Isaac's Cathedral
| Isaac's Cathedral in Russian: Исаа́киевский собор |
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 Front of the cathedral - photographed from Isaac's Square |
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| Data | |
| place | St. Petersburg |
| builder | Auguste de Montferrand |
| Construction year | 1818 to 1858 |
| height | 101.50 m |
| Floor space | 10,000 m² |
| Coordinates | 59 ° 56 '2.6 " N , 30 ° 18' 21.4" E |
The St. Isaac's Cathedral (Russian Исаакиевский собор, officially known. Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia ., Russ собор преподобного Исаакия Далматского) is the largest church of St. Petersburg and one of the largest sacral domed buildings in the world. The church is 111 meters long, 97 meters wide and 101.50 meters high. The diameter of the gilded main dome is 26 meters. There is space for more than 10,000 people in the church. It has been administered as a state museum since the 1930s.
history
Previous buildings
The feast day of St. Isaac of Dalmatia coincided with the birthday of Peter the Great . Therefore, shortly after the founding of Saint Petersburg , the construction of the first wooden Isaac Church began as early as 1707 . In 1717 the wooden church was replaced by a stone building and consecrated as a cathedral. The architects were Johann Georg Mattarnovi and Nikolas Härbel . In 1735 the cathedral was destroyed by fire.
In 1764, Catherine II commissioned the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi to build a third St. Isaac's Cathedral. In 1790 Rinaldi left Russia without having finished his work. Construction stalled and stopped in 1796. In 1798 Vincenzo Brenna attempted to complete the cathedral, but had to forego four of the five planned domes and the bell tower for cost reasons . In 1802 the cathedral was consecrated.
Construction of the current cathedral
After defeating Napoleon I in the Patriotic War , Alexander I wanted to transform St. Isaac's Cathedral into a national monument. In 1816 he announced an architectural competition which the French Auguste Ricard de Montferrand won. Construction began in 1818. First of all, the previous building was partially canceled; only the sanctuary remained. In the next few years the swampy building site was founded. To do this, around 11,000 tree trunks were rammed into the ground.
From 1822 to 1825, at the urging of the Akademie der Künste, construction work was stopped due to static problems. In addition, Montferrand's technical competence was questioned. However, Montferrand knew how to convince his opponents with a revised draft. In 1827, work on the foundation was completed. In 1828 the lower church was completed and in 1828 from 1830 until the installation of the 48 portico columns (each 17 meters high).
In 1835 the plan was changed again due to further static problems. The construction of the 101 meter high main dome took from 1837 to 1841. It was the first large metal dome in the world. The interior was completed between 1848 and 1858.
- The structure
Breaking the pillars from the quarry
Transport of the pillars to the construction site
Fine work on the pillars on site
Setting up the pillars on the cathedral
The cathedral after the October Revolution
After the October Revolution , services were held in Isaac's Cathedral until 1928. After that, an anti-religious museum was set up in the church, which opened its doors in 1931. At that time, a 91-meter-long Foucault pendulum was hung in the dome. During the Second World War , St. Isaac's Cathedral served as a depot for works of art from the tsar's residences around Leningrad. In 1942, the five gilded domes were covered with a green camouflage. The cathedral nevertheless suffered considerably from German artillery fire.
After the war, extensive restoration work began. The restoration was completed in 1960. With the increasing freedom of religion in the Soviet Union, a service could be held again for the first time in 1990. A renewed restoration took place in the years 1994 to 2003. Today, services are celebrated in St. Isaac's Cathedral on high holidays. In 2018, a total of 18,000 parishioners attended one of the twice-daily church services, along with 2.4 million tourists.
On January 10, 2017, the governor of St. Petersburg Georgi Sergeyevich Poltavchenko announced that the cathedral should be returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. There were immediate protests against this intention and until January 2019 there was no corresponding application by the ROK. According to surveys, there is no support for such a carryover in a clear majority of the population.
Exterior construction
The core building has a rectangular (liturgically oriented to the north-east) floor plan, but looks like a cross- domed church from the outside , as the porticos on the side columns are pushed out further; they are also somewhat wider and, with their vestibules, which are modeled on the Pantheon in Rome , serve as the main entrance to the square or as an exit to the Neva .
The exterior is structured by a total of 112 columns made of red, polished Finnish granite, the 48 lower columns each weighing 114 tons and combined with bronze capitals and bases . The four large gable reliefs, created by Iwan Vitali and Francois Lemaire, are significant. The southern shows “The Adoration of the Magi” by Iwan Vitali, the eastern shows “St. Isaac of Dalmatia, announcing his near end to the Emperor Valentian ”. The northern gable relief shows the “Resurrection of Christ”, the western one “The encounter of St. Isaac of Dalmatia with the Emperor Theodosius ”- whereby Emperor Theodosius is endowed with the facial features of Alexander I.
The three large bronze doors that lead into the interior of the cathedral are also important. The west portal is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul , the north portal to St. Isaac of Dalmatia and St. Nikolaus von Myra , the south portal dedicated to St. Vladimir and St. Alexander Nevsky .
Artwork in the interior
Inside the church there are over 200 mostly large-format paintings and mosaics as well as ten large columns made of malachite and two of lapis lazuli . The walls are adorned with various types of marble , precious and decorative stones . A total of 43 different building materials were used, which earned the church the nickname "Museum of Russian Geology". All the materials used in the construction of the cathedral can be found in the bust of Montferrand (created by Antonio Foletti) inside the church.
The cathedral was painted by Karl Brüllow (Russian Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в, 1799–1852), Fyodor Antonowitsch Bruni , Peter Bassin , Johann Konrad Dorner , Wassili Schebujew and Nikolaj Alexejew. The 39 paintings in the attic depict scenes from the Bible, from the creation of the world to the crucifixion of Christ . The 22 semicircular lunette images show deeds of Russian saints . The main dome is decorated with the painting "Our Lady in Glory" by Karl Brüllow. It shows the Mother of God, Mary, surrounded by saints, apostles and evangelists .
literature
- Georgiy Petrovich Butikov: St Isaac's Cathedral. Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad 1974. (Detailed description of the building history and the interior and exterior furnishings with 95 large-format black-and-white and color panels).
See also
Web links
- http://cathedral.ru/ (ru)
- http://eng.cathedral.ru/ (en)
- The St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In: Allgemeine Bauzeitung, 1886 on Anno (Austrian Newspapers Online)
- The structure in pictures (text in Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "This city survived the blockade - and I think it will survive you too" , Novaya Gazeta, February 19, 2019
- ^ The rise of the Russian Orthodox Church , CNN, March 30, 2017; 620 services in the year before March 2017
- ↑ Isaac's Cathedral in FAZ from February 18, 2017, page 9
- ↑ The absurdity lost its power , Novaya Gazeta, January 11, 2018
- ↑ J. Doroschinskaja: Leningrad and the surrounding area . Moscow 1980, p. 151.