Yet another memorable Russian church! This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor
Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. After assuming power in
1855 in the wake of Russia's disastrous defeat in the Crimean war
against Britain, France and Turkey, Alexander II initiated a number of
reforms. In 1861 he freed the Russian serfs (peasants, who were almost
enslaved to their owners) from their ties to their masters and undertook
a rigorous program of military, judicial and urban reforms, never
before attempted in Russia.
However, during the second half of his reign
Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having
only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an
explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. Alexander
II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who
threw a bomb at his royal carriage.
The gates into the church echo the art nouveau architecture that can be seen around the city. Both the interior and exterior of the church are decorated with
incredibly detailed mosaics, designed and created by the most prominent
Russian artists of the day (V.M. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov and M.A.
Vrubel). Interestingly, despite the church's very obviously Russian
aspect, its principle architect, A. Parland, was not even Russian by
birth.In truth, many of the architects who shape the landscape of St. Petersburg are not Russian. None the less, this is a magnificent church, which can be well viewed from the major street through St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt.
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