Peter and Paul Cathedral (Saint Petersburg)

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Peter and Paul Cathedral in

Russian: Петропавловский собор
Peters Great boathouse Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.jpg
Data
place St. Petersburg
builder Domenico Trezzini
Construction year 1712 to 1733
height 122.5 m
Coordinates 59 ° 57 ′ 1 ″  N , 30 ° 18 ′ 57 ″  E Coordinates: 59 ° 57 ′ 1 ″  N , 30 ° 18 ′ 57 ″  E
particularities
Romanov burial church

The Peter and Paul Cathedral (Russian собор Петропавловский; official name: Cathedral of the topmost Apostles Peter and Paul, russ .: Собор во имя первоверховных апостолов Петра и Павла) is a church building in St. Petersburg and the heart of the St. Peter and Paul -Fortress . The main cathedral of the Russian Empire , completed in 1733, served as the burial place of the Romanov family . It has been a state museum since 1924. The 122.5 m high tower was the tallest building in St. Petersburg from 1733 to 2012 and the tallest in Russia until 1952.

history

In 1703 Peter the Great had a makeshift wooden church built in the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was initially only used for military purposes. He commissioned the Swiss architect Domenico Trezzini for an imposing successor building made of stone, which was to be the main cathedral of the empire and the burial place of the tsarist house . Construction work began in 1712. The nave follows the hall church type, which is rather unusual for large Russian churches .

When the emperor died on January 28, 1725, only the foundation walls and the tower were in place. The cathedral was completed in 1733 after 21 years of construction. Its 122.5 meter high tower with a wind vane in the shape of an angel, which rotates around the shaft of a 6.4 meter high cross on the gilded top, remained, as ordered by Peter the Great, the tallest building in the city - up to the Construction of the municipal television tower.

The originally wooden spire was rebuilt after a lightning strike in 1756 and, according to a design by the Dutchman Harman van Boles, got heavy and massive upper floors. The two portico are also an addition from the later 18th century. In 1773 the chapel of St. Catherine was added. The spire was renewed in metal in 1858 based on the model of the pointed needle of the Admiralty Tower on the other bank of the Neva and covered with gilded copper plates.

The story of the roofer Pyotr Teluschkin became famous, who climbed the spire , which had been damaged by a lightning strike in 1830, with a rope ladder and erected the angel and the cross in six weeks of work. The cathedral was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1919 and turned into a museum in 1924. Church services have been held again since 2000. For the 300th anniversary in 2012, the cathedral was extensively restored.

Furnishing

inner space
Sarcophagi
Nicholas II tomb

The interior is decorated with copies of trophies from the Northern War and wall paintings. The iconostasis , no longer a painted picture wall as in Old Russian art, but designed as a vividly enriched, baroque architectural element made of triumphal arch motifs, thus refers to the victories in the Northern War , which justified the entry of Tsar Peter I into the circle of European great powers. The pulpit is also unusual for a Russian Orthodox church. Allegedly it was used only once - to excommunicate Leo Tolstoy in 1902 after the publication of his critical orthodoxy novel Resurrection .

Burial place of the Romanov family

Sarcophagi of various tsars, Peter the Great's sarcophagus can be seen in the front right. In the side chapels of the Peter and Paul Cathedral and in the funerary chapel built on to the north-east of the cathedral from 1896 to 1908 are the graves of the Tsar family. Their coffins were made of white marble, only Alexander II and his wife received coffins made of green or red marble, because they wanted to be honored for the liberation of the serfs during their reign. Even today - after several legal disputes - it serves again as the burial place of the Romanov family. The graves of the last tsar family have been located here since 1998.

The following members of the Russian tsarist family are buried in the cathedral:

  1. Katharina Petrovna (1706–1708) - (daughter of Peter I. )
  2. Marfa Matvejewna Apraxina , Tsarina of Russia (1664 - January 11, 1716) - (wife of Tsar Fyodor III. )
  3. Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (March 20, 1713 - May 27, 1715) - (daughter of Emperor Peter I )
  4. Grand Duchess Margarita Petrovna (September 19, 1714 - June 7, 1715) - (daughter of Emperor Peter I )
  5. Charlotte Christine Sophia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (August 28, 1694 - November 2, 1715) - (Wife of Grand Duke Alexej Petrowitsch )
  6. Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (January 13, 1717 - January 14, 1717) - (son of Emperor Peter I )
  7. Grand Duke Alexej Petrovich (February 28, 1690 - July 7, 1718) - (son of Emperor Peter I )
  8. Grand Duchess Maria Alexejewna (January 18, 1660 - March 20, 1723) - (daughter of Tsar Alexej I )
  9. Emperor Peter I the Great (June 9, 1672 - February 8, 1725)
  10. Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (August 31, 1718 - March 5, 1725) - (daughter of Emperor Peter I )
  11. Empress Catherine I (April 15, 1684 - May 17, 1727)
  12. Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (February 6, 1708 - March 15, 1728) - (daughter of Emperor Peter I )
  13. Empress Anna (February 7, 1693 - October 28, 1740)
  14. Empress Elisabeth (December 29, 1709 - January 5, 1762)
  15. Emperor Peter III. (February 21, 1728 - July 17, 1762)
  16. Empress Catherine II the Great (May 2, 1729 - November 17, 1796)
  17. Emperor Paul I (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801)
  18. Emperor Alexander I (December 23, 1777 - December 1, 1825)
  19. Elisabeth Alexejewna , Empress of Russia (January 24, 1779 - May 16, 1826) - (wife of Emperor Alexander I )
  20. Sophie Dorothee von Württemberg , Empress of Russia (October 25, 1759 - November 5, 1828) - (Wife of Emperor Paul I )
  21. Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich (May 8, 1779 - June 27, 1831) - (son of Emperor Paul I )
  22. Grand Duchess Alexandra Michailowna (January 28, 1831 - March 27, 1832) - (daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch )
  23. Grand Duchess Anna Michailowna (October 27, 1834 - March 22, 1836) - (daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch )
  24. Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolajewna (June 24, 1825 - August 10, 1844) - (daughter of Emperor Nicholas I )
  25. Grand Duchess Maria Michailowna (March 9, 1825 - November 19, 1846) - (daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch )
  26. Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna (August 30, 1842 - June 28, 1849) - (daughter of Emperor Alexander II )
  27. Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch (February 8, 1798 - September 9, 1849) - (son of Emperor Paul I )
  28. Emperor Nicholas I (July 6, 1796 - March 2, 1855)
  29. Charlotte of Prussia , Tsarina of Russia (July 13, 1798 - November 1, 1860) - (Wife of Emperor Nicholas I )
  30. Grand Duke Nikolaj Alexandrovich (September 20, 1843 - April 24, 1865) - (son of Emperor Alexander II )
  31. Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (June 7, 1869 - May 2, 1870) - (Son of Emperor Alexander III )
  32. Charlotte von Württemberg (January 9, 1807 - January 21, 1873) - (Wife of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch )
  33. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolajewna (August 18, 1819 - February 21, 1876) - (daughter of Emperor Nicholas I )
  34. Marie von Hessen-Darmstadt (August 8, 1824 - June 3, 1880), Tsarina of Russia - (wife of Emperor Alexander II. )
  35. Emperor Alexander II (April 29, 1818 - March 13, 1881)
  36. Cäcilie von Baden (September 20, 1839 - April 12, 1891) - (wife of Grand Duke Michael Nikolajewitsch )
  37. Grand Duke Nikolaj Nikolajewitsch (August 8, 1831 - April 25, 1891) - (son of Emperor Nicholas I )
  38. Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna (August 30, 1870 - September 24, 1891) - (Wife of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich )
  39. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolajewitsch (September 21, 1827 - January 25, 1892) - (son of Emperor Nicholas I )
  40. Grand Duchess Katharina Michailowna (August 28, 1827 - May 12, 1894) - (daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch )
  41. Emperor Alexander III (March 10, 1845 - November 1, 1894)
  42. Grand Duke Alexis Michailowitsch (December 28, 1875 - March 2, 1895) - (Son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolajewitsch )
  43. Grand Duke Georg Alexandrovich (May 9, 1871 - July 10, 1899) - (Son of Emperor Alexander III. )
  44. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (April 22, 1847 - February 17, 1909) - (Son of Emperor Alexander II )
  45. Grand Duke Michael Nikolajewitsch (October 25, 1832 - December 18, 1909) - (son of Emperor Nicholas I )
  46. Alexandra von Sachsen-Altenburg (July 8, 1830 - July 6, 1911) - (Wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolajewitsch )
  47. Emperor Nicholas II (May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) - buried on July 17, 1998
  48. Alexandra von Hessen (June 6, 1872 - July 17, 1918) - (wife of Emperor Nicholas II ) buried on July 17, 1998
  49. Grand Duchess Olga Nikolajewna (November 15, 1895 - July 17, 1918) - daughter of Emperor Nicholas II , buried on July 17, 1998
  50. Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna (June 10, 1897 - July 17, 1918) - daughter of Emperor Nicholas II , buried on July 17, 1998
  51. Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (June 18, 1901 - July 17, 1918) - daughter of Emperor Nicholas II , buried on July 17, 1998
  52. Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich (October 3, 1860 - January 30, 1919) - (son of Tsar Alexander II )
  53. Dagmar of Denmark , Empress of Russia (November 26, 1847 - October 13, 1928) - (wife of Emperor Alexander III ) She was originally buried in Roskilde Cathedral and transferred to St. Petersburg on September 28, 2006.
  54. Grand Duke Kyrill Wladimirowitsch (October 12, 1876 - October 12, 1938) - son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich , originally buried in Coburg, transferred in 1995
  55. Grand Prince Vladimir Kirillowitsch Romanow (August 30, 1917 - April 21, 1992) - (son of Grand Prince Kyrill Vladimirovich )

Peal

Carillon

The bell tower houses a total of 140 bells. The heaviest bell has a weight of 3,075 kg and the lightest a weight of 10 kg. The range is four octaves. Russia's first carillon was installed in the tower in 1720. The 35 bells may have been supplied by the Amsterdam bell founder Jan Albert de Grave. The cost was 45,000 rubles. The original carillon was destroyed after a lightning strike in 1756. The current one includes 51 bells with a total weight of 15,160 kg. It was a gift from the Belgian government on the 300th anniversary of the founding of Saint Petersburg in 2003.

graveyard

In front of the cathedral is the cemetery of the commanders of the Peter and Paul Fortress, one of the oldest preserved cemetery complexes in Russia, in which - very unusual for the time - both Protestants and Russian Orthodox Christians lie.

See also

Web links

Commons : Peter and Paul Cathedral  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tamara Talbot Rice: The Art of Russia . Zurich 1965, p. 164.
  2. ↑ Alpatov: History of Russian Art , 1957, p. 155.
  3. ↑ J. Doroschinskaja: Leningrad and the surrounding area . Moscow 1980, pp. 130-131.
  4. ↑ Peter and Paul Fortress - St. Petersburg birthplace. March 24, 2016, accessed on March 17, 2020 (German).
  5. ↑ Petersburg. Retrieved March 17, 2020 .