St Isaac Cathedral
by Elena Nosyreva
Title
St Isaac Cathedral
Artist
Elena Nosyreva
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg,Russia is the largest Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the city. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who was born on the feast day of that saint. The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Anti-religious Museum. The dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicu's theory. During WWII the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesic intersection point was placed, with the objective of aiding in the location of enemy cannon.
In 1990's the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.
Original photography by Elena Nosyreva.
(c) All copyrights reserved by Elena Nosyreva. 2013.
Uploaded
July 28th, 2013
Embed
Share