St. Petersburg is a city of architectural masterpieces, a real textbook on the styles and directions of architecture. One of the greatest buildings of the city is the Kazan Cathedral. It delights and surprises more than one generation of residents and guests of the Northern capital. From the publication you will learn about when, by whom and in what style the Kazan Cathedral was built, what its features are and what it is famous for.
Background
At the place where the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg today stands, whose style we are considering, as early as 1710 a wooden chapel was built, belonging to a nearby hospital. A little later on this place the Church of Our Lady of Kazan was erected from a tree.
The main place on Nevsky Prospekt was not long decorated with a wooden building. In 1733, at the direction of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the court church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was laid in this place. The famous architect M. Zemtsov worked on the project. He built a beautiful baroque cathedral with a wooden dome and a gate bell tower. Before the consecration of the temple, the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was transferred to it - a revered and miraculous image. But in those days the church was called Rozhdestvenskaya, and representatives of the royal family often stood in it. In 1773, Tsarevich Pavel the First was married here, numerous victories of Russian weapons were also noted here.
Gradually the temple deteriorated and demanded updating. In the middle of the XVIII century, several prominent architects developed projects for the renovation of the cathedral, including fans of A. Palladio Nikolai Lvov and the famous architect Giacomo Quarenghi offering their projects. Thus, the style of the Kazan Cathedral was previously defined as classic, although the project at that time was not yet created. At the end of the 18th century, Emperor Paul the First announced a competition to create a project for the new cathedral, he wanted the building to resemble St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
Architect
In 1799, a competition was announced for a project for the construction of the new Kazan Cathedral. The architectural style was originally defined as classicism - the most relevant style of that historical period. The competition was attended by many celebrities of the time: C. Cameron, P. Gonzago, J. Tom de Tomon. Pavel the First was inclined to Cameron's project, but never made a final decision on the winner of the competition.
A year later, Count Stroganov decided to take part in the fate of the temple, whose residence was not far from the place of future construction. He brought the emperor the project of his architect A.N. Voronikhin. The project received supreme approval, and Count Stroganov became the head of the Board of Trustees of the construction site. Andrei Voronikhin came from a family of serfs Count Stroganov. But since childhood, he showed great ability to draw, which did not go unnoticed. The count gave Voronikhin a good classical education, financed 4 of his trips to Europe. In 1785, the architect received a vacation, but continued to work for Count Stroganov. He was engaged in the interior decoration of the Stroganov Palace, built a cottage for the count on the Black River for the count, created the famous project of colonnades in Peterhof, for which he received the title of academician of architecture. Voronikhin is considered the founder of the Russian Empire.
Project
At the end of the 18th century, Count Stroganov invited Voronikhin to make a project for the Kazan Cathedral. What style to choose for construction? Such a question did not even arise - it was a time of triumphant march of classicism around the world. The architect proposed an ambitious project with an impressive colonnade on the north and south sides of the cathedral. If the project had been embodied in the original plan, today we would have seen an amazing structure with two semicircles of colonnades on Nevsky Prospekt. The architect suggested laying three large squares around the church, but it was not possible to fully realize such an expensive idea, and as a result, only the northern colonnade decorated the temple. The project was very impressive for Emperor Alexander the First. And already 8 days after the royal approval, on August 27, 1801, the laying of the first stone took place.
Architectural classicism
The 17th-19th centuries in Europe and in Russia were marked by the dominance of the classicism style. Its main feature is the appeal to the ancient canons of architecture. This style is characterized by rationalism, calculated harmony. Buildings are characterized by simplicity of lines, regularity of layout, symmetrical-axial compositional solutions, clear volumes and concise decor. The main omen of the classics is antique orders.
An example of late classicism is the Kazan Cathedral, whose style is often called empire. The architect Voronikhin is considered the founder of Russian Empire, i.e., late, mature classicism. The aesthetics of classicism gravitated towards large-scale urban development decisions; the empire was especially distinguished by its imperial scale. It was this - large-scale, symmetrical, with order decoration - that was Voronikhin’s project.
Construction
The construction of the temple was carried out at a very fast pace. To clear the site, 11 private houses had to be demolished, but the owners received decent compensation for this. Kazan Cathedral, whose style assumed a decent scope, was supposed to occupy a large space along Nevsky Prospekt, but still the city could not afford to accommodate such a colossus completely, so Voronikhin had to limit his project. It was assumed that the cathedral would be built in three years, and Stroganov tried to meet this deadline, but still the work dragged on, interrupted by funding shortfalls that arose due to large government spending on foreign policy goals, and Voronikhin did not fit into the budget. For the construction of the temple, only domestic materials were used (the idea of Stroganov), but this still did not reduce the cost of construction. The construction of the cathedral ended in 1811. On September 15, the church was consecrated, a little later the old church was dismantled, which spoiled the appearance of the new building. Voronikhin received the Order of St. Vladimir of the fourth degree for this building. The construction of the cathedral cost the treasury a fabulous sum - 4.7 million rubles.
Architecture
Since the Kazan Cathedral in style of architecture was supposed to resemble the main Catholic cathedral in Rome, when it was erected, they were guided primarily by religious architectural canons. The cathedral is oriented from west to east, and this caused certain difficulties: it was impossible to fit the building into the perspective of Nevsky Prospect. Voronikhin found an original solution and made the northern facade a front door, although the main entrance is on the side in relation to the main city highway.
The main decoration of the cathedral is a colonnade of 94 Corinthian columns, the total number of columns on the facade is 136. By and large, the appearance of the cathedral is very secular, even the cross on the dome is unfolded so that it is visible only from a certain angle, and in other projections it looks like a spire . Two trends are surprisingly combined in the construction: monumentality and grandeur and incredible lightness, elegance. Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the style of which laid the foundation for true Russian classicism, is considered a landmark building for Russian architecture. Experts note that this building marked the emergence of Russian architecture, not an imitator of European models, but architecture with national colors in the framework of pan-European trends.
Interior
The interior of the Kazan Cathedral is no less interesting than its external appearance. The space of the cathedral is divided by columns of granite into three naves, the ceilings are decorated with rosettes in the form of stylized flowers resembling paintings. Floor mosaics are made of different grades of domestic stone. In general, the cathedral is considered a real monument to domestic minerals. Most of the icons and paintings of the cathedral were written especially for him by outstanding masters of his time, including Bryullov, Borovikovsky, Kiprensky. The iconostasis was created according to the sketches of Tone, and the trophy silver won from the Napoleonic army went to it. The main decoration of the cathedral is the miraculous list of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God.
Current state
Today, Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the style of architecture of which delights all people, is a functioning Orthodox church, as well as a cultural monument. In Soviet times, the cathedral was restored, it housed the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. In 1994, the Orthodox cross was returned to the dome and church services resumed.
Myths and legends
Kazan Cathedral, the style of which is an indispensable delight for any person, over its history has grown a considerable number of legends. The first story is connected with the empty pedestals of the cathedral. On them, until the middle of the XIX century, there were gypsum sculptures of archangels, in the future it was assumed that they would be replaced by bronze ones, but this did not happen. Popular rumor says that the archangels will take their place only when a wise and fair ruler appears in Russia. So far, apparently, this has not happened. The Cathedral since the war of 1812 is considered the Temple of Russian weapons. Trophy banners, keys to the conquered cities were brought here. Field Marshal Kutuzov greatly revered this cathedral, and it was in it that a vessel with the commander’s heart was buried.