We had a short rest period to recharge before embarking on our Sunday afternoon sightseeing. We began the afternoon with a visit to Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. On the walk to the cathedral, we saw one of the sights seen around the world. (Pictured below.)
Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral is undergoing major restoration work so it is completely covered with scaffolding. I'm sure it is going to be a beautiful sight when it is done but for us it limited the picture taking opportunities.
From there, we went to see the Resurrection of Christ Church (a.k.a. The Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood). It got this name because it was built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. This church is spectacular both outside and inside.
The inside is covered entirely with mosaics.
After our visit to the Church of the Spilled Blood, we taxied to Teplo Restaurant which is not very far from our hotel. By the time we had an excellent dinner and walked back to the hotel it was almost 10pm. It had been a LONG day - 12 hours and another was just ahead.
Our first stop on Monday morning was St. Isaac's Cathedral. It is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city and can be seen from everywhere. Like the other cathedrals we visited, the inside is very ornate. A couple of exceptional features of St. Isaac's are the stained glass window of Jesus and the enormous pantheon like dome. The dome is plated with pure gold and a silver dove is suspended from the center.
The original icons on the walls were painted. However, they darkened and detiorated with age. So, it was decided to reproduce the icons exactly but in mosaics. This was never completed.
