St. Isaac's Cathedral - history or a big deception of the Rus. Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Description

Finding yourself in the historical center of St. Petersburg on the banks of the Neva, you cannot help but notice that among the architectural ensembles of the embankments, a building stands out, striking in its size and monumentality - this is St. Isaac's Cathedral. When approaching this colossus, admiration for its power intensifies, the realization that it was created by the genius of human thought and labor leads to delight. Along with the Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Isaac's, as an architectural monument, is one of the city-forming dominant features of the historical center of the city on the Neva. Photos with ceremonial views of St. Isaac's Square are published in all guidebooks to St. Petersburg.

The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg is 101.5 meters

St. Isaac's Cathedral is the most grandiose domed structure in Russia. In the world, in size, it is inferior to only three similar buildings - St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome (its height is 132 meters), St. Paul's Cathedral in London (its height is 111 meters) and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (its height – 114 meters).

History of St. Isaac's Cathedral

The pinnacle of the work of the architect Auguste Ricard de Montferrand and the work of his whole life was the construction of one of the largest domed structures in the world - St. Isaac's Cathedral, which lasted 40 years (1818 - 1858), today considered one of the main symbols and decorations of St. St. Petersburg.

Construction of the first wooden St. Isaac's Church.

The history of the creation of St. Isaac's Cathedral is inextricably linked with the history of the construction of St. Petersburg. The first wooden church was built in the former Chertezhnaya at the Admiralty on the banks of the Neva right in front of the Admiralty docks. The wooden church was founded by order of Peter I as a house church and was named in honor of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, the king’s heavenly patron. In the summer of 1707, after minor alterations (a tetrahedral tower with a spire was built over the log gable roof, and an altar apse was added), the house church of the Romanov family was consecrated. Work on the construction of the spire and reconstruction of the church was led by the outstanding architect Domenico Trezzini and engineer Hermann Van Boles.

Important events in the life of the royal couple and the city are associated with the erected temple. Here on February 19, 1712, Peter I married his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.

By that time, the Northern capital was rapidly being built and developed, the stone Peter and Paul Fortress was being built on Hare Island, Vasilievsky Island was being built up, the Summer Palace of Peter I was built on the Left Bank of the Neva in the Summer Garden, the first ships were launched from the Admiralty shipyards.

Second stone St. Isaac's Church.

During the reign of Empress Catherine I, next to the wooden church in her image and likeness, a new stone temple was erected in the style of Peter the Great's Baroque. By 1724, the structures of the vaults and walls had become quite dilapidated. As a result of the reconstruction, a covered gallery was built around the high bell tower on high stone pillars. The stone vaults of the church were replaced with wooden structures, and the walls were reinforced with metal ties. A dome with a turret and an angel with a cross was built on a high octagonal drum. The reconstruction work was led by architects Trezzini, Zemtsov, Usov, Eropkin. The consecration of the temple took place in 1727. After a fire in 1736, the temple was restored and rebuilt until 1746.

Third St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Even after reconstruction, St. Isaac's Church, located in close proximity to the Neva, collapsed before our eyes due to errors in construction and imperfect structures.

Taking into account the shortcomings of the previous buildings, it was decided to build St. Isaac's Cathedral more thoroughly. Admiralty Meadow was chosen as the construction site.

In 1746, by order of Empress Catherine II, the architect Antonio Rinaldi began construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral. The architecture of the new temple resembled the previous model, but was distinguished by its large size, ideal proportions, and solemn appearance.

The construction of the cathedral was delayed and construction was completed already during the reign of Emperor Paul I by the architect Vincenzo Brenna. The consecration of St. Isaac's Cathedral took place in 1802.

Fourth St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Due to a lack of funds, they saved on construction and finishing materials, as a result of which St. Isaac's Cathedral began to deteriorate before our eyes.
This state of affairs did not in any way correspond to the state of the main cathedral of the Russian Empire and the ambitions of the new Emperor Alexander I.

Work on the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral began after the Napoleonic War of 1812. The construction was entrusted to the architect-engineer Auguste Montferrand. Emperor Alexander was presented with a project, the analogues of which were the cathedrals of St. Peter in Rome, St. Paul in London, and St. Mary in Florence.

Construction of the cathedral.

St. Isaac's Cathedral was supposed to surpass in size all the churches erected by that time. The construction of the cathedral was unprecedented in scale and duration.

In 1818, the ceremonial foundation stone of St. Isaac's Cathedral took place. It took 5 years to dismantle the old cathedral, drive 10,762 piles and lay the foundation.

The next 2 years were spent on the construction of the colonnades of the four façade porticoes. The work was supervised by Russian masters Samson Sukhanov and Arkhip Shikhin.

Solid granite pieces of the required shape were cut out of the rock near Vyborg, and on-site hewn columns, 17 meters high and weighing 114 tons, were transported by ship along the Neva to the construction site and installed in their place. A total of 48 columns of future porticos were erected.

Stone blocks, sand and crushed stone were delivered by water, and other building materials were transported by rail. The construction of the walls and dome pylons took 6 years, another 5 years were spent on the construction of the cathedral vaults, the drum of the central dome and four corner bell towers.

The dimensions of the cathedral are enormous. The height is 101.5 meters, the total weight of the building is 300,000 tons. The entire structure is erected on a high stereobat, which gives it great solemnity. The internal area of ​​the cathedral is 4000 square meters. The facades are lined with marble blocks 40-50 centimeters thick.

Dome of the cathedral.

A special design solution was invented for the dome of the cathedral, the model for which was the dome of St. Paul in London. To distribute loads and reduce weight, Auguste Montferrand used a metal structure consisting of three domed parts. The first internal, cut-off dome rests on four powerful pylons. The metal structures are covered with boards, covered with tarred felt and plastered. The interior surfaces were painted by artist Karl Bryullov. The second internal dome rests on the internal arch and supports a light lantern; it is painted from the inside to resemble a blue starry sky with golden rays. This artistic technique gives the entire under-dome space lightness and festivity, despite its enormous size. The third outer dome is covered with copper sheets and gilded on the outside. 100 kilograms of red gold were spent on gilding the dome. The dome is crowned with a light lantern and a gilded cross, the construction of which took place in 1839.

Sculptural decoration of the cathedral.

At the insistence of Montferrand, Ivan Petrovich Vitali, who created the unique doors of the temple, became the main sculptor of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Following the example of the “Golden Doors” of the Baptistery in Rome by the great Italian master Ghiberti, Vitali cast bas-reliefs in bronze for the doors of the cathedral. Bas-reliefs were also cast for the pediments of the porticos. Figures of angels with wings and stylized torches in their hands were installed at the four outer corners of the high attic. On major holidays, a fire was lit in these gas torch lamps. On such days, St. Isaac's Cathedral acquired even greater monumentality and solemnity.

The interior of the cathedral.

St. Isaac's Cathedral was built as the home church of the Romanov family, all work on the interior decoration was carried out with the active participation of Emperor Nicholas I. It took 17 years to finish and decorate the interiors.

The main iconographic subjects in the design of the iconostasis and interior decoration are dedicated to the heavenly patrons of all crowned persons, during whose reign all four religious buildings were built.

All the details of the interior emphasize the unity of earthly imperial power with heavenly power, sanctified by the Lord God himself. The iconostasis is built in the form of a triumphal arch; the imperial style is emphasized by six ten-meter malachite columns located on both sides of the royal doors.

All icons in the cathedral are made using the Florentine mosaic technique based on original paintings by artists T. Neff and F. Bryullov.

The sculptural composition “Christ in Glory” located above the royal doors, created by the sculptor P. Klodt and the artist T. Neff, is striking in its monumentality.

The painting “The Last Judgment” above the iconostasis, painted by the artist F. Bruni, is filled with tragedy; its coloristic and compositional design conveys the idea of ​​the omnipotence of God.

In accordance with European traditions, a grandiose altar window with an area of ​​28 square meters was made with a full-length stained glass image of Jesus Christ made by German masters. The internal surfaces of the walls and pylons are lined with marble 43 meters high up to the attic. Above the attic, the walls are decorated with artificial marble.

The area of ​​the dome ceiling is occupied by a monumental painting called “The Virgin Mary in Glory”, created by the artist Karl Bryullov. The paintings on the dome drum, sail vaults and attic according to K. Bryullov’s sketches were carried out by the artist P. Basin. The dome at its base is decorated with monumental statues of the twelve apostles.

The cathedral was illuminated with the help of seven gilded bronze chandeliers and candelabra. In 1908, electrification of the interior space was carried out. The interior of St. Isaac's Cathedral amazes with its grandeur and festivity; 300 kilograms of gold were spent on the decoration.

History of the cathedral after construction.

The ceremonial consecration of the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia took place on May 30, 1858 in the presence of Emperor Alexander II, members of the August family, the retinue of their court, honored guests of foreign embassies, high-ranking dignitaries and nobles, nobility and citizens of different classes. On the square filled with people in front of the cathedral, regiments were built in ceremonial formation, which the Emperor and his retinue drove around, greeting them. The entire August family and their retinue, led by the Emperor, entered St. Isaac's Cathedral, where representatives of the highest clergy performed the rite of consecration of the temple. Chronicles of that time describe this event as the greatest holiday of national significance. The image of the power and greatness of the state and the inviolability of the throne was embodied in the architecture and monumental decoration of the cathedral.

The majestic silhouette of St. Isaac's Cathedral completed the ceremonial appearance of the capital of the Russian Empire, becoming the main architectural dominant along with the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

In 1871, the grandiose building, which required significant annual financial investments, was transferred to a government department - the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Thus, St. Isaac's Cathedral began to simultaneously serve two functions: as a home church for the royal family and as an Orthodox center for city-wide holidays.

Under Soviet rule in 1931, St. Isaac's Cathedral acquired the status of a public museum.

The exhibition consisted of three sections: the history of the construction of the cathedral, the anti-religious work of the museum and the natural science part.

During the Great Patriotic War, during the period of the enemy fascist blockade, St. Isaac's Cathedral fulfilled its important mission - it became the main repository for the most valuable museum exhibits taken from suburban palaces and city museums.

After the war, restoration work on the cathedral was carried out on an unprecedented scale.

As a reminder of the artillery shelling of the city by the Nazis during the siege, during which St. Isaac's Cathedral was damaged, the restorers left holes from enemy shells on the colonnade of the western portico.

Cathedral-museum

In 1963, the historical and artistic cathedral-museum "St. Isaac's Cathedral" was opened to the general public. After the restoration, the magnificent interiors of the temple were revealed; once again, mosaics and paintings by nineteenth-century masters appeared before visitors in their unique splendor.

A special place among the museum’s exhibits was occupied by the Foucault pendulum, hanging from the dome of the cathedral. At a certain time, the pendulum was launched, and when it oscillated, one could see its deviation relative to the marks on the floor - this confirmed that the earth was spinning.

Within the walls of the temple there is a magnificent bust - a sculptural portrait of the architect Auguste Montferrand, made by the sculptor A. Foletti, from the same types of marble that were used to decorate the cathedral. The museum's exposition includes models telling about the construction of the building and a model of a small copy of St. Isaac's Cathedral, stands with detailed descriptions and engravings, architectural drawings, documents of that time related to the construction and the personality of the architect Auguste Montferrand.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is also a museum where the life and work of the great architect Auguste Ricard de Montferrand is most fully illuminated. Here you can learn not only about the construction of the largest temple in Russia, but also about another no less significant and famous monument erected by a genius nearby on Palace Square - the Alexander Column.

During excursions held in the museum, visitors get acquainted with the history of the construction of the cathedral, construction methods of that time, engineering inventions that were first used in the construction of the grandiose building. Of particular interest and admiration among tourists are the interiors of the cathedral, which amaze with the splendor and richness of their decoration - Florentine mosaics, paintings, sculptural compositions, and decorative elements.

The history of the life and work of the great architect Auguste Montferrand and those great masters who created this masterpiece of architecture will be no less interesting in the narration of the guides conducting the excursions.

Since 1991, church services have been held in the temple four times a year.

Today St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the main cultural centers of St. Petersburg, in addition to cultural, educational and excursion activities, a lot of scientific work is carried out here in the field of studying the historical, artistic, decorative, applied and architectural heritage, restoration work is constantly carried out and improved using the most advanced technologies .

The construction and history of St. Isaac's Cathedral are inextricably linked with the history and life of our great city from the first days of its existence to the present day.

Recently, St. Isaac's Cathedral has acquired a completely new artistic appearance, which is created by the illumination of the facades and domes, drawing its solemn silhouette in the luminous panorama of the night city.

Pride and admiration for the greatness of the human spirit covers people when they climb the dome colonnade, where the observation deck is located. From this high point, guests can see a beautiful panorama of St. Petersburg and all the main architectural sights of the historical center. The cathedral colonnade is one of the most successful places for photo and video filming of ceremonial views of St. Petersburg from a bird's eye view.

St. Isaac's Cathedral transfer to the Russian Orthodox Church

On January 10, 2017, news appeared in the media that shook the cultural community of St. Petersburg - St. Isaac's Cathedral is being transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. This decision was made by the government of St. Petersburg, headed by the city governor Georgy Poltavchenko.

The museum complex St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the main museums and cultural centers in Russia, where excursions, exhibitions, concerts and cultural programs are constantly held. Solemn services on major Orthodox holidays are held annually in St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Saint Isaac of Dalmatia was considered the patron saint of Peter the Great, since the future first Russian emperor was born on May 30, the day of this saint. On his thirty-eighth birthday, in 1710, Peter I ordered the construction of a wooden church of St. Isaac in St. Petersburg, in which two years later he married Catherine I. And five years later, builders began to build a stone church on this site. The emperor issued a decree that all Baltic sailors take the oath only in this temple. The church took about 30 years to build, but the swampy soil swallowed the efforts of the architects, and the building soon had to be dismantled.

In 1768, Empress Catherine II decided to complete Peter's plan and ordered the temple to be restored, but moved away from the coastline - to Senate Square. The design of the building was grandiose; the temple was faced with Olonets marble. But after the death of his hated mother, Paul I ordered the marble to be given to decorate his favorite brainchild - St. Michael's Castle, and St. Isaac's Cathedral to be completed with brick.

The building was constantly in need of repair, and in 1809 Emperor Alexander I announced a competition for the construction of a new church of St. Isaac. But then the war began, and the construction of the cathedral had to be forgotten for a while.

In 1816, another competition was announced, in which the most eminent architects of the time participated, but the king focused his attention on the little-known Auguste Montferrand, who, unlike his colleagues, did not call for the destruction of the previous building of Antonio Rinaldi, but presented 24 projects, in each of which it was proposed to use the old building.

The fourth temple was begun on June 26, 1818. Given the failures of previous projects, builders reinforced the foundation with 10,762 piles. Today the cathedral is decorated with 150 works of painting from Fyodor Bruni, Karl Bryullov, Vasily Shebuev, three hundred monuments and bas-reliefs made by Ivan Vitali - this is the most beautiful European cathedral and a unique example of Russian church architecture. More than a hundredweight of precious metal was spent on gilding the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral. The gilding process was carried out according to an ancient, later banned technology using mercury, which caused the death of all the craftsmen who participated in this process.

St. Isaac's Cathedral, among other records, broke the record for long-term construction - exactly 40 years of construction. There were even rumors in the city that the architect was deliberately delaying the completion of the construction; supposedly some fortune teller predicted that he would die as soon as he completed the construction of the cathedral. Whether it was true or not, Montferrand actually died shortly after the completion of the temple. According to rumors, he was unable to survive the royal disgrace. One of the courtiers drew the attention of Alexander II that the builder placed his image among the saints, and, if everyone else bows to Saint Isaac, then Montferrand stands with his head held high and with a model of the cathedral in his hands. The emperor became angry and, without shaking his hand, walked past the architect. He did not complete the consecration ceremony of the cathedral, felt ill, went home and died a month later.

The architect wanted to be buried in the masterpiece he created, but Emperor Alexander imposed a ban on the will of the deceased architect, and Montferrand’s coffin was carried around St. Isaac’s Cathedral, after which it was taken to Paris.

In St. Isaac's Cathedral, children of the royal family were baptized and city holidays were held, but the completion and renovation of the building continued for a long time. A story arose in the city about a prediction that the fall of the Romanov dynasty would occur when the scaffolding was removed from the cathedral building. The forests were removed in 1916 - six months before the abdication of the last Emperor of Russia.

St. Isaac's Cathedral (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

• Tours for May in Russia
• Last minute tours in Russia

Previous photo Next photo

St. Isaac's Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in St. Petersburg today and one of the tallest domed structures in the world. Its history began in 1710, when a wooden church was built in honor of Isaac of Dalmatia, a Byzantine saint whose memorial day coincides with the birthday of Peter the Great. In it, in 1712, Peter married Ekaterina Alekseevna, his second wife. Later the wooden church was replaced with a stone one. The third temple was erected in the second half of the 18th century, but immediately after the completion of the work it was declared inappropriate for the formal development of the city center. Emperor Alexander I announced a competition for the best project for its reconstruction. After 9 years, the project of the young French architect Auguste Montferrand was approved, and work began.

The construction of the cathedral lasted 40 years and required a huge amount of effort. However, the result exceeded all expectations. The monumentality of the cathedral is emphasized by its square construction. 43 types of minerals were used during construction. The base is lined with granite, and the walls are covered with gray marble blocks about 40-50 cm thick. St. Isaac's Cathedral is framed on four sides by mighty eight-column porticoes, decorated with statues and bas-reliefs. Above the bulk of the cathedral rises a grandiose gilded dome on a drum, surrounded by granite columns. The dome itself is made of metal, and about 100 kg of red gold was spent on its gilding.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is sometimes called the Museum of Colored Stone. The interior walls are lined with white marble with finishing panels of green and yellow marble, jasper and porphyry. The main dome was painted from the inside by Karl Bryullov; Vasily Shebuev, Fedora Bruni, Ivan Vitali and many other famous artists and sculptors also worked on the interior decoration of the temple.

The height of the cathedral is 101.5 m; 12,000 people can be in the temple at the same time. However, the architect Montferrand himself believed that the cathedral was designed for 7,000 people, taking into account the fluffy skirts of the ladies, each of whom needed at least 1 square meter. m. of space.

After the revolution, the temple was destroyed, about 45 kg of gold and more than 2 tons of silver were taken out of it. In 1928, services were stopped, and one of the first anti-religious cathedrals in the country opened here. During the Great Patriotic War, the basements of the temple served as a repository for works of art that were brought here from all palaces and museums. For camouflage, the dome was repainted gray, but it was still not possible to avoid the bombing - to this day, traces of artillery shelling are visible on the walls and columns of the temple. They did not shoot at the dome itself; according to legend, the Germans used it as a landmark in the area.

The temple was given museum status in 1948, and church services on Sundays and holidays were resumed in 1990, and this tradition is still alive today. In addition, the cathedral regularly hosts concerts, excursions and other events.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral

The colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral is worth special attention. This is the most famous observation deck in St. Petersburg. From a height of 43 m there are views of the Neva and the central areas of the city. It is especially beautiful here on white nights - there is something mystical in this ghostly light. You can climb the colonnade only on foot using a spiral staircase.

Construction of the colonnade began in 1837, immediately after the dome was erected. The temple was built using technologies from the early 19th century; granite monolithic blocks were delivered from the Gulf of Finland, and a special mechanism was built to lift them to a height. Most construction was carried out manually by serf workers.

Practical information

Address: Isaac's Square, 4.

Opening hours: from 10:00 to 17:30.

Entrance: 250 RUB (entrance to the museum), 150 RUB (entrance to the colonnade, audio tour included).

Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

Designed by the architect Auguste Montferrand, St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg is an outstanding monument of Russian architecture of the 19th century and one of the greatest domed structures in the world, a symbol of imperial power embodied in stone.

The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral lasted four decades and became a school of new technologies, many of which were used for the first time, including a rail track, a lightweight metal dome and the widespread use of electroforming in decorative decoration.

The facades of the cathedral are decorated with porticoes with monolithic granite columns, which were cut in the Pueterlax quarry and transported by water on barges to the construction site. The installation of these columns, which aroused the admiration of contemporaries, occupies a special place in the history of construction technology. Using scaffolding of an original design and gates, the column was installed in less than an hour. A model of a lifting scaffold made in 1826 is on display in the museum.

More than 350 works created by Russian sculptors in St. Isaac's Cathedral represent a unique ensemble of monumental and decorative sculpture of the 19th century.

The cathedral is decorated with sculptures of angels on the outer attic, angels with a lamp, evangelists and apostles on the pediments of the porticoes. On the balustrade of the main dome there are 24 sculptures of angels and archangels (sculptor I. German), on the pediments of the porticos there are high reliefs “The Resurrection of Christ” and “The Meeting of Isaac of Dalmatia with Emperor Valens” by F. Lemaire and “The Adoration of the Magi” and “Isaac blesses Emperor Theodosius » works by I. Vitali.

In the niches of the walls of the southern and northern porticos there are works by P. Klodt and A. Loganovsky “Carrying the Cross”, “Lamentation”, “Massacre of the Innocents” and “The Appearance of an Angel to the Shepherds”.

The large external doors of the temple were designed by I. Vitali; Particularly interesting are the western doors with the compositions “The Sermon on the Mount”, “The Raising of Lazarus” and “The Healing of the Paralytic”.

The sculpture on the vaults, dome drum and iconostasis is made of copper using the electroplating method, which was first used on such a scale during the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

St. Isaac's Cathedral has preserved to this day the richest collection of Russian monumental religious and historical painting of the years 1840–1850.

103 wall paintings and 52 canvas paintings were created by the largest representatives of the Russian academic school of that time, including V.K. Shebuev, F.A. Bruni, K.P. Bryullov, A.T. Markov, N.M. Alekseev, P. V. Basin, F. P. Bryullov, T. A. Neff, K. A. Moldavsky and others.

The ceiling of the main dome, painted by the great Karl Bryullov, “Our Lady in Glory,” is grandiose in size (816 square meters).

The artistic decoration of St. Isaac's Cathedral served as a reason for the revival of the art of mosaics in Russia in the 19th century. Here you can see 62 mosaics with a total area of ​​more than 500 square meters. Mosaic work began in 1851 and continued until 1914.

A brilliant example of mosaic copying is the “Last Supper” icon, made in 1879–1887 based on S. Zhivago’s original by mosaic artists I. P. Kudrin, I. A. Laveretsky, M. P. Muravyov, I. A. Pelevin and N. Yu Silivanovich. The composition of this work shows the influence of the famous fresco by Leonardo da Vinci. “The Last Supper” was made using the method of optical color mixing.

To convey all the richness of the colors of painting, mosaicists used smalt in more than 12,000 shades of color. The mosaics of St. Isaac's Cathedral are distinguished by the perfection of technical execution. In 1862, at the World Exhibition in London, they received the highest praise. Experts noted that in Russia the production of smalt “has been brought to such perfection as nowhere else in Europe.”

The stained glass window “The Risen Christ” in the altar window of St. Isaac's Cathedral was made under the direction of the Bavarian architect Leo von Klenze in the style of the Italian Renaissance, its area is 28.5 square meters. m. This is one of the largest stained glass windows in Europe.

The museum conducts excursions in Russian and foreign languages, conducts educational work with schoolchildren, and conducts art master classes for children “Children draw in the temple.” Special programs have been developed and infrastructure equipped with the latest technology has been created for visitors with disabilities, includingvisiting the observation deck with a guided tour at an altitude of 37 meters by visitors in a wheelchair. Today, under the arches of St. Isaac's Cathedral, concerts of classical and sacred music are performed by the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the most monumental and majestic sights of St. Petersburg. This Orthodox church is one of the tallest domed buildings in the world. The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral is 101.5 m, the diameter of the dome is 21.8 m. The area of ​​the temple is about 4,000 sq. m. St. Isaac's Cathedral can accommodate 12 thousand people. The colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral is the best observation deck in St. Petersburg. You can climb to the top of the colonnade via an internal staircase, overcoming 211 steps, from where a magnificent panorama of the central part of the city opens.

The official name is the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia. The history of the museum-monument begins in 1928, when the exhibition “History of the Construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral” was opened in St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

During the Great Patriotic War and the siege of Leningrad, exhibits from the city museums and suburban palaces of Petrodvorets, Pavlovsk, Pushkin and Gatchina were transported to St. Isaac's Cathedral for preservation.

In January 1963, the St. Isaac's Cathedral museum-monument became a branch of the State Museum of the History of Leningrad.

One of the significant events in the life of the museum was the resumption of services in monument churches: in 1990, for the first time after the closure of St. Isaac's Cathedral as an operating temple. St. Isaac's Cathedral received its voice back - specially cast bells took their place on the belfries.

Today, the State Museum-Monument "St. Isaac's Cathedral" is a generally recognized all-Russian cultural center, a multifunctional museum institution that creates in visitors a feeling of the special atmosphere of a modern museum. The museum creates new displays, exhibitions and excursion projects, sacred music sounds under the arches of churches, socio-cultural events and scientific forums are held.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Operating mode:

Museum-monument "St. Isaac's Cathedral"— from 10:30 to 18:00.

Day off is Wednesday. Evening programs of the museum - from 18:00 to 22:30 (from May 1 to September 30, closed on Wednesdays).

Colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral— from 10:30 to 18:00 (from May 1 to October 31 daily). From November 1 to April 30, the day off is the third Wednesday of the month.

Evening colonnade - from 18:00 to 22:30 (from May 1 to October 31). Colonnade during the “white nights” - from 22:30 to 4:30 (valid from June 1 to August 20, closed on Wednesday).