Cathedral of Saint Isaac of Dalmatia (Isaakiyevski Sobor), Saint Petersburg.

The magnificent Smolny complex was created by architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli for the Empress Elizabeth, who had founded the Smolny convent. Begun in 1748, the cathedral is considered Rastrelli's masterpiece, perfectly fusing together Baroque forms with traditional Russian elements such as the five onion domes. Rastrelli was the favored court architect of Elizabeth, who had lavishly exuberant taste and loved the color blue highlighted with generous amounts of gilt. When Catherine the Great succeeded to the throne, she found all this extravagance garish, sacked the Italian architect, and steered Russia towards more restrained Classicism.

Download PCX Stisaacs.zip (size 5071).
Download Stisaacs.GIF (size 4945).

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Petropavlovski Sobor), Saint Petersburg.

This great cathedral was commissioned by Czar Peter the Great and completed in 1733 as the centerpiece of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Designed by the Italian architect Domenico Trezzini, its 459 foot (140 meter) high tower includes a needle-thin gilded spire that today is often called "Russia's lightning rod." Built "to improve and to convert the world," the cathedral with its spire and domes has become a symbol of the city on the Neva River. The cathedral also serves as the family tomb for Russia's imperial Romanov dynasty. In this SCURK image the cathedral and its subsidiary buildings have been flipped horizontally in order the create a better overall composition on the tile.

Download PCX Petepaul.zip (size 4813).
Download Petepaul.GIF (size 4632).

Smolny Monastery and Cathedral (Sobor Smolnovo-Monastyria), Saint Petersburg.

The magnificent Smolny complex was created by architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli for the Empress Elizabeth, who had founded the Smolny convent. Begun in 1748, the cathedral is considered Rastrelli's masterpiece, perfectly fusing together Baroque forms with traditional Russian elements such as the five onion domes. Rastrelli was the favored court architect of Elizabeth, who had lavishly exuberant taste and loved the color blue highlighted with generous amounts of gilt. When Catherine the Great succeeded to the throne, she found all this extravagance garish, sacked the Italian architect, and steered Russia towards more restrained Classicism.

Download PCX Smolny.zip (size 5519).
Download Smolny.GIF (size 5656).

Smolny Monastery and Cathedral (Corner Chapel), Saint Petersburg.

The beautiful Smolny complex includes the lavish Cathedral surrounded by an enclosure in the shape of a Greek cross. At the corners of the cross are four domed chapels which relate back to the central cathedral. The result is a fairy-tale skyline rich with gold topped Russian onion domes. The architect Rastrelli had also originally planned a 420 foot bell tower which would have been one of the greatest towers of the Baroque era.

Download PCX Smchapel.zip (size 2585).
Download Smchapel.GIF (size 2377).