When you come to St. Petersburg, St. Isaac's Cathedral must be one of the points of visit. Perhaps, not one of the other Orthodox churches in Russia is covered with so many legends and secrets. The history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg has such a long chronicle, which in time almost equal to the history of the city itself, which is sometimes difficult to believe. At the moment, it is already the fourth construction in a row, which was alternately erected under the same name in the same place by various rulers. It is about the secrets of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral over the centuries that will be described in this article.
The origin of the idea
The very beginning of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral is considered to be from the time of Peter the Great. As you know, the greatest monarch in the history of Russia was born on May 30, the day that is under the auspices of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, who was a monk in Byzantium during his lifetime.
All his life, the king considered this particular saint to be his main patron, and therefore it is understandable why he decided to lay the first church for him. Although this monk does not have special merits, it is customary to rank him as a saint due to the fact that he was persecuted by the emperor Valens in the 4th century AD. Its most significant action is the foundation after the death of Valent of its own church, which glorified the consubstantial God-Son and God-the-Father. Even his nickname, Dalmatian, he received from the next abbot of this church - St. Dalmatian.
First church
However, no matter how glorious Saint Isaac was, Peter 1 ordered in 1710 to begin the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In particular, this can be argued by the fact that during the construction of the city on the Neva there were already several thousand people who simply had nowhere to go to pray.
The new wooden church was built quickly enough, completely due to the royal treasury. The construction project was undertaken by Count Fedor Apraksin, who invited the Dutch architect Boles to participate in the construction of the spire. The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral at this stage was carried out taking into account the main canon of the country - unusual simplicity. The church itself was an ordinary log cabin, which on top was simply upholstered with boards. The roof was sloping, which ensured good snow flow. With this construction, the height of St. Isaac's Cathedral was only about 4 meters, which simply can not be compared with the existing structure.
Peter gradually carried out restoration work in the building to improve the design and appearance, but the church itself remained very modest. But this does not mean at all that it was not historically insignificant - it was here in 1712 that Peter the Great held a wedding ceremony with Ekaterina Alekseevna, about which a special record has been preserved to this day.
Second church
The second stage in the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg began already in 1717. The wooden church simply could not resist the weather and was dilapidated. A decision was made in her place to build a new stone temple. And again, this was done only at the expense of state funds.
It is believed that Tsar Peter himself laid the first stone in the foundation of the new church, making his contribution to the construction. A prominent architect G. Mattarnovi, who served at the court since 1714, was involved in the supervision of the project. However, he did not manage to finish the construction because of his own death, and therefore the construction project of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg was first entrusted to Gerbel, and then to Yakov Neupokoev.
The church was finally completed only 10 years after the start of work. It was much larger than the original - more than 60 meters in length. The construction was carried out in the style of "Peter's Baroque", the construction in its appearance was incredibly reminiscent of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Especially this similarity can be seen in the bell tower, in which the clock-chimes were created in Amsterdam according to the same project as those in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was carried out on the banks of the Neva. In its former place is now a statue of the Bronze Horseman. However, the development site was incredibly unsuccessful, since the constantly rising water level in the river significantly damaged the foundation.
The end of this building can be attributed to 1935, when after a lightning strike the church was almost completely burned down. Several attempts to reconstruct it did not bring any effect. It was decided to disassemble the temple and move it away from the river banks.
Third cathedral
A new round in the history of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral can be counted from 1761. By a decree of the Senate on July 15, this case was entrusted to Chevakinsky, and after accession to the throne in 1962, Catherine 2, she only supported the decree, since the cathedral was decided to personify with Peter 1. However, Chevakinsky resigned and A. Rinaldi became the main architect. The solemn laying of the building itself was carried out only in August 1768.
The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral continued under the project of Rinaldi until the death of Catherine. After that, the architect left the country, despite the fact that the church itself was erected only to the eaves. Such a long construction directly depended on the grandeur of the project - the cathedral had to have 5 complex domes and a high bell tower, and the walls of the entire building were supposed to be faced with marble.
Pavel 1 did not like such high expenses, and he ordered the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg to be completed at an accelerated pace. By his order, the architect Brenn simply ruined the magnificent building - it caused its ridiculous appearance to bewilderment and grins. The third cathedral was consecrated on May 20, 1802 and consisted of 2 parts - the marble bottom and brick top, which led to the writing of several epigrams.
New project
This cathedral owes much of its modern appearance to Emperor Alexander 1. It was he who ordered the analysis to begin, because the ridiculous appearance simply did not correspond to the ceremonial appearance of the central part of the capital. In 1809, a competition for a project was announced among architects, which involved not so much the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, but the finding of a suitable dome for it. However, this competition did not bring anything, and therefore the creation of the project was proposed to the young architect O. Montferrand. He offered the emperor 24 sketches, focusing on completely different architectural styles, which I liked very much the ruler.
It was Montferrand who became the new imperial architect whose duties it was charged with rebuilding the cathedral, but at the same time preserving its altar section, where there were 3 consecrated altars. However, continuous problems went on - the architect had to draw up several projects that were mercilessly criticized by others.
1818 project
The first project was created in 1818. He was quite simple and took into account all the instructions of the emperor, offering only a little increase in the length of the cathedral and dismantle the bell tower. The plan was to preserve 5 domes, making the central one the largest and the remaining four small. The project was already approved by the ruler, the construction began and began to disassemble, but the architect Moduy made very sharp criticism. He wrote a note with comments on the project, the content of which was reduced to 3 aspects:
- Insufficient foundation strength.
- Uneven settlement of the building.
- Incorrect dome design.
It all came down to one thing - the building simply could not stand it and collapse, despite the supports. The case was examined by a special committee, which directly recognized that such a restructuring is impossible. The correctness of this fact was recognized by the author of the project himself, who appealed to the fact that he was guided by the instructions of the emperor. Alexander 1 was forced to take this into account and announce a new competition, substantially mitigating the existing requirements. The date of construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was again postponed.
1825 project
In the new competition, Montferrand was allowed to participate only on a common basis, but he still managed to win it. In his project, he fully took into account the comments and advice given by other architects and engineers. The Montferrand project, approved in 1825, personifies the view of St. Isaac's Cathedral that currently exists.
According to his decisions, it was decided to decorate the cathedral with four columned porticoes, as well as add four belfries embedded in the walls. In its appearance, the cathedral began to resemble a square more than a rectangle, on which the architect relied earlier.
Start of construction
It is generally accepted that the years of construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral went from 1818 to 1858, that is, almost 40 years. Despite the fact that the first project was ultimately not used, the work began with an orientation on it. The engineer Betancourt conducted them, which was to organically combine the old and new foundations.
In total, more than 10 thousand piles were used for the construction of the support, which were needed to strengthen and prevent the collapse of the building. The style of continuous masonry was used, since in those days it was considered the best in the construction of large buildings in the swampy area on which St. Petersburg is located. In total, it took about 5 years to update the foundation.
The next stage in construction is the cutting of granite monoliths. These works were carried out directly in the quarries near Vyborg on the lands of the landowners von Exparre. Here, not only was a large number of granite blocks discovered, but it was quite easy to transport them using the open route to the Gulf of Finland. The first columns were installed already in 1928 in the presence of members of the royal family and numerous Russian and foreign guests. The construction of the portico was carried out almost until the end of 1830.
Further, with the help of masonry, very strong support pylons and directly the walls of the cathedral were built. There was a ventilation network and light galleries that give the church a magnificent natural consecration. The construction of ceilings began after 6 years. Not only brick, but also decorative coatings lined with artificial marble were built. Such double ceilings are a characteristic feature of this cathedral only, since previously they were simply not used either in Russia or in other European countries.
Erection of domes
One of the most important aspects of the construction was the construction of domes. They should have been made as light as possible, but very durable, so preference was given to manufacturing from metal rather than brick. Manufactured at Charles Beard's factory, these domes are the third in the world to be made using metal structures. In total, the dome consists of 3 parts, each of which is interconnected with another. In addition, to insulate and improve acoustics, the empty space was laid with conical pottery pots. After installing the domes, they were covered with gilding using the method of fire gilding, during which mercury was used.
Construction completion
The cathedral was officially consecrated on May 30, 1858 in the presence of the imperial family and the emperor Alexander 2. The consecration was attended by troops who not only greeted the emperor, but also restrained the huge crowds who came to see the opening.
Bloody cathedral
It is impossible not to recognize the majestic beauty of the cathedral, but it has another side, and it is very bloody. According to official reports, the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral killed about 100 thousand people, that is, about a quarter of those who took part in its construction. Such figures are simply amazing, since such losses are often even higher than the military. And it was a peaceful construction in the capital of a very enlightened state. Even according to rough estimates, the victims of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral every day were about 8 people - and this is during the construction of the Christian church.
However, there is an opinion that these figures are completely inaccurate and the approximate number of victims ranges from 10-20 thousand, many of whom died from illnesses, and not from the construction itself, but at the moment it is impossible to find out the exact information. Most people are thought to have died from mercury vapor or accidents, since the work was done without basic safety rules.
Appearance
St. Isaac's Cathedral itself is a magnificent building, built in the style of late classicism. Despite the fact that the architecture of this building is unique and is the tallest building in the central part of St. Petersburg, with a closer look you can notice the features of eclecticism, neo-Renaissance and Byzantine style.
At the moment, the height of the cathedral exceeds 101 meters and a length with a width of about 100 meters, which makes it the largest Orthodox church in the city. It is surrounded by 112 columns, and the building itself is faced with light gray marble, which only adds grandeur. Four facades, named on the cardinal points, contain various statues of the apostles and bas-reliefs, including the image of the architect himself.
The interior contains 3 altars dedicated to Isaac himself, the great martyr Catherine and Alexander Nevsky. There is a stained glass decoration, which is typical for Catholic, not Orthodox churches, but in this case, it was decided not to rely on this canon. Inside the cathedral is decorated with mosaic of smalt.
Conclusion
The construction of one of the most beautiful and magnificent cathedrals of the Russian Federation was carried out over several centuries. The temple looks majestic even in the photo, and the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral so long and thorough becomes completely understandable and explainable. Now this place is practically not used as the temple itself, but has been considered a museum since 1928, but this is quite significant. Even during the time of the Union, which rejected religion, no one dared to encroach on this cathedral, although the interior was ruined.
In the 20th century, the church was most damaged during the Second World War, when the Germans carried out bombing, but after that restoration work was carried out. After the fall of the USSR, services began to be held in the church again, but this happens regularly only on holidays and Sundays, and on all other days the institution works exclusively as a museum.
From the beginning of 2017, attempts were made to transfer St. Isaac’s Cathedral for free use by the Russian Orthodox Church, but the governor’s decision caused waves of protest. The decision of Poltavchenko was indirectly supported by President Putin, who said that the cathedral originally had a temple purpose. But on the eve of the election, he withdrew such an unpopular opinion among the people, and at the moment the question of transferring the cathedral is no longer standing. Whether it will rise in the future is still unknown, since representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church prefer to remain silent on this score. However, their opinion is quite clear - the cathedral is a church, and therefore the issue should not affect politics, but be based solely on love and reverence for God.