Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood

The Savior on Spilled Blood or the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is festive and bright, like a fabulous temple on the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal in St. Petersburg. Despite its outward appearance, it marks a dark, tragic event in the history of Russia – the assassination of Emperor Alexander II. The explosion of a bomb, which was thrown at the tsar's feet by the revolutionary terrorist Ignaty Grinevitsky, ended his life. In memory of the innocent blood shed, the cathedral is called the Savior on Spilled Blood. The memorial church was built with the help of donations collected from all over the country.

The assassination attempt on Alexander II, which ended with the death of the emperor, was carried out on March 1, 1881. And the very next day, Alexander III, who ascended the throne, announced his intention to perpetuate the memory of his murdered father by erecting a temple at the site of the tragedy.

Initially, a temporary chapel was built according to the project of Leonty Benois. It was consecrated a month and a half after the death of Alexander II. It existed until 1883, when the construction of the temple began.

The construction of the cathedral was preceded by a competition of architectural projects. Over the course of two years, several developments were submitted to Alexander III for consideration.

In the summer of 1883, the architectural development received the approval of the emperor, and the project was finally approved in May 1887 after some improvements.

The construction commission, assembled at the end of March 1883, at its very first meeting approved Archimandrite Ignatius' proposal to light a memorial church in honor of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. Savior is the most common epithet used to refer to the Savior Jesus Christ.

It took almost a quarter of a century – 24 years - to erect a magnificent structure with rich, unique decor. During the construction of the cathedral, in order to strengthen the soil prone to erosion by the waters of the canal, an advanced construction solution was implemented for the first time — a waterproofing concrete foundation was built under the foundation instead of traditional piles. Projects have also been developed to equip the temple with steam heating, electric lighting and lightning protection.

Embodying the wishes of Alexander III, creating the decoration of the temple, Parland tried to apply the most vivid and rich decorative elements inherent in the "Russian style" in the architecture of colored bricks, granite, gilded copper, enamel

• openwork arches
• carved marble platbands
• mosaic panels with gospel themes and images of saints

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