodox cathedral, built on the site of the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.

Currently, this is a functioning temple (separate services are held) and one of the most visited.

Story

On March 1, 1881, Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded as a result of an attack by Narodnaya Volya revolutionaries. The place of the injury on the embankment of the Catherine Canal immediately acquired a special, sacred meaning, and was fenced off that same evening.

The very next day, deputies of the City Duma turned to Emperor Alexander III with a request to perpetuate the memory of his father by building a church or chapel. The emperor proclaimed the decision to erect a monument temple at the site of the death of Alexander II. During its construction, a temporary chapel was erected.

In the same year, 1881, a competition was announced for the best design of the temple. The winner was Russian architect Alfred Parland. The construction of the cathedral according to his design was completed in 1907.

During the years of Soviet power, from 1930, the temple was used by the authorities as a warehouse, which caused serious damage to its decorative decoration. In 1970, it was decided to restore the Savior on Spilled Blood and make it a branch of the museum. Since 1997, after restoration was completed, the cathedral has been reopened to visitors.

What to see in Savior on Spilled Blood

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ is a unique monument of Russian mosaic art. Multi-colored mosaics and mosaic panels completely cover the walls, vaults and domes of the temple. It features the largest collection of mosaics in Europe with a total area of 7050 square meters.

The panels were made according to drawings by Vasnetsov, Nesterov and other Russian artists. IN mosaic technique The icons “The Mother of God and the Child” and “The Savior” were also created, decorating the iconostasis.

In the western part of the temple there is a place where a tragic assassination attempt was made on Tsar Alexander II. Under the canopy (cover) above the place of death, parts of the pavement and fence on which the bleeding emperor fell are kept.

Schedule and ticket prices

Cost of visiting the Savior on Spilled Blood:

250 rubles - for adults from 10:00 to 18:00 (entry closes at 17:30), all year round;
400 rubles - for adults from 18:00 to 22:30 (ticket offices close at 22:00), evening hours are available from May 1 to September 30;
50 rubles - the cost of a preferential visit for children from 7 to 18 years old, pensioners, cadets, students and graduate students of the Russian Federation, in daytime all year round;
free - children under 7 years old.

You can also rent an audio guide for 200 rubles. Prices are as of February 2017.

The Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful, festive and vibrant churches in Russia. Long years during Soviet times it was forgotten. Now, restored, it attracts thousands of visitors with its grandeur and uniqueness.

The beginning of the story

The Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was built in memory of Emperor Alexander II. Back in 1881, tragic events took place on the site where the temple was later erected. On March 1, Tsar Alexander II was heading to where the parade of troops was supposed to take place. As a result terrorist attack committed by the Narodnaya Volya member I.I. Grinevitsky, the emperor was mortally wounded.

By order Alexandra III At the site of the tragedy, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected, where regular services were to be held for the murdered man. This is how the name of the Savior on Blood, the official name of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, was assigned to the temple.

The decision to build a temple

For selection the best project An architectural competition was announced for the construction of the temple. The most famous architects took part in it. Only on the third attempt (the number of times the competition was announced) did he choose the project that seemed most suitable to him. Its author was Alfred Parland and Archimandrite Ignatius.

The Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was built with donations collected from the whole world. Deposits were made not only by Russians, but also by citizens of other Slavic countries. After construction, the walls of the bell tower were crowned with many coats of arms of various provinces, cities, and counties that donated savings, all of them were made of mosaics. A gilded crown was installed on the main cross of the bell tower as a sign that the greatest contribution to the construction was made by the august family. The total cost of construction was 4.6 million rubles.

Construction of the cathedral

The temple was founded in 1883, when the construction project had not yet been finally approved. At this stage, the main task was to strengthen the soil so that it would not be subject to erosion, because the Griboyedov Canal was nearby, and also to lay a solid foundation.

The construction of the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg began in 1888. Gray granite was used for the walls, lined with red-brown bricks, rods, window frames, and cornices were made of Estonian marble. The base was decorated with twenty granite boards, on which the main decrees and merits of Alexander II were listed. By 1894, the main vaults of the cathedral were erected, and by 1897, nine chapters were completed. Most of of them was covered with multi-colored bright enamel.

Temple decoration

The walls of the tower completely cover amazing decorative patterns, granite, marble, jewelry enamel, mosaic. White arches, arcades, and kokoshniks look special against the background of decorative red brick. The total area of the mosaic (inside and outside) is about six thousand square meters. Mosaic masterpieces were made according to the sketches of the great artists Vasnetsov, Parland, Nesterov, Koshelev. The northern side of the façade features the “Resurrection” mosaic; on the southern side there is the “Christ in Glory” panel. From the west, the façade is decorated with the painting “The Savior Not Made by Hands,” and from the east you can see “The Blessing Savior.”

The Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg is somewhat stylized as Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral. But the artistic and architectural solution itself is very unique and original.

According to the plan, the cathedral is a quadrangular building, crowned with five large domes and four slightly smaller domes. The southern and northern facades are decorated with kokoshnik pediments, and the eastern side is decorated with three rounded asps with golden heads. To the west there is a bell tower with a beautiful gilded dome.

Beauty from within

The main place of the temple is an inviolable fragment of the Catherine Canal. It includes paving slabs, cobblestones, and part of the grating. It was decided to leave the place where the emperor died untouched. To implement this plan, the shape of the embankment was changed, and the foundation of the temple moved the canal bed by 8.5 meters.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood can easily be called the most majestic and significant in St. Petersburg. The photos are proof of this. Under the bell tower, exactly on the spot where the tragic incident occurred, there is the “Crucifixion with those to come.” The unique cross is made of granite and marble. On the sides there are icons of saints.

The interior decoration - the decoration of the temple - is very valuable and far superior to the exterior. Spas's mosaics are unique, all of them are made according to sketches by famous masters of the brush: Kharlamov, Belyaev, Koshelev, Ryabushkin, Novoskoltsev and others.

Further history

The cathedral was opened and consecrated in 1908. It was not just a temple, it was the only temple-museum, a monument to Emperor Alexander II. In 1923, the Savior on Spilled Blood rightfully received the status of a cathedral, but by the will of fate or due to turbulent historical changes, the temple was closed in 1930. The building was transferred to the Society of Political Prisoners. For many years, under Soviet rule, a decision was made to destroy the temple. Perhaps the war prevented this. The leaders at that time were faced with other important tasks.

During the terrible Leningrad siege, the cathedral building was used as a city morgue. At the end of the war, Maly Opera theatre set up a warehouse for decorations here.

After the change of power in the Soviet government, the temple was finally recognized historical monument. In 1968, it came under the protection of the State Inspectorate, and in 1970, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was declared a branch of the " St. Isaac's Cathedral" During these years, the cathedral begins to gradually be revived. Restoration proceeded slowly, and only in 1997 did the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood begin to receive visitors as a museum.

In 2004, more than 70 years later, Metropolitan Vladimir celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church.

Today, everyone who visits St. Petersburg strives to visit the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The museum's opening hours allow you to do this at any time in the summer from 10 to 22 hours, in the winter from 10 to 19.

Spas-on-Blood (Ekaterinburg)

If we talk about the suffering that the Romanov family endured, it is impossible not to mention the temple in Yekaterinburg. It was in this city that the august family spent their last days; at the site of their death, the descendants erected the Savior on Spilled Blood. The map of the city indicates that the cathedral was erected on the site. As history says, this house was confiscated by the Bolsheviks from the engineer Ipatiev. Here the Romanov family was kept for 78 days. On July 17, 1918, all the martyrs were shot in the basement. During the years of Soviet power, the memory of royal family was trampled and denigrated. In 1977, by decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the house was demolished, and B.N. was assigned to lead the event. Yeltsin. In his memoirs, he called this event barbarism, the consequences of which could not be corrected.

Construction of the temple

Only in 2000 did they begin the actual construction of the temple at the site of the tragic events. The official name is "Church-Monument on the Blood in the Name of All Saints." It was this year that the glorification of the family of Nicholas II took place. Already in 2003, July 16th took place Grand opening, lighting of the temple.

The structure, which is 60 meters high, has five domes, with a total area of three thousand square meters. Russian-Byzantine architectural style emphasizes the severity and grandeur of the building. The complex consists of an upper and lower temple. The upper temple is a symbol of an unquenchable lamp, lit in memory of the tragedy that occurred here. The lower mortuary church is located in the basement. It includes an execution room, where the authentic remains of Ipatiev's house are present. The altar is located directly on the spot where the Romanov family tragically died. A museum was immediately created where exhibits dedicated to last days life of the royal family.

Every year on the memorable night of July 17, an all-night liturgy is held in the church, ending with procession(25 km) to Ganina Yama - the bodies were brought to this abandoned mine after the execution. Thousands of pilgrims come here every year to pay tribute to the shrine.

In cold and foggy St. Petersburg, it is impossible not to pay attention to this amazing cathedral. The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood greets tourists with its bright and warm beauty. Its colorful domes seem toy-like and unreal. Old Russian style the building seems to challenge the elaborate baroque and strict classicism of the architecture of the northern capital.

The cathedral is different from other churches and tragic story creation, and the first application of some construction know-how. This is the only one Orthodox church St. Petersburg, where they ask not to light candles: fire can smoke priceless mosaics. Several times the building was on the verge of destruction, but miraculously remained intact.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood: all-conquering beauty

Perhaps the soul of the murdered Emperor Alexander II became the guardian angel. The church was built in memory of this Russian Tsar. The building was erected on the site of a tragedy that occurred in 1881. Emperor Alexander is remembered in Russia as a reformer tsar who abolished serfdom. A bomb thrown at his feet ended the life of a man who loved his country and cared about the welfare of the people.

The construction of the temple, which began in 1883, was completed only in 1907. The church was consecrated and named the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Perhaps that is why the building emits such life-affirming force. Among the people, the cathedral received a different name - the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It is not at all difficult to understand why the church is called this way. The analogy between the martyrdom of the Savior and the innocently murdered emperor is quite clear.

The fate of the building was not easy. In 1941 Soviet authority wanted to blow it up, but the outbreak of war prevented it. Attempts to demolish the church were repeated in 1956, and again the temple suffered a terrible fate. For twenty years, an artillery shell, hit there during shelling, lay in the main dome of the cathedral. An explosion could occur at any moment. In 1961, risking his life, a sapper neutralized the deadly “toy”.

Only in 1971 the church received the status of a museum, and a long restoration of the building began. The restoration of the cathedral lasted 27 years. In 2004, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was re-consecrated, and its spiritual revival began.

Temple architecture

Tourists who see the church immediately remember the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow and ask who built the building in St. Petersburg. The similarity was due to the fact that Alexander III, the son of the deceased emperor, ordered a building project reflecting Russian style XVII centuries. The best was the stylistic solution of Alfred Parland, on which he worked together with Archimandrite Ignatius, rector of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage.

For the first time in the history of construction in St. Petersburg, the architect used a concrete foundation instead of traditional piles for the foundation. A nine-domed building stands firmly on it, in the western part of which rises a two-tier bell tower. It marks the place where the tragedy occurred.

On the outside of the bell tower are the coats of arms of cities and provinces of Russia. It seems that the whole country is plunged into grief over the death of the emperor. The coats of arms are made using mosaic technique. This type of façade decoration is not entirely common. As a rule, mosaics decorate the interior of churches.

Another one distinctive feature Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - its dome. Five of the nine domes of the cathedral are covered with four-color enamel. Jewelers made this decoration using a special recipe, which has no analogues in Russian architecture.

The architects did not skimp and richly decorated the cathedral. Of the four and a half million rubles allocated, they spent about half of the amount on decorating the building. The craftsmen used materials from different places and countries:

red-brown brick from Germany;
Estonian marble;
Italian serpentinite;
bright Orsk jasper;
Ukrainian black labradorite;
more than 10 varieties of Italian marble.

The luxury of the design is amazing, but most of all tourists want to see the mosaics with which the temple is decorated inside.

Cathedral interior

The church was not originally built for traditional mass worship. Inside the building, a beautiful canopy attracts attention - a luxurious tent-like structure, under which a fragment of a cobblestone pavement is stored. This is the very place where the wounded Alexander II fell.

The most famous Russian and German masters created the amazing interior decoration of the room. They moved away from the tradition of church decoration paintings art. This is due to the damp climate of St. Petersburg.

The cathedral is decorated with a rich collection of semi-precious stones and gems, and mosaics cover all the walls and vaults of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Its area is more than 7 thousand square meters. meters! Here even the icons are made of mosaic.

Monumental images were typed in the “Venetian” way. To do this, in reverse mapping, the drawing was first copied onto paper. Finished work cut into pieces onto which smalt was glued, selecting the appropriate shades. Then, like puzzles, the mosaic blocks were assembled and mounted on the wall. With this method, the pictorial drawing was simplified.

Icons were typed in the traditional, “direct” way. With this method, the image was almost no different from the original. The architects used a lot of gold-colored smalt as a background. In sunlight, it fills the interior space with a soft glow.

There are many amazing mysteries associated with the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The cathedral stood in scaffolding for a long time. One famous bard even wrote a song about this. People half-jokingly said that restoration structures were as indestructible as Soviet Union. The scaffolding was finally dismantled in 1991. The same date now means the end of the USSR.

People also talk about the mystery of some dates marked on a mysterious icon that no one has seen. Allegedly, all important events for the country and St. Petersburg are encrypted on it: 1917, 1941, 1953. The proportions of the church are associated with the numbers: the height of the central hipped dome is 81 meters, which coincides with the year of the death of the emperor. The height of the bell tower is 63 meters, that is, Alexander’s age at the time of death.

Helpful information

Every tourist can try to decipher all the secrets associated with the temple on their own. To do this, you just need to come to St. Petersburg. The building is located at: Nab. Griboyedov Canal 2B, building A. In the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, believers can attend an Orthodox service. The cathedral has its own parish. The schedule of services is constantly updated on the church website.

Art lovers will appreciate the beauty of the cathedral by signing up for a tour. Offered different topics. Tourists will learn about the architecture of the church, its mosaics and the subjects of the images. The opening hours even include evening excursions to summer period. The museum is closed on Wednesday. Ticket prices range from 50 to 250 rubles. Those wishing to take photos or videos are allowed to use equipment without a tripod or backlight.

Many visitors will want to capture the timeless beauty. According to the British portal Vouchercloud, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ is the most famous tourist attraction in Russia. But neither photographs nor descriptions of the building can convey all the beauty of the cathedral. The temple will open to those who get to know it personally.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg is a museum and monument of Russian architecture. It was erected by order of Alexander III and the decision of the Synod on the spot where on March 1, 1881, the People's Will member I. Grinevitsky mortally wounded Alexander II, who was popularly called the Tsar Liberator for the abolition of serfdom.

Although the temple perpetuated tragic event in the history of Russia, the nine-domed building amazes with its bright, colorful beauty. Against the backdrop of austere architecture Northern capital it looks like a toy. There are similarities between the cathedral and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

Interior decoration of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg

The cathedral was not designed for mass attendance. This influenced him interior decoration, striking in its beauty. The decoration includes a collection of Russian mosaics of that time. Inside, it completely covers the walls, pylons, vaults and domes. In the cathedral we see a rich collection of gems, jewelry enamel, colored tiles, made the best masters. Craftsmen from the Yekaterinburg, Kolyvan and Peterhof lapidary factories took part in creating the decoration of the cathedral. Of the variety of mosaics and mosaic compositions, it is necessary to note the works made according to originals by artists V.M. Vasnetsova, M.V. Nesterova, A.P. Ryabushkina, N.N. Kharlamova, V.V. Belyaeva. The cathedral's mosaic collection is one of the largest in Europe. Ornamental and semiprecious stones, with which the iconostasis, walls and floor of the building are lined. For the iconostasis, icons were made according to the sketches of Nesterov and Vasnetsov - “The Mother of God and the Child” and “The Savior”.

Particularly significant in the temple, after the altar, was the place where the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander took place. A canopy was built over a fragment of the cobblestone street, a special structure that was supported by columns of gray-violet jasper. At the top of the canopy stood a topaz cross. Under the canopy are kept the relics of the cathedral - part of the grating of the Catherine Canal and the cobblestones on which the mortally wounded Alexander II fell.

Forests stood around the cathedral for a very long time. And the people said that the forests would stand as long as Soviet power stood. It's possible that this is a coincidence. But the scaffolding was dismantled shortly before the August events in Moscow in 1991.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is the first temple built on the site where the emperor of the state died. The constructed architectural monument was a symbol of the impending revolution.

House 2 A

Years of construction: 1883 - 1907

Perhaps the most popular cathedral in St. Petersburg among foreign tourists who sincerely consider him an example of “real Russian style.”

The Orthodox memorial single-altar church in the name of the Resurrection of Christ was built in memory of the fact that at this place on March 1 (13), 1881, Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded as a result of an assassination attempt.

Is located in historical center St. Petersburg on the bank of the Griboyedov Canal, next to the Mikhailovsky Garden and Konyushennaya Square, not far from the Champs of Mars. The height of the highest dome of the temple (81 meters) symbolizes the year of the king’s death, the height of the bell tower (62 meters) symbolizes his age. It is a museum and a monument of Russian architecture.

Russian Orthodox tradition- build church buildings in honor of memorable events. “The Temple in the Name of the Resurrection of Christ” was erected on the site of the mortal wound of Emperor Alexander II, but the people immediately nicknamed it “The Savior on Spilled Blood.”

According to different versions, from 6 to 11 attempts were made on Alexander II from 1866 to 1881. In the place of the first one at the bars Summer Garden a chapel was erected, dismantled in the twentieth century. There is a legend that after the sixth assassination attempt, Alexander, while in Paris, visited a certain clairvoyant who predicted to him: there would be eight assassination attempts, the last of which would be fatal. Those who are inclined to believe this legend believe that there were exactly 8 assassination attempts.

The assassination attempt that led to the death of the emperor was carried out on March 1, 1881, and the very next day City Duma asks Emperor Alexander III to “permit the city public administration to erect a chapel or monument” to the deceased emperor.

A temporary collapsible chapel at the site of the fatal wound of Alexander II was created according to the project Leontia Benoit in two weeks and consecrated on April 15, 1881. At the same time, a competition was announced to create a temple. However, none of the works noted by the Commission received the approval of Alexander III. The Tsar wished that the temple be built in the style of Russian architecture of Mokva and Yaroslavl of the 16th-17th centuries and that the place of the fatal wound be located inside the temple.

The laying of the foundation of the temple took place in October 1883, although the final design of the cathedral had not yet been approved. In the meantime, a stone pillar was driven into the foundation of the future throne of the temple. A link of the Catherine Canal grating, sidewalk slabs and part of the cobblestone road from the site of the emperor's wound were removed, placed in boxes and transferred to the chapel for storage.

Alfred Aleksandrovich Parland's 1883 project received the Tsar's approval. who headed creative group architects, experts monumental painting and Orthodox iconography. The project was revised five times and was approved on May 1, 1887. The project is based on the techniques and forms of Moscow and Yaroslavl architecture rethought by Parland. The temple is a quadrangle with a towering five-domed structure, where the central chapter is designed in the form of a tent 81 meters high. Adjacent to the main volume of the temple from the west is a massive pillar-shaped bell tower extended into the channel of the canal, completed with a bell tower and a wide helmet-shaped dome. At the base of the bell tower there is a chapel with an image of the crucified Christ, located symmetrically to the canopy above the place where the emperor was mortally wounded.

During the construction of the temple, the latest technologies for those times were used: for the first time in St. Petersburg, pile foundations were abandoned. The temple building rests on a solid concrete pad 1.2 m thick, with a base level of 2.5 m from the ordinary level in the canal. In 1899 - 1907, an air heating system was installed in the cathedral. The lighting in the temple was electric from the very beginning. Parland thought in advance about how they would clean the mosaics from dust, wash the windows, and change the light bulbs. He also solved the problem of condensate drainage and the lightning protection system. The construction of the temple took 24 years.

The outside of the church is decorated with the texts of the “acts” of Alexander II, executed on granite boards in gold script. You can follow them the most important events stories Russian state during his reign.

The exterior decoration of the temple uses white stone decor against a background of brownish-red facing bricks, numerous tiles on the facades and the drum of the central dome, blue, yellow, white and green tiles covering the tents of the porches and the slopes of the apses. Estonian marble and gray granite were used to decorate the four porches of the cathedral. The surface of the five domes is covered with colored jewelry enamel, the only time in the history of construction that was used in such huge quantities. On the facades of the cathedral's bell tower there are 134 mosaics with the coats of arms of Russian cities that contributed funds to the construction of the temple.

The interior of the temple is divided into three naves; The eastern ends of the side naves are choir icon cases, reminiscent in their shapes of ancient Russian low altar barriers. The wide central nave from the iconostasis and solea leads to a tented canopy installed above the site of the king’s mortal wound. The canopy was made according to Parland’s drawings: in the lower part, fragments of the canal embankment, cobblestone pavement, fencing bars and three pavement slabs on which the king’s blood was spilled are reproduced. For the construction of the canopy, Revnevskaya and Nikolaevskaya jasper and Ural coils were used. The composition is crowned with a cross of 112 topazes. More than thirty types of stones were used to create the canopy; it is decorated with Florentine mosaics and Bukhara lapis lazuli.

The interior of the temple uses a mosaic covering with a total area of 7065 square meters, which took 12 years to complete in the Frolovs’ mosaic workshop, which won the mosaic department of the Academy of Arts, the German and two famous Italian companies. To choose a workshop for a set of mosaics, the competition participants were asked to make one work as a test, which was left for whole year outside to check how well the mosaic will withstand the unkind St. Petersburg climate. The Frolovs' work, having lain under the snow all winter, stood the test better than other mosaics.

The Savior on Spilled Blood was consecrated on August 19, 1907 and was not originally intended for mass visits: it was located on state content and entry into the cathedral was carried out using special passes.

After the revolution, the Savior on Spilled Blood first became an ordinary parish church, and in 1930 it was closed; the issue of its demolition was discussed many times, however, due to the complexity of solving this problem, it was already decision was never implemented. IN different years the temple was used as a vegetable warehouse, a morgue (during the Siege), and a decoration warehouse Mikhailovsky Theater. Only in 1968 did the state recognize the “Savior on Spilled Blood” as an architectural monument and, since by this time the temple was in a state of disrepair, long restoration work began, which lasted 27 years (longer than the work on the construction of the temple!!!). On August 19, 1997 (90 years after its consecration), “Savior on Spilled Blood” was opened to the public. Today “Savior on Spilled Blood” is a museum (one of the churches included in the “Museum of Four Cathedrals”), in the days of great church holidays Divine services are also held there.