Church of the Spilled Blood

This is without a doubt one of the most interesting churches I have ever visited. So often when I find myself in beautiful cathedrals, such as St. Pauls, I marvel at their majesty but at the same time notice that there are many similarities between them. Cross-shaped, made of stone, big pillars, rows of pews, maybe some crypts, organs in the big ones, similar altar at the front, and big windows, either stained-glass or clear. The basics are all the same, and while each church or cathedral has taken that and made it unique, I still feel a sense of deja vu when I walk into one.

Not so with this church. I walked in and my jaw literally dropped. I'm not kidding, I stood there like a fish for a few seconds.

The entire inside, and I mean ENTIRE, is covered in mosaics. Take a look:



I didn't realize this until I was looking at the spot and listening to the audio guide, but the church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was mortally wounded when he was assassinated in 1881. His son, Tsar Alexander III, had the church built to memorialize the site. There's a cupola over the actual site, I guess to consecrate the ground or something. The most impressive mosaic (according to the guide, at least) is behind the cupola. Kinda strange because it is impossible to get the full effect of the image, but maybe they wanted it near the important spot?





The mosaics are all scenes from the bible, most of them depicting something to do with Jesus. Every single one of them was gorgeous, here's a few, including some from the ceiling. I wasn't kidding when I said they covered every single inch of the interior!



There are two spots for relics, although there aren't any left anymore! The church was used as storage during the early Soviet period when the anti-religious campaign was strong, and there was some pillaging. It was also used as a morgue during the Second World War, when Leningrad was under siege. Amazingly it was barely damaged during the war; the bomb that landed in the attic never detonated, and wasn't actually discovered until about 20 years later!

The outside of the church is reminiscent of the medieval Russian architecture, complete with onion domes and many colours. It makes an impressive outline in the sky.

From the front....

....and from the back!

I feel that walking into a Catholic cathedral won't have the same impact anymore. Oh well....