Kazan Cathedral. History of the construction of the Kazan Cathedral in Soviet times

Almost all guests consider it their duty to admire the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg Northern capital. This Orthodox church is located in the city center, at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the Griboyedov Canal. An island on the Neva, a nearby bridge and a square adjacent directly to the Kazan Cathedral are named after him.

Famous religious building is capable of impressing an inexperienced tourist with its size: its height exceeds 70 m. The temple was built specifically to store the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, which, according to legend, is capable of healing the sick and performing miracles.

Architect and sculptor of the Kazan Cathedral

The history of the construction of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg is quite unusual. The famous landmark had a more modest predecessor - the Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God. This stone structure, whose construction began in 1733, has become a remarkable example of Baroque architecture. The distinctive characteristics of the church were the bell tower, located directly above the doors, and the dome made of natural wood.

The first architect and sculptor to participate in the creation of the future Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was Mikhail Zemtsov. The Nativity of the Mother of God Church, built according to his design, was completed four years after the laying of the first stone. Before the first service, the deeply revered image of the Kazan Mother of God was transferred into it - an exact copy of the miraculous icon that mysteriously appeared in Kazan at the end of the 16th century. The relic was brought to the Northern capital during the reign of Peter I and was previously kept in the Trinity Cathedral.

From interesting facts It is worth mentioning about the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin that it was considered a “court church.” Empress Anna Ioannovna herself was personally present at its opening, and in 1773 the future Emperor Paul I was married here. Solemn prayer services were also regularly held there in honor of the victories of Russian troops over the Napoleonic army in 1812.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, Paul I decided to organize a competition for the best option new temple. The monarch wanted the city to be decorated with an almost identical copy of the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. Even the projects of famous architects - Trombaro, Cameron, Gonzago and others - did not impress Pavel. In 1800, Count Stroganov, whose mansion was located not far from the church, submitted a sketch of the gifted young master Andrei Voronikhin to the Tsar for consideration. He was immediately approved, and the count was appointed head of the board of trustees, which was in charge of the construction work.

In 1801, the ceremonial laying of the first stone of the new building took place in the presence of the new Russian ruler Alexander I. However, the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built not only according to the project and with the participation of the architect Voronikhin, but also with the help of his talented colleague N. Alferov. It was assumed that there would be an entrance in the western part of the temple, an altar in the eastern part, and the northern and southern facades would be decorated with monumental colonnades of more than 90 columns with an impressive height of 13 m. However, in practice, only the northern colonnade was completed, and to this day it is genuine decoration of Nevsky Prospekt. The columns are installed in 4 rows.

The construction of the grandiose cathedral lasted 10 years, and at least 5 million rubles were spent on it. After the completion of the building, the emperor awarded its creator the honorary Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree.

After the opening of the new temple, the old church was immediately demolished. The further history of the cathedral is quite unusual. Among the significant events it is worth noting the following:

In 1812, after the victory over the French, about 30 banners left by the defeated Napoleonic troops and taken as trophies were transferred here for storage. Also, about 100 keys from European fortresses and settlements, who surrendered to the mercy of Russian military leaders, their flags and the personal baton of Davout, the commander-in-chief of the enemy army. In the northern aisle of the sanctuary the ashes of the outstanding Russian commander M.I. Kutuzov, a true hero of his Fatherland, are buried.

In the second half of the 19th century, speeches and demonstrations of revolutionaries regularly took place on the square in front of the temple. Among them was the famous Plekhanov, the leader of one of the populist groups.

In 1913, during the celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a stampede occurred in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, in which more than 30 people died.

In the first years of Soviet power, the temple became the target of looting: more than 2 tons of silver utensils and other valuables were confiscated from it. Since the early 1930s, the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism was located within its walls. Worship services were resumed only after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s.

Exterior appearance of the cathedral and architectural style

The cathedral colonnade is considered a real decoration of Nevsky Prospekt. The main highway of the city stretches in the direction from west to east, and Orthodox churches during construction they are oriented in a similar way. This often creates difficulties for architects. An unusual design solution made it possible to make the side - northern - part of the building, facing the avenue, a front door.

The cross on the dome, also in accordance with religious canons, is turned edge-on towards the avenue and is practically invisible from the northern façade. The cathedral itself is made in the shape of a traditional Catholic cross.

There is no bell tower in the temple, and the belfry is located in the western part of the colonnade. On both sides of the latter there are large porticoes, as well as two pedestals, on which plaster sculptures of angels stood until the mid-19th century. For cladding the facades of the building, an original material was used - gray limestone tuff. It is also called Pudost stone because it is mined near the village of Pudost Leningrad region.

Opposite the cathedral there are monuments to M. B. Barclay de Tolly and M. I. Kutuzov. Bronze monuments look almost the same: famous military leaders are depicted at full height and in cloaks reminiscent of antiquity. However, de Tolly's pose indicates calm, while Kutuzov energetically calls the army to attack.

At the northern wall of the temple there are 4 bronze sculptural compositions depicting Alexander Nevsky, Prince Vladimir, John the Baptist and Andrew the First-Called. Their authors are, respectively, S. Pimenov (the first two sculptures), I. Martos and V. Demut-Malinovsky.

The bronze gate on the northern wall of the building is a complete copy of the famous “heavenly doors” of the Florentine baptismal house, dating back to the 15th century. The porticoes of the temple attract attention with beautiful bas-reliefs:

• The eastern passage from the northern colonnade is decorated with a bas-relief of Martos, depicting how Moses extracts water from stones during the exodus of the Jews. A bas-relief by I. Prokofiev, dedicated to the erection by the same prophet of a copper serpent in the desert, is symmetrically located above the western passage.
• The walls of the building, which have porticoes, are decorated with large bas-reliefs and small panels by sculptors Rashetta, Gordeev, Kashenkov, Anisimov and others. All of them describe the life of the Mother of God and the miracles associated with the icon of Our Lady of Kazan.

Icon of the Kazan Mother of God and the interior of the cathedral

Inside, the cathedral is similar to the gigantic hall of the imperial residence. More than 50 columns of the Corinthian order, decorated with gilded capitals, give it monumentality. The material for these elements was pink granite, delivered to St. Petersburg from Finland. Columns divide the interior of the temple into 3 passages - nave. The width of the central nave is 4 times greater than the width of the side ones, and the semi-cylindrical vault allows you to visually increase its space even more. Rectangular caissons and rosettes in the form of fantastic flowers, imitating real paintings and made of alabaster, are organically integrated into the ceilings of the side naves.

The mosaic on the floor in the temple is made of natural pinkish and gray marble brought from Karelia. The floor steps of the pulpit and altar, as well as the pulpit, are lined with coral-crimson porphyry.

Most of the icons of the Kazan Cathedral were painted by great painters of the late 18th - early 19th centuries: Bryullov, Borovikovsky, Shebuev, Basin, Ugryumov, Bessonov, Ivanov, Kiprensky and others. Their works adorn not only the iconostasis, but also the walls and pylons of the building. All canvases are made in the style of Renaissance artists.

Of the bas-reliefs inside, only two have survived to this day: “Taking into custody” by Rachette and “Carrying the Cross” by Shchedrin. The rest collapsed 2 years after the victory over the French and were replaced by frescoes and oil paintings.

The iconostasis was created in the 1830s according to a sketch by the architect Ton and decorated with captured silver, which went to the Russian troops after the flight of Napoleonic army. During the Soviet era, the precious cladding was stolen, but has now been completely restored. Above the northern and southern entrances there are sculptural compositions depicting the arrest of Jesus and his procession to the place of execution. The main shrine - the face of the Kazan Mother of God - is located on the left side of the Royal Gates.

Opening hours and excursions to the cathedral

Entrance to the temple is free. It is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 8.30 (on Saturday and Sunday - from 6.30) until the end of the evening service. The most convenient way to get to the cathedral is by metro to the Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor stations, and you should get off at the Griboyedov Canal.

Sightseeing tours of the temple, during which the guide will tell you about the history of its construction and shrines, last usually 1.5-2 hours and cost from 600 to 4000 RUB depending on the number of participants.

The Kazan Cathedral is a unique architectural monument that organically combines the features of Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Kazan Cathedral) in St. Petersburg, built in 1801-1811 by the architect A. N. Voronikhin to store the revered copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kazan. After the Patriotic War of 1812, it acquired the significance of a monument to the Russian military glory. In 1813, commander M.I. Kutuzov was buried here and the keys to the captured cities, standards, banners, Davout’s marshal’s baton and other military trophies were placed, some of which are kept in the cathedral today. During construction, St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome was taken as a model. On the outside of the cathedral there are 182 columns made of Pudost stone, inside the temple there are 56 columns of the Corinthian order made of pink Finnish granite. Photos are clickable, with geographical coordinates and linked to a Yandex map, 02.2014.

1. Modern view of the Kazan Cathedral from above

2. The initial project of the Kazan Cathedral, not completed. It was planned to build two colonnades - northern and southern, only the northern one was implemented

3. Panorama of the northern facade of the Kazan Cathedral

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5. Pediment "All-Seeing Eye"

6. Dome of the cathedral. The cross crowning the dome rises 71.6 m above ground level. The Kazan Cathedral is one of the tallest domed buildings. The dome is supported by four powerful pillars - pylons. The diameter of the dome exceeds 17 m. During its construction, Voronikhin, for the first time in the history of world construction practice, developed and used a metal structure

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9. Colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral, includes 96 columns

10. In front of the cathedral in 1837, according to the design of the sculptor Orlovsky, monuments to Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly were erected. During the Great Patriotic War, they were camouflaged and soldiers passing by them gave them a military salute. Near the monuments they swore an oath of allegiance to the Motherland.

11. Bas-relief “The flow of water from a stone by Moses in the desert”, I.P. Martos

12. Bas-relief “Appearance to Moses in the Burning Bush”, P. Scolari based on the model of I. Commander

13. Monument to M.I. Kutuzov

14. The facades of the cathedral are lined with gray Pudost stone. Pudost stone is calcareous tuff mined near the village of Pudost, Gatchina district, Leningrad region (the quarries were exhausted in the 1920s), its deposits date back to the late Pleistocene and were formed on the site of a small lake. Pudost stone is easily processed and changes color depending on the light and weather, taking on various shades of gray and yellowish-gray. The stone is interesting because the original viscosity was retained inside, while the outer part acquired the hardness of baked brick. For the cladding of the Kazan Cathedral, 12 thousand cubic meters of Pudost stone were required

15. Mummers

16. Capital of a column of the Kazan Cathedral

17. A person compared to the columns of the Kazan Cathedral, there are 182 external columns in total. The columns are assembled from blocks of Pudost stone, and the joints between them are worn out. Due to the fragility of the stone, immediately after the creation of the columns it was covered with so-called Riga alabaster, but this did not help the preservation of the columns

18. Bronze statue of St. Vladimir, the baptist of Rus', in his left hand he holds a sword, and in his right hand a cross, trampling on a pagan altar. Sculptor S.S. Pimenov, 1807, cast by Ekimov

19. Bronze sculpture of St. Andrew the First-Called, sculptor V.I. Demut-Malinovsky, 1807, cast by Ekimov

20. The two-meter base of the cathedral and its colonnades are made of huge blocks of Serdobol granite. Stairs leading to the colonnade were made from slabs of red-pink rapakivi granite

21. Bronze statue of Alexander Nevsky, sculptor S. Pimenov, 1807, cast by Ekimov. At Alexander’s feet is a sword with a lion, the emblem of Sweden, and a Russian shield rests on it.

22. Sculpture of John the Baptist, sculptor I.P. Martos, 1807, cast by Ekimov. All four statues took 1,400 pounds of bronze.

23. Bas-relief "Adoration of the Magi" on the northern portico, F.G. Gordeev

24. Each such column weighs 28 tons, height is about 14 meters

25. Capital

26. Column close up

27. Cross on the dome

28. Cathedral Doves

29. Monument to Barclay de Tolly, on top is the high relief “Copper Serpent” by I.P. Prokofiev

30. Bas-relief “Giving the tablets to Moses on Mount Sinai”, P. Scolari based on the Lactman model

31. The carved portal of the northern doors of the temple is made of Ruskeala marble. The northern gates of the cathedral are cast in bronze, modeled after the famous “Gates of Heaven” of the 15th century in the Florentine Baptistery (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Ghiberti), V. Ekimov. This is a copy, but with the plots mixed up

32. Bronze compositions on Old Testament subjects on the original in Florence, cast from left to right in pairs:
1 "The creation of Adam and Eve. Their fall into sin and expulsion from paradise."

2 "The sacrifice of Abel and his murder by Cain."

3 "The killing of the Egyptian by Moses and the exit of the Jews from Egypt."

4 "Abraham's sacrifice to God of the son of Jacob."

5 "Isaac's blessing upon Jacob."

6 "The sons of Jacob in Egypt buying grain from Joseph."

7 "The Jews in the Desert and Moses Legislating on Mount Sinai."

8 "Encircling the ark around the walls of Jericho, destroying Jericho."

9 "The defeat of the proud Nicanor, who threatened to destroy Jerusalem."

33. Inside the temple there are 56 columns of the Corinthian order made of pink Finnish granite with gilded capitals. The interior of the cathedral is divided by granite monolithic columns into three corridors - nave. The central nave is four times wider than the side naves and is covered with a semi-cylindrical vault. The side naves are covered with rectangular caissons. The ceiling is decorated with rosettes imitating painting in the form of a stylized flower. They are made of French alabaster, the only material, according to A.P. Aplaksin, “which hardly had anything foreign in it, except for the name; no other materials of non-Russian origin were used for the entire construction... were not used.”

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35. Commemorative plaque with the inscription “Began 1801 by the permission of PAUL I”

36. Memorial plaque with the inscription “The care of ALEXANDER I died in 1811”

37. In 1812, honorary trophies were delivered to the Kazan Cathedral: French military banners and the personal staff of Napoleonic Marshal Davout. The Kazan Cathedral began to turn into Russia's first museum of military relics of 1812 on the initiative of Kutuzzov. At the same time, Russia was at war with Persia and 4 Persian banners taken near Lankaran were brought to the cathedral. At the beginning of the 20th century. In the inventory of the cathedral there were 41 French banners and standards, 11 Polish ones, 4 Italian ones, 47 German ones, as well as 5 military badges - 3 French and 2 Italian. Total - 107 banners and standards. Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov was buried here on June 11, 1813. Above the grave there are 5 standards and one banner, which have survived to this day. Later, a painting by the artist Alekseev “The Miracle of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow” was placed above the grave. The painting depicts the liberation of Moscow by the militia under the leadership of K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky in October 1612 with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

38. Kutuzov's grave

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40. After the successful liberation by Russian troops under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly Western Europe From Napoleon, keys from French fortresses taken by Russian troops began to arrive in the cathedral. 97 keys were placed on the walls of the cathedral, most are now in Moscow, but 6 sets of keys are located above the grave of M.I. Kutuzov: from Bremen, Lubeck, Aven, Mons, Nancy and Gertrudenberg

41. Banner and standards of the Napoleonic army, keys to European cities

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43. Standard

44. Standards of the Napoleonic army

45. Keys to Mons

46. ​​Keys to Nancy

47. Keys to Lubeck

48. Keys to Aven

49. Keys to Bremen

50. Keys to Gertrudenberg

51. Royal Doors

Time and damp climate have not been kind to wooden baroque. They decided to rebuild the temple. Paul I announced a competition for projects. The Emperor wanted the new church to be similar to the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. And such a scale required the demolition of 11 houses on Nevsky.

Architectural luminaries presented their vision of the new temple: the Scotsman Charles Cameron, the Frenchman Thomas de Thomon, and the Italian Giacomo Trombaro. But the choice fell on the project of the former Stroganov serf Andrei Voronikhin. It is believed that the architect gave the dome the shape of the famous Monomakh's hat 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, architect Voronikhin literally lived at the construction site, supervising every stage. He even developed a design for a barge for delivering stone. They brought the Pudozh stone from Gatchina. At first it was so soft that it could be cut with an ordinary knife. But time has given the material hardness.

The architectural kinship between the St. Petersburg and Vatican cathedrals is evident in the colonnade. But in Rome it seems to close the square, and in St. Petersburg it opens up to Nevsky Prospekt. The architectural trick distracts attention from the fact that the main entrance is not from the main street of St. Petersburg. According to tradition, the altar faces east, and the northern facade of the temple faces Nevsky. It took 10 years to build the cathedral, and when the time came for interior decoration, Andrei Voronikhin was no longer there. The Kazan Cathedral is the most significant creation of the young architect.

The new temple became the real successor of the demolished church. The tradition of honoring the Russian army after military victories has been preserved. In 1812, military trophies were brought to the cathedral: 107 banners and standards of the French army, the baton of Marshal Davout, 93 keys to cities, fortresses and castles taken by the Russian army. Even the iconostasis of the Church of Russian Military Glory has unusual story. Its lining took 40 pounds of silver captured on the battlefield. The military trophy, confiscated from the French, was sent to the capital by the Don Ataman Matvey Platov.

Legend of the Cathedral

Mikhail Kutuzov visited the Kazan Cathedral in 1812. After his death, the legendary field marshal was buried here. One of the most notorious legends of the cathedral is associated with this event. Kutuzov died in the town of Bunzlau. Alexander I ordered to bury the great commander in the Kazan Cathedral. For a long time, the soldiers were haunted by a rumor that the field marshal, before his death, asked to leave his heart in Prussia in order to remain with his soldiers in battle. A hundred years later, the Military Historical Society of Moscow even considered the issue of returning the field marshal’s heart to Russia. For a century and a half, this story was supported by an article in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. In 1933, by decision of the Soviet government, the sarcophagus was opened. The field marshal's heart was inside, but in a separate silver vessel.

Temple shrine

home Orthodox shrine cathedral - a list of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, in whose honor the temple was consecrated. The icon belonged to Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna and came to St. Petersburg after the capital was moved in 1712. The image inspired the people's militia of Minin and Pozharsky in liberating the Kremlin from foreigners. A small Kazan church was built especially to store the relic. The reigning persons were married there, and Catherine II was proclaimed “the autocrat of all Russia.” After the construction of the new cathedral, the church was dismantled.

Over the centuries of its stay in St. Petersburg, the icon was in many churches and only in July 2001 returned to the Kazan Cathedral - one of the symbols of the Northern capital. The influence of the temple on the history of St. Petersburg is so great that the cathedral gave its name to both Kazan Street and the bridge over the Griboyedov Canal, connecting Spassky and, again, Kazan Islands.

Where the Kazan Cathedral is now located, at the beginning of the 18th century there was a Perevatskaya settlement. Near the intersection of the Nevskaya prospect and the Krivushi river there were wooden buildings of the hospital and the houses of its employees. A chapel was built at this hospital in 1710, and two years later a wooden Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary appeared in its place.

On August 24, 1733, a personal decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna was issued on the construction of a new stone church here. Author of the project stone church The Nativity of the Virgin Mary is often called M. G. Zemtsov. But later research proves that he was the architect I. Ya. Blank. The temple was founded on September 6 of the same year. The brick walls of the temple were erected by September 1734, after which the carpenter Johann Goering signed that:

“He will make the bell tower with carpentry, rafters, lanternin, cover the roof with shingles, cover the dome and lanternin and the spire with boards according to the drawing; and with carpentry work he will make windows and doors, capitals and bases, cymazas, bases, architraves, triglyphs from the outside and inside , cornices, stairs and porches, wooden and clock circles with carved work and with precision bolyas, except for carved statues, he will completely create the cleanest work according to the drawing" [Cit. by: 5, p. 265, 266].

The cornice of the Nativity Church was decorated with sculptures of the apostles and other saints. All elements of architectural design were made in the Doric order.

Construction of the temple was completed in September 1736, when the dome was covered with tin. The solemn consecration of the church took place on June 23, 1737 in the presence of the empress.

The multi-tiered bell tower (58 meters high) of the new Nativity Church has become a noticeable decoration of Nevsky Prospect. Its spire echoed the spire of the Admiralty Tower built at the same time. A garden was organized around the temple, surrounded by a fence of brick pillars and wooden lattice.

On July 2, 1737, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was moved here. This relic, which belonged to Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna, was brought to St. Petersburg under Peter I in 1708. Before transferring to new temple it was kept in a wooden chapel on Posadskaya Street, then in the Trinity Cathedral on Trinity Square. The consecration of the church took place on June 13 (according to historian P. Ya. Kann) or July 3, 1737. The second option seems more logical, given the date of transfer of the Kazan Icon here. Anna Ioannovna was present at the ceremony. Based on the icon kept here, people began to call the church “Kazan”.

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the church received the status of a cathedral, and the temple officially began to be called Kazan. In the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries, it was the main one in St. Petersburg. In 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna and Prince Anton Ulrich were married here. In 1745 - the future emperors Peter III and Catherine II. Since then, members of the royal family have been married here. In 1762, after a palace coup in the Kazan Cathedral, Catherine II took the oath of guard. In 1773, the Kazan Church became the wedding venue for the future Emperor Paul I and the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Construction of the Kazan Cathedral

By the end of the 18th century, the building of the Kazan Cathedral had become dilapidated and no longer corresponded to the appearance of the ceremonial Nevsky Prospect that had developed by that time.

A competition for the design of a new temple was held in 1797-1800. The task facing the architects involved was extremely difficult. At the request of Paul I, it had to resemble St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, built by Michelangelo Buonarroti and other outstanding architects of the Renaissance. The new Kazan Cathedral had to have a colonnade similar to the one that Gian Lorenzo Bernini added to St. Peter's Cathedral. Among the tasks assigned to the architects, there was also the need to fit the new monumental building into the already formed architectural space. According to Orthodox traditions, the altar should have faced the east, and the main façade should have faced the west, that is, not to Nevsky Prospekt, but to Meshchanskaya (now Kazanskaya) Street.

From the very beginning, C. Cameron, P. Gonzaga and A. N. Voronikhin took part in the competition. In 1800, J. F. Thomas de Thomon arrived in St. Petersburg, and also managed to submit his project.

Initially, Paul I accepted Charles Cameron's project. But with the support of Count A.S. Stroganov, who was responsible for construction, the work was entrusted to Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin. His project was approved by Paul I on November 14, 1800. This decision was widely discussed in society. It was especially pointed out that Voronikhin was a former serf of the Stroganovs (received his freedom in 1786).

In 1800, the “Commission on the Construction of the Kazan Church” was created, headed by Count A. S. Stroganov. She received the broadest powers. The commission managed all the allocations for the construction of the cathedral; it was given state brick factories, Olonets marble quarries and materials from the Pella manor.

In 1801, she reported to the emperor about the need to build a bell tower and houses for the clergy. Paul I refused this request: “Peter has no bell tower in Rome, and we don’t even need one! As for the clergy, these will not be left without housing.” Later, the clergy got a residential building on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Kazanskaya Street (Nevsky Prospekt, 25). The bell tower was never built; the bells were placed in openings in the cathedral colonnade.

Paul I was no longer present at the foundation ceremony of the Kazan Cathedral due to the fact that he was killed in March 1801. On August 27, his son, the new emperor, Alexander I, participated in the laying. The newspaper "Northern Post or New St. Petersburg Newspaper" described the celebration as follows:

“Last August, on the 27th day, the foundation was laid for the holy temple in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, the miraculous icon of Kazan, in the Highest presence of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESES, THE GOVERNMENT EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH, HIS Wife Empress ELISAVETA ALEXEEVNA and HIS DOWER MOTHER MADAMES EMPRESS MARIA FYODOROVNA, Their Imperial Highnesses, Sovereign Tsesarevich and Grand Duke CONSTANTIN PAVLOVICH, Sovereign Grand Duchess ELENA PAVLOVNA and Consort of Her Most Serene Highness Crown Prince of Baden-Baden Karl Ludvich, Consort of His Princess Amalia Friederike and His Surname, as follows: Upon the arrival of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESIES at 1 o'clock at noon not to the Kazan Cathedral Church of Our Lady, Their Majesties were met at the entrance to it by the Most Reverend Ambrose, Metropolitan of Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Estonia and Vyborg, His Grace Irenaeus, Archbishop of Pskov and Riga and all the most noble clergy in vestments, as well as Members of the Most Highly established Commission on the construction of this church, in whose predecessors willed THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES and Their Imperial Highnesses proceed to the place designated for the construction of the above-mentioned temple, where a marble stone was prepared with depressions made inside it for the position first of all medals with the chest image of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH and with an inscription on the back indicating the day of the foundation of the temple August 27, 1801 and gold and silver coins of various denominations, secondly jasper and agate bricks with the venzel of THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESES Names, and finally a gilded bronze plaque and the following inscription:

“In the year of the Lord, 1801, on the 27th day of August, the foundation was laid for this holy temple in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, her miraculous icon of Kazan, by command of the blessed memory of the Sovereign Emperor Pavel Petrovich, during the reign and under the Highest presence of the Most Pious Autocratic Great GOVERNOR EMPEROR ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH And of all Russia, HIS Most Pious Spouses THE EMPRESS ELISAVETA ALEXEEVNA and HIS MOST PIOUS MOTHER THE EMPRESS MARIA FYODOROVNA, in the first summer after the Ascension to the THRONE OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY. - Built by Architect Voronikhin.”

After the blessing of water and the prayer service, when THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESES and Their Imperial Highnesses deigned to proceed to the above-mentioned place prepared for the laying, the Members of the Commission had the good fortune to present to THEIR MAJESES and Highnesses, as well as to the Most Serene Princes and Princesses of Baden-Baden and Mecklenburg on gilded dishes the following accessories , which were placed on richly decorated tables, namely: Mr. Chief Chamberlain, Senator, President of the Imperial Academy of Arts and Cavalier Count Stroganov - medals and coins. Mister Privy Councilor, Quartermaster and Cavalier Khodnev - blades, Mister Actual State Councilor and Cavalier Starov - jasper and agate with monogrammed THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESES Names bricks. Mister State Councilor Pushkin - a hammer, and in conclusion a gilded bronze plaque with the inscription Mister Architect Collegiate Assessor Voronikhin. In the situation of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, the first stone was fired from both the St. Petersburg fortress and the Admiralty from cannons, one hundred and one shots were fired. Finally, this entire celebration was concluded with the proclamation of many years for the Highest Health and with these exclamations, THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESIES and Their Imperial Highnesses, with other High Persons, deigned to return in the same order." [Quoted from: 7, pp. 5-7]

Initially, the Kazan Cathedral was planned to be built by 1804, but in reality the work dragged on for more than 10 years. A cathedral was built south of the Church of the Nativity, and all this time it continued its work. The existing buildings at that time on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Meshchanskaya Street and near Zimin Lane were demolished (11 private houses). For each of them, the owners were paid 500 rubles.

Preparations for construction took place against the backdrop of a patriotic upsurge. This was the reason why Count Stroganov proposed to build the Kazan Cathedral only by Russian craftsmen, only from domestic building materials.

During construction, Voronikhin moved to house no. on Nevsky Prospekt.

At first, construction workers lived outside the city in dugouts. Some of them were placed in barracks on Konyushennaya Square. The overwhelming majority of builders were serfs and were forced to give all their earnings to their owners. Yaroslavl and Vologda provinces supplied masons for construction, Kostroma - carpenters, Olonets - lapidaries, Belarusian regions - diggers.

The working day of the builders of the Kazan Cathedral in the summer was set from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. In winter - from 5 am to 8 pm. The lunch break in summer was 2 hours, in winter - 1 hour. For seasonal workers, the season began in the spring and ended in October. Many of them signed a new contract and promised to return next year. At the same time, the employee’s passport was taken away and an “advance” was given. Salaries during the construction of the Kazan Cathedral were approximately equal to the city average. Masons were paid up to one ruble per working day, but not in silver, but in banknotes. One banknote then cost approximately 80 kopecks. An eyewitness recalled:

“Workers who come for summer jobs - builders, carpenters, masons, plasterers, begin work at 5 o'clock in the morning and continue until 9 o'clock in the evening, with a two-hour lunch break... They spend the night outside the city, in courtyards or stables, on the ground. food consists of water, kvass, bread, flour or cucumbers; they strain their strength excessively to collect a little money and, upon returning home, bury it immediately in the ground so that their masters or managers cannot take it away, and an accident or death is buried forever in the earth of silver." [Cit. from: 3, p. 32]

Not only quit-rent peasants worked at the construction site. For example, to decorate the temple in 1810, the serf artist Taras Ivanov was purchased from the landowner Teplov for 1,000 rubles.

The builders of the Kazan Cathedral often suffered from their lack of rights. A document has been preserved - a complaint from the builders Mokhnatkin and Chobykin, whom the contractor not only cheated and deprived of their passports, but also ordered them to be chained with slingshots. The chief police officer ignored this complaint.

Foreigners described Russian workers as follows:

“They, these simple men in torn sheepskin coats, did not need to resort to various measuring instruments; having inquisitively looked at the plan or model indicated to them, they accurately and gracefully copied them. The eye of these people is extremely accurate. They were in a hurry to complete the construction of the cathedral; despite the winter time and 13-15 degrees below zero, the work continued even at night. Holding the lantern ring tightly with their teeth, these amazing workers, climbing to the top of the scaffolding, diligently carried out their work. The ability of even ordinary Russians in the technique of fine arts is amazing." [Ibid]

The military governor of St. Petersburg, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, provided great assistance during the construction of the temple. At Voronikhin’s first request, he provided territories for workshops and warehouses, and allocated soldiers for urgent and labor-intensive work.

Due to the fact that the main entrance to the Kazan Cathedral is according to the rules Orthodox Church should have been built not from the side of Nevsky Prospect (from the north), but from the side of Kazanskaya Street (from the west), Voronikhin made entrances on both sides of the building. The northern colonnade of the cathedral architecturally united the building with Nevsky Prospekt. The side portals of the colonnade served as passages towards the embankment of the Catherine Canal and Kazanskaya Street.

The cathedral project was not fully realized. When its construction was coming to an end, the architect proposed building a colonnade on the southern side of the building, which would repeat the northern one, consisting of 96 columns. This idea was even noticed in the notebook of Alexander I for 1819, where he plans the most significant buildings in the center of St. Petersburg. But the southern colonnade was never built.

Back in 1805, part of the land to the west of the cathedral, which until that time belonged to the garden of the Orphanage, was liberated. Here one of its outbuildings was demolished. From the summer of 1811 to November 1812, an artistic fence was erected on this site. On the pedestals at the edges of the lattice there were supposed to be figures of the apostles Peter and Paul. For them, two granite blocks weighing about 1,500 pounds were made near Vyborg. One of them drowned while being loaded onto a barge, and the second fell from the platform while being transported to the temple along the streets of St. Petersburg. For several decades, a piece of rock blocked Aptekarsky Lane. Eventually this stone was useful for the construction of the foundation of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. In 1911, the sunken block was used to make the pedestal of the monument to Admiral S. O. Makarov in Kronstadt.

Construction work was completed in 1811. The last service was held in the old Nativity Church on August 26. Immediately after it, the Kazan icon was moved to a tent installed nearby, after which they began to dismantle the old temple. On September 15, the consecration of the Kazan Cathedral took place. The St. Petersburg press described it this way:

"Yesterday's holiday of the most sacred coronation of the Sovereign Emperor and Sovereign Empress was marked here with a special celebration, on the occasion of the consecration on that day of the newly built Kazan Cathedral Church. This celebration took place in the most brilliant manner in the presence of His Imperial Majesty and the entire August Family. Starting from the Winter Palace to the new Cathedral itself, the troops of the local garrison stood in parade. All the places were dotted with people on all sides, which was also favored by the most beautiful weather. It is impossible to imagine anything more majestic at the sight of the procession of the cross that took place on this occasion, when His Grace the Metropolitan, lifting up the Holy Relics for the new church on his head, and two other Bishops, raising the Holy Icon of the Mother of God, walked around this most magnificent Temple, during the construction of which, it seems that all the arts argued with each other in perfection." [Quoted from: 7, p. 11]

Count Stroganov presented Alexander I with the keys to the new temple. Its architect A. N. Voronikhin was awarded the Order of Anna of the second degree and a lifelong pension.

From the completion of the Kazan Cathedral until 1826, a wooden obelisk was located in front of the colonnade. Voronikhin assumed the presence of a stone monument here, but due to lack of funds this was not implemented.

Facades and interiors

The following materials were used in the decoration of the Kazan Cathedral: Olonets marble, Vyborg and Serdobol granite, and Riga limestone. The outer cladding of the walls is made of Pudost limestone (from a quarry near the village of Pudost, eight kilometers from Gatchina). In total, 12,000 cubic meters of this stone were needed. The team of masons was led by Samson Sukhanov.

The length of the building from west to east is 72.5 meters, from north to south - 56.7 meters. The Kazan Cathedral became the tallest temple of the early 19th century. Its height with the dome is indicated differently in different sources. So, in the book “Nevsky Prospekt” it is stated that it is 62 meters. Historian P. Ya. Kann in the article “Kazan Square”, as well as A. A. Ignatenko in the book “Kazan Cathedral. Pages of History” give a different number - 71.6 meters. The diameter of the dome exceeds 17 meters. For the first time in world construction practice, Voronikhin used a metal structure. The outside of the dome was originally covered with dark gray tinned iron.

Four bronze sculptures were placed in the niches of the northern portico: Prince Vladimir (sculptor S. Pimenov), Andrew the First-Called (V.I. Demut-Malinovsky), John the Baptist (I.P. Martos) and Alexander Nevsky (S. Pimenov). At the feet of the latter there is a sword with a lion, the symbol of Sweden. A Russian shield rests on the lion.

The bronze entrance doors on the north side of the building are a copy of the doors of the baptistery (baptismal house) in Florence, by Lorenzo Ghiberti (15th century). They were cast and minted by Vasily Ekimov after the completion of the construction of the Kazan Cathedral. For this he needed 182 pounds and 39 pounds of copper. But Ekimov was not given a consultant who would tell him how to correctly arrange ten biblical scenes on the doors. In the end, he did it arbitrarily. The "Florence Gate" was installed in its place in 1811.

The northern attics above the side passages are decorated with panels in the center of which Moses is depicted. The panel above the eastern passage, called “Moses Giving Out Water in the Desert,” was created by I. P. Martos. Above the western passage there is a bas-relief "Copper Serpent in the Desert". It was created by I. I. Prokofiev. The author of the bas-reliefs of the northern portico ("Annunciation", "Adoration of the Shepherds", "Adoration of the Magi", "Flight into Egypt") was F. G. Gordeev.

Of the bas-reliefs inside the temple, two have survived: “Procession to Golgotha” by F. F. Shchedrin and “The Capture of Christ by the Soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane” by D. Rachette.

The main altar was dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The chapel on the right side is consecrated in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where the iconostasis was moved from the old Nativity Church. On the left side there was a chapel in the name of Saints Anthony and Theodosius.

The hall of the Kazan Cathedral really looks like a palace hall. The icons for the Kazan Cathedral were painted by V. Borovikovsky, O. Kiprensky, A. Ivanov, F. Bryullo, K. Bryullov. The interior of the building is decorated with 56 monolithic columns made of red granite, mined on Sorvali Island near Vyborg. The bronze capitals of the columns were created at the Ch. Berd plant by foundry worker Taras Kotov. The floor in the hall is covered with several thousand plates of Shoksha stone and Olonets marble. One of the first visitors described the interior of the Kazan Cathedral:

“The new paintings and all the sculptural works in this Temple are the works of G. Academicians and fellow members of the same Academy, namely: G. Shebuev painted a vault in the dome with the image of the Lord Pantocrator in Glory, and two under this dome images of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian ; G. Egorov, local images of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Descent of the Holy Spirit; G. Bessonov, image of the Last Supper; The Royal Doors of the large iconostasis were painted by G. Borovikovsky." [Cit. from: 7, p. 29]

The stone pedestals that still stand on both sides of the colonnade were intended for sculptures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel. The sketch of the figures was commissioned from Academician A.I. Ivanov back in 1803. But the Commission for the Construction of the Cathedral rejected Ivanov’s work. The new project was created by sculptor I. P. Martos. By the time of the opening of the temple, he had made figures from plaster and covered them with bronze paint in anticipation of the future casting of figures in bronze. But it was not possible to replace them with bronze ones. The plaster archangels became so dilapidated that they had to be removed in 1824.

The fate of the cathedral was changed by the Patriotic War of 1812. Originally built for an icon, it turned into a storage facility for war relics. Before taking command of the Russian army, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov prayed in the cathedral. War trophies were brought here, including 107 army banners and regimental standards of Napoleonic troops, 94 keys to the conquered eight fortresses and 17 cities, and the baton of Marshal Davout. To date, there are six trophy banners and 26 keys in six bundles left here.

In December 1812, General Platov, through Kutuzov, donated silver to the church, which the Russian army had taken from the retreating French. The field marshal proposed, according to the wishes of the soldiers, to make four figures of evangelists from precious metal for interior decoration Kazan Cathedral. Models of the figures were made by I. A. Martos, but the chief prosecutor of the Synod, A. N. Golitsyn, did not like this project. A few years later they decided to use silver to make a new iconostasis. But due to the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral there was no money for this work. The original iconostasis was replaced with a silver one only in 1836. It was created by the architect K. A. Ton.

The haste during construction quickly led to the crumbling of the plaster inside the building. In 1814 it had to be removed, and along with it the bas-reliefs with images of the evangelists decorating the iconostasis. They were replaced by painting on plaster.

Kazan Cathedral before 1917

On December 21, 1812, when Russian troops reached the borders of the empire, the Kazan Cathedral became the site of celebration of the complete liberation of the Russian land from the conquerors. In February 1913, the keys of the city of Warsaw arrived at the Kazan Cathedral, which were delivered to the capital by General Vasilchikov.

A special event for the Kazan Cathedral was the funeral of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov on June 13, 1813. His grave is located opposite the Kazan Icon.

Kutuzov died on April 16, 1813 in the city of Bunzlau. There his body was embalmed, for which the insides were removed and buried in a local cemetery. Subsequently, a legend arose that the field marshal ordered his heart to be buried at the place of death, on the Saxon Highway, so that the soldiers could see that his heart remained with them. This myth was dispelled in 1933, when Kutuzov’s coffin was opened:

ACT. Leningrad, 1933, September 4th day. A commission consisting of: Director of the Museum of the History of Religion of the USSR Academy of Sciences - prof. Bogoraza-Tan V.G., scientific secretary of the museum Blakanov V.L., head. Funds of the Vorontsov K.K. Museum, in the presence of a representative from the P.P.OGPU comrade. Borozdin P.Ya. drew up this act on the following.
The crypt in which M. I. Kutuzov was buried was opened. The crypt was located in the basement of the museum. Upon opening the crypt, a pine coffin was discovered (covered in red velvet with gold braiding), in which there was a zinc coffin, screwed with bolts, inside which a skeleton with the remains of rotten matter was found. On the left, in the heads, a silver jar was found containing an embalmed heart. The entire autopsy process was photographed - 5 pictures were taken.
This act is drawn up in 2 copies [Cit. on 2, p. 96]...

They hung over Kutuzov's grave Smolensk icon Mother of God from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The Kazan Cathedral was the place from where the Emperor and members of his family went to the active army. Alexander I's return to the capital began with his visit. Until the end of the war with Napoleonic France, the temple remained a place for celebrating the most significant victories of the Russian and allied troops. On September 2, 1813, the capture of Berlin was celebrated here, and one year later - the victory at Brienne and the capture of Danzig. In April 1814 and July 1815, the capture of Paris was celebrated here.

The Kazan Cathedral played an important role in the life of the royal family. IN St. Isaac's Cathedral members of the royal house were baptized, buried in Petropavlovsky, and married here. Every year in March, the accession to the throne of Alexander I was celebrated here. Every year on August 30, the procession to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra began from here. This day was considered a day off in St. Petersburg.

In the 1840s, the dome of the Kazan Cathedral was covered with light green paint. Later its coating imitated bronze.

On October 26, 1893, the funeral service for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was held in the Kazan Cathedral. Because of huge amount Those wishing to say goodbye to the composer, it was decided to allow visitors into the temple with tickets. In total, 8,000 of them were issued. At the liturgy, only Tchaikovsky’s music was used, performed by the choir of the Imperial Opera. From the Kazan Cathedral the funeral procession proceeded to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where the composer was buried.

The temple's candle lighting was replaced by electric lighting in 1903.

In 1910, a proposal was considered to restore the figures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel on the pedestals near the colonnades. But neither the government nor the clergy of the Kazan Cathedral had the money for this.

About two weeks before the February Revolution of 1917, on the initiative of the Public and Mobile Theater, a memorial service for V.F. Komissarzhevskaya was celebrated in the Kazan Cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral after 1917

For some time after the October Revolution, the temple administration continued to develop its religious activities. At the very beginning of 1918, the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky, planned to organize a cave temple named after Saint Hermogenes, which should have repeated the dungeon of the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, where Saint Hermogenes died.

But very soon the policy of the Soviet government towards the church led to the fact that its development was out of the question. On the contrary, the number of parishioners was declining. As noted in 1924, on the feast of the Kazan Icon there were only 60 people in the cathedral, mostly old women. Due to the sharp decline in the size of the parish, donations were also reduced. The clergyman did not have enough money to maintain the building.

In the spring of 1924, the Soviet government became concerned about the condition architectural monuments, to which the Kazan Cathedral continued to be included. Then the poor condition of the building's roof was revealed, which on September 23 was filled with water in the basements due to the devastating flood. Subsequent restoration of the walls and interiors of the cathedral was carried out by architects A. P. Aplaksin, A. A. Parland, artists N. A. Bruni, E. K. Lipgard.

In April 1932, the Kazan Cathedral was closed to believers. At the request of the USSR Academy of Sciences, work began in the Kazan Cathedral to build the first museum on the history of religion and atheism for the 15th anniversary of October. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was transferred to the Prince Vladimir Cathedral, other valuable icons, paintings and church utensils were transferred to the Russian Museum. The only people left in the temple were " last supper"S. A. Bessonov on the altar vault, as well as works by artists A. I. Ivanov, G. I. Ugryumov, S. S. Shchukin and F. I. Yasnenko, as well as a painting by F. Alekseev over the grave of Kutuzov. Cross of the dome replaced by a ball with a pike. The opening of the museum did not take place on time, it happened on November 15. By the fall of 1933, the building received artistic lighting.

In the fall of 1941, an exhibition “The Military Past of the Russian People” was organized near the temple colonnade. The Museum of Atheism was temporarily closed, and its place was taken by the exhibition “The Patriotic War of 1812”, which ran throughout the war. One of the departments of the headquarters of the Leningrad Front was located in the basement of the building. During the blockade, the Kazan Cathedral was hit by three shells; the dome and roof had more than 1,600 holes. In 1951, its overhaul began under the leadership of Ya. A. Kazakov. Work on the interiors was carried out in 1952-1956, the facades were repaired in 1964-1968.

On January 6, 1990, for the first time in the practice of domestic television, a live broadcast of the Christmas all-night vigil was carried out from the Kazan Cathedral. Similar Christmas and Easter television broadcasts are now held annually.

Since 1991, the Kazan Cathedral has been reopened for worship, and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has been returned to it. In 1994, a golden cross reappeared on the dome of the cathedral. On April 6, 1998, the Kazan Cathedral was “returned to its voice”; a bell cast at the Baltic Factory was installed on its belfry. In 2000, the Kazan Cathedral became the main cathedral church of St. Petersburg, and the Kazan Icon was returned here. The Museum of the History of Religion moved to a building on Pochtamtskaya Street. By 2003 (the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg), craftsmen from the Baltic Plant cast a four-ton bell with a height of more than two meters, which became the largest bell of the Kazan Cathedral.