Kazan Cathedral

About museum

Time and the damp climate did not spare the wooden Baroque. The church was decided to be rebuilt. Paul I announced a competition of designs. The emperor wanted the new church to resemble the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. Such an undertaking required the demolition of 11 houses on Nevsky Prospect.
Leading architectural lights presented their vision of the new church: the Scot Charles Cameron, the Frenchman Thomas de Thomon, the Italian Giacomo Trombaro. But the choice fell on the design by Andrey Voronikhin, a former serf of the Stroganovs. It is believed that the architect gave the dome the shape of the famous Monomakh's Cap to introduce an element of Russian style into the project.
The first stone was laid in the presence of Emperor Alexander I in 1801. Throughout the years of construction Voronikhin literally lived on the building site, controlling every stage. He even developed a design for a barge to deliver the stone. Pudozh stone was brought from Gatchina. At first it was so soft that it could be cut with an ordinary knife. But time gave the material hardness.
The architectural kinship of the Petersburg and Vatican cathedrals manifested itself in the colonnade. But in Rome it seems to enclose the square, whereas in Petersburg it opens toward Nevsky Prospect. This architectural trick distracts attention from the fact that the main entrance is not actually on the side of the city's main street. By tradition the altar faces east, while the church's north facade faces Nevsky. The cathedral was built over 10 years, and when it came time for the interior decoration, Andrey Voronikhin was no more. Kazan Cathedral is the most significant creation of the young architect.
The new church became the true successor to the demolished church. The tradition of honoring the Russian army after military victories was preserved. In 1812 military trophies were brought to the cathedral: 107 flags and standards of the French army, Marshal Davout's baton, 93 keys from towns, fortresses and castles captured by the Russian army. Even the iconostasis of the temple of Russian military glory has an unusual story. Its facing used up 40 poods of silver seized on the battlefield. The war trophy taken from the French was sent to the capital by the Don ataman Matvey Platov.