STS.PETER & PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

Sts. Peter & Paul's Cathedral was designed by Domenico Trezzini in 1712 and completed in 1733. Its architectural style is known as " Peter's Baroque", which combines a strict, rather plain exterior with an exquisite interior. It is rectangular in plan, with columns running around the whole length of the building.

For a very long time the cathedral remained the tallest building in the city as well as in Russia (122. 5 metres high).

The spire is crowned witn a ball; on top of the ball there is a figure of an angel holding the cross (the span of the angel's wings is 3. 8 m). In 1830, the angel was declined by a strong wind and had to be repaired. One of the roofers, Peter Telushkin, famous for his physical strength, managed to climb up to the top of the spire without any scaffolding, using only a rope, and refixed the angel. The job was rewarded generously by the tsar himself.

On the bell-tower there is a tower clock with chimes. It used to chime " God, save the Tsar"; in the 1950s, it chimed the Soviet national anthem. Nowadays it has been restored and is going to chime " God, save the tsar" again.

Inside, the walls and columns of the cathedral are painted to imitate marble.

As the cathedral was designed by a catholic architect, its interior is not typical of a Russian Orthodox church. There are 20 large windows providing for much light and air (while windows are usually small in Russian churches); unlike Russian churches, there are no icons on the walls here.

Just beneath the ceiling there are some oil paintings with scenes from the New Testament, painted by three remarkable artists of the 18th century - Matveyev, Ignatiev, and Gsell.

Five chandeliers are made of rock crystal and stained glass.

The cathedral was meant as a memorial of Russia's victory in the Northern war. On the walls there are Swedish and Turkish banners: these are exact copies of the banners captured as trophies by Russian troops during the wars with Sweden and Turkey in the 18th century (the originals are in the Hermitage).

The pulpit of the cathedral is made of carved wood and decorated with oil paintings and several wooden sculptured images - the Apostles Peter and Paul, and the four Evangelists with their " living symbols" (St Matthew with an angel, St Mark with a lion, St Luke with a bull, and St John with an eagle).

The best decoration of the cathedral interior is the iconostasis donated to the cathedral by Peter I and his wife Catherine I. " Iconostasis", a word of Greek origin, means a wooden screen covered with icons which separates the altar piece from the congregation.

The general design of the iconostasis was drawn up by Trezzini, but it was executed in Moscow in 1722-27 out of soft limewood (lime-trees did not grow in St. Petersburg and its environs at that time) under the direction of architect Ivan Zarudny. 40 masters spent 5 years carving it. The iconostasis was brought to St Petersburg in pieces and installed in the cathedral in 1729. 43 icons of the iconostasis were painted in 1727-29 by a group of Moscow icon-painters summoned to St Petersburg especially for that purpose and headed by Andrei Merkuliev.

In the second part of the 19th century, as the wood began to rot, the wooden Holy Door of the iconostasis was replaced with the copper one - and that is the only metallic part of the iconostasis. Even the tassels high up the iconostasis are wooden!

Since the day of its foundation, Sts Peter & Paul's Cathedral was a court cathedral and the royal family were present at the services. There is the place for the tsar and his wife, decorated with gilt carved wood, dark red velvet, and the double-headed eagle - the emblem of Russian Empire - embroidered in silver threads. There are no benches in Russian Orthodox churches - everyone has to stand, and the tsar stood there during the service. The place of the tsar is decorated^ with two funeral urns on top, as the cathedral became the burial place of Russian tsars after the death of Peter I.

Peter I accepted the title of the Emperor, which was superior in dignity to that of King or Tsar. So Russian tsars are buried in Moscow and Russian emperors are buried in Sts. Peter & Paul's Cathedral (with two exceptions - Peter II and Ivan VI). In the main part of the cathedral there are 32 grave tombs of members of the Romanov dynasty. All the tombs are alike, made of white marble in the 19th century. There is nothing in the tombs. The graves themselves are under the floor. The coffins are made of wood faced with lead. The tombs of ruling emperors and empresses are decorated with a Russian Orthodox cross and four double- headed eagles in the corners. The tombs without the eagles are those of members of the royal family who were not crowned.

Eleven of the 32 buried here were ruling Russian emperors and empresses of the Romanov dynasty, They include those who died in the 18th century: Peter I, Catherine I, Anna I, Elizabeth I, Peter III and Catherine II (in the right nave); and those who died in the 19th century; Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II and Alexander III (in the left nave).

There are two different tombs made of Russian semi-precious stones: the tomb of Alexander II made of 5 tons of jasper and the tomb of his wife - 6. 5 tons of rhodonite. Alexander II was known as " The Liberator Tsar" as he abolished serfdom in 1861. In fact the abolishment of serfdom made peasants free but landless and they remained under the command of the landowners, so it was not a popular measure. Alexander II's life was attempted eight times. In 1881 he was assassinated by terrorists and then became known as " The Martyr Tsar". It was decided to make special tombs for him and his wife as a sign of exceptional honour.

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