St Petersburg First Day, 4 of 11 St Peter and St Paul Cathedral

The St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress  stands on a small island near the north bank of the Neva River and it is the birthplace of St. Petersburg.  Peter the Great founded the fortress to protect the city from the threat of Swedish invasion in 1700. The original fort was a wooden structure with earthen embankments and it took two years to build.  However, the fortress was rebuilt in stone after the 1750's and had the added fortification of a solid star-shaped wall which encircled the  embankments of its river borders. Later the fortress became a political prison for those opposing the governing leaders at the time. 

A bit of Fortress history: During the 1917 February Revolution when the fortress came under attack by mutinous soldiers, the prisoners were freed and many Tsarist leaders and officials were held within its walls. By October the Bolsheviks controlled the fortress, the Winter Palace had been captured and many ministers had been taken to the fortress as prisoners. Records show that between 1917 and 1921 at least 112 prisoners including 4 grand dukes were killed within in the fortress walls. 

In 1924 the Fortress site was converted to a museum and other buildings were added to around it. During the bombardment by the Luftwaffe in World War II damage was caused to some buildings but these have been faithfully restored so that today the Fortress and its many notable buildings attract streams of tourists to the  site. Many of these buildings are built around the Cathedral site within the fortress wall. They include for example; the Petersbugh Mint building which is still in operation today, a Mausoleum which is connected to the Cathedral by a corridor and the Trubetskoy Bastion or prison which is now the city museum. 

Not surprisingly, this Fortress comples is a very popular tourist venue all year round.  Crowds of locals spend their hot summer days on the sandy beaches which are overlooked by parts of the fortress walls and in winter when the river freezes over sleds and skaters can be seen enjoying winter outdoor activities within and beside the fortress precinct. 

Our visit to the island Fortress was mainly to tour the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul a Russian Orthodox Church, built within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was the first church to be built in the newly formed city and as such it is the oldest church in St. Petersburg. In 1704, just one month after the city of St. Petersburg was founded, a wooden church was built on this site. Eight 8 years later, in 1712 the construction of the current stone building began.  It took 20 years to complete the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral that we visited today and it was finally consecrated in June 1733. Interestingly it is the second tallest building in the city.  (the television tower being the largest building in St. Petersburg) 

The St Peter and St Paul Cathedral's building design is radically different  from the traditional Orthodox churches of Russia in that it is built in the early Baroque style and is rectangular in shape. These feature ideas were borrowed from the Protestant churches of western Europe that were being built in the 1700's.  

The Cathedral has a belltower which is part of the overall building and it has a huge gold encrusted needle-like spire, 123 metres in height and it is a noteable landmark, seen from many parts of the city of St. Petersburg. Perched high on the tip of this needle-like spire is a gold figurine of a 'flying angel carrying a cross'. The detail is exquisite and is best seen on a you-tube video or from an enlarged photograph shot because the naked eye cannot appreciate the image without assistance. According to the wishes of Peter the Great, the clock on the bell tower was imported from Holland at the cost of 45,000 rubles which was a huge sum of money at that time. 

In 1756 the belltower were hit by lightning and burnt down. Catherine the Great ordered the belltower to be rebuilt and this was complete in 1776 with new bells being crafted in Holland and installed in the tower. These bells chimed every hour and right up until 1917, they played the National anthem "God save the Tsar" at noon every day.

In 1952 under Soviet rule a new clock be installed in the tower. It chimed four times a day and played the hymn of the Soviet Union. 

In 1919, the cathedral was closed and repurposed as a museum in 1924. Though it is still officially a museum in recent times (since 2000) church services and weddings have resumed within the sanctuary and worshippers continue to meet at this iconic church, set on an island within fortification walls. 

Impressive as the outside of the Cathedral is because of its setting and golden spire, we were blown away by its interior which is not only vast but lavish in its decor and petina. Most of the high curved ceilings are embellished with beautifully intricate mosaic patterned designs in delicate soft pinks, greens and yellows. 

We spent over an hour in this building which was crowded with tourists,  all impressed by the beauty of the inside of the cathedral and dwarfed by the many pink marble collums that support the dome roof structures. 

Hanging high above the throng of tourists were rows of extremely large glittering crystal chandeliers which eluminate the building and enhance the decorative gold covered ornamentations above the collums and around the huge window frames. All in all this is a magnificent building fit for a coronation.

The building is huge and houses smaller chapels and special sections of it contain the burial tombstones of all the Russian emperors and empresses who have ruled since the death of Peter the Great. In 1998 the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and most of his family were exhumed from a grave near the Ural Mountains. After DNA analysis confirm their identity, the family was reburied in a place of honour within St. Peter and St Paul Cathedral. Tsar Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor and his family were murdered by the Bolshevik troops on July 16, 1918.

One architectural feature that is unique to St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral is its very ornate iconostasis (the screen that separates the nave of the church from the sanctuary)  Iconostasis are usually a flat wall or screen which has three doors for the solemn entrance of the priests. The walls of an iconostasis are usually

highly decorated with carved wooden or gold panel decorations which will include at least two icons of saints. The iconostasis in the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral is not a flat wall but an ornate and elaborately gilt iconostasis which forms a tower over the sanctuary. On either side of the iconostasis, winged angels "stand guard" over the sactuary and gold framed picture icons of saints adorn the side gold panels. It is all very grand.

Like many churches we visited, we acknowledged and admired the wonderful craftsmanship, skill and architectural achievements of bygone artisans, builders and designers but the words of the Bible echo that God is not impressed with our endeavours. Rather he wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth with open contrite hearts and to live and love as Jesus did when he walked our earth. There is a tendency for mankind to worship and glorify the building and its constructors and to ignore the Creator of all things and our Saviour.