Europe 2019
Church on Spilled Blood
Saint Petersburg, Russia
I'll make this one short. The Church on Spilled Blood is a fairly standard stop on any Saint Petersburg tour. It's a great example of the "onion dome" architecture utilized in East Slavic churches, primarily in Russia. It's called many things, but I believe the actual name they prefer is 'Church of the Savior on Blood'.
It's so named because it was constructed on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in 1881. They bombed his carriage but it was bulletproof - a gift from Napoleon. When he got out to survey the carnage, another bomber threw one at his feet. He survived long enough to be transported to the Winter Palace before succumbing. Construction of the church started in 1883.
As the outside is a perfect example of Russian architecture, so is the inside as it is basically wall to wall mosaics. It's grand, but also definitely set up for tourists these days.
It's one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg and worth checking out. At some point, all of the grand churches of Europe start to become, well, boring. But each has a unique story, and this one's is really interesting. You probably don't need to spend more than 30 minutes here, but you should check it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment