The most beautiful religious buildings Russia

Located on the island of Kneiphof, this Gothic red brick cathedral, dating from 1333, was the coronation place of the Prussian kings. Destroyed largely during the bombing of World War II, it was restored and recovered its clock and four bells in 1995, after more than fifty years of silence. In 1989, the cathedral was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. No information in English, only German speakers will find documentation. A visit to the museum inside the cathedral is of little interest, except for the 1613 plan of Königsberg. The cathedral at night, beautifully lit, is sublime.

On the northern outside of the cathedral, one can meditate for a moment on the tomb of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who was born and lived in Königsberg. It is possible to take a half-hour boat trip around the island. Of course the tour is in Russian, but the advantage is the discovery of the port and the state of the Russian fleet.

Even today, the shadow of the philosopher still hangs over the city: he is one of the main factors of Kaliningrad's influence, but his figure is widely decried by nationalists. For them, highlighting him and thus the city's Germanic heritage amounts to "russophobia": it has to be either one or the other. Fortunately, the majority of Russian citizens in Kaliningrad have a strong appreciation of the German history of their city.

One of the most remarkable monuments of Russian art, Pokrovsky Sobor (СОБОР ВАСИЛИЯ БЛАЖEННОГО) is the symbol of Moscow. Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible, it was a centre of power: it was on the platform in front of its gates (nicknamed the Square of Skulls) that public executions were held and Ukases (decrees) were read. Today the cathedral charges for visits. One can buy an entrance ticket coupled with the State Historical Museum.

Enclosed in the austere setting of the fortress of the same name, the Peter and Paul Cathedral contrasts the luxuriance of its Baroque lines with the military rigour of the adjoining buildings.

Dominating the citadel - and the whole of St. Petersburg - with its 122.5 m golden spire, it is the masterful expression of Peter I's dreams of grandeur, who laid the foundations but did not see it in its final form: begun in 1712 to replace a modest wooden church built in 1703, its construction by D. Trezzini was not really completed until June 28, 1733. The emperor's favourite architect, inspired by the Nordic Baroque, faithfully obeyed the imperial directives: the building breaks with the canons of Russian religious architecture, replacing the five traditional domes with a dome that crowns the nave; the nave is preceded by a double pediment façade with quadruple volutes and surmounted by the famous spire, which still today makes the cathedral the highest building in the city, as the tsar wanted it to be. Ended by a cross and a weather vane representing an angel, this spire has been resting on a metal frame since the fire of 1830; the little story tells that Nicolas I rewarded the intrepid roofer, Telushkin, by guaranteeing him the right to drink free of charge in all the inns of the empire, a rather poisonous gift!

The interior, which gives the same feeling of elevation, is just as impressive with its triple nave, separated by a double marble colonnade, and its golden panelling running along walls in pastel pink and green tones. The almost Rococo decor is reminiscent of a church in Vienna or Prague, if not for the rich iconostasis by Ivan Zaroudni (1722-1726).

The collegiate church, a veritable necropolis of the Romanov dynasty, houses the tombs of Tsarevich Alexis and the children of Peter the Great, who died while still young, those of Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III, Catherine II, Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II and Alexander III. Only Peter II and Ivan IV (the Terrible, buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in the Kremlin) are absent. It was of course Peter the Great who inaugurated the posthumous imperial residence in 1725; his white marble tomb is to the right of the south entrance, a site he himself had chosen. There are a total of 36 white marble tombs, decorated with golden crosses and double-headed eagles for those of the Romanovs who ruled. Manufactured at the Peterhof factory, the funeral monuments of Alexander and his wife Maria Alexandrovna are monoliths of Ural green jasper and pink quartz. The iconostasis, carved and gilded by Moscow masters between 1722 and 1729, is a masterpiece of Russian Baroque.

The October Revolution, which transformed the place into a museum in 1923, put an end to the crypt's funerary vocation. The collapse of the Soviet system, returning the cathedral to worship - only for very solemn liturgies - also reconciled it with the afterlife. Thus the descendant of the Romanovs, Duke Vladimir, who died in April 1992, was buried in the Chapel of the Grand Princes alongside 13 members of the Romanov dynasty, buried before 1917 in this annexed chapel built by the architect D. Grimm in 1887 for members of the imperial family. As for his great uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, and part of his family, Alexandra Fedorovna, his wife, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia, they were buried here in 1998, 80 years after their assassination in Ekaterinburg on the night of 17-18 July 1918. Their bones, discovered in 1989, were identified in early 1998 after undergoing the infallible DNA test. The remains of Mary and Tsarevich Alexis have not been found. In 2006, the ashes of Empress Maria Fedorovna (1847-1928), wife of Alexander III, were transferred from Denmark.

House of Engineers. If you take the central alley of the fortress, you will see, on the left, the Injenerny (Engineers') house, built in 1748-1749 for the engineers in charge of the maintenance work of the fortress. The Injenerny house now exhibits objects from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century and their copies as souvenirs. The exhibition begins with plans of the town from the 18th and 19th centuries. Many paintings, lamps, porcelain, and interior reconstructions from the 19th century.

Commander's house. Behind the execution square, the Komendantski house is a light pink building, once inhabited by the fortress commanders, but also housing the chancellery and the court of justice. Of the 32 commanders of the fortress, 19 are buried in the cemetery located in front of the west façade of St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral, including the Scotsman Bruce, a close friend of Peter. In 1917, this commandery served as the headquarters of the city's revolutionary committee. It was converted into community apartments after the Second World War. Today it houses an exhibition on the history of St. Petersburg.

The ground floor mainly retraces the construction of the city, with models and maps. You can also see excerpts from excavations dating back to medieval times that were carried out in the region. A model reproduces the room where the Decembrists and the Petrashevsky circle were questioned and judged, in the presence of Nicholas I, who dictated the sentence.

The first floor is particularly interesting with a series of rooms depicting the daily life of the Russian nobility in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fashion, first of all, with a host of luxurious outfits and accessories. But also the home, with furniture ranging from simple desks to cars, stoves, kitchens and bathrooms with a host of beauty products from Paris.

The Troubetskoï bastion. The bastion reopened after a period of restoration.

Crossing the square diagonally from the chapel to the Neva River, you come to the Troubetskoy bastion of sad memory. The prison of the Troubetskoy bastion was transformed into a museum in 1924, a museum whose exhibition evokes one of the most terrible political prisons in the country. Built in 1870-1872, the building was converted into a gaol by Alexander II. It soon became the main interrogation and detention centre for hundreds of revolutionaries and overly liberal personalities. Kropotkin, Figner, Ulyanov, Gorky, Trotsky and the ministers of the provisional government were detained there among many others. Tsarevich Alexis, son of Peter I, was sentenced to death.

You visit the gloomy cells of the bastion, but even worse cells exist against the ramparts. The constant dampness and cold made tuberculosis almost inevitable. You will also see the corridor lined to muffle the sounds and prevent prisoners from communicating with each other, and the bath house where each prisoner engaged from time to time in exercises and ablutions.

Boat house (Botny Domik). This small ochre pavilion with porticoes with white columns was built from 1761 to 1766 by the architect Viste. It houses a replica of the small boat of Peter, nicknamed "the grandfather of the Russian navy", on which the young czar was introduced to the subtleties of navigation on the Yaza River near Moscow. The original of this modest boat is on display today in the Naval Museum. In front of the Mendeleevskaya pavilion you can see a Navigation, an allegorical work by the sculptor Ienson (1891). In the small courtyard of the little house, the Bolsheviks shot four grand dukes and a few hostages captured at the beginning of the Great Red Terror on 27 January 1919. They sentenced them to death in retaliation for the murder of Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknicht in Berlin.

The Mint. Facing the cathedral, leaning against the walls of the citadel, stands the yellow and white building of the Mint. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the architect Porteau, in a neoclassical style. Before that, coins were minted in the Naryshkin and Trubetskoy bastions. Its activity began in 1811, and the Mint continued to operate until the end of the Soviet era. Today its activity is limited to commemorative coins and decorations, especially military ones. You can buy replicas in the shop next to the exhibition on the history of coinage. Not very spectacular, this one displays coins from different periods.

The statue of Peter I. The monument of Peter the Great, installed here in June 1991, is the work of Mikhail Shemyakin. The monument does not depict the emperor or the warlord, let alone the reformist statesman, but just a man with his passions and weaknesses, simply sitting in an armchair. The thinning of his silhouette as one climbs from head to toe is perhaps explained by the fact that he could only be seen on his knees... The fact remains that the head was made from an authentic mask of the Tsar (now in the Hermitage), who, although claustrophobic, agreed to stay for hours under layers of plaster... out of simple curiosity.

The Narychkin bastion. An alley, which runs along the wall to the east of the Komendantsk house, leads to the Nevsky gates, the Komendantskaya quay and the Narychkin bastion. The latter is surmounted by an octagonal turret from which a cannon is fired every day at noon. This is a custom inherited from the 18th century, when few people had watches. It is also fired on other occasions: to celebrate the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad on 27 January, or to signal a flood. Fireworks on major national holidays are also fired from this bastion.

The Museum of Astronautics and Rocket Construction. To the left of the Saint-Jean gate, as you leave the fortress, this incongruous little museum proves to be fascinating. Opened in 1973, it retraces the history of the Soviet space program, from Sputnik to the Mir station. It was built here on the site of what was once a rocket research laboratory in the 1930s. You'll see jet engines, Sputnik models, space suits and even the authentic Soyuz 16 spacecraft.

The beach. At the foot of the ramparts, the people of St. Petersburg do not hesitate to bathe, in summer... as in winter! Fishing is also practiced.

Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Russia's third most important holy place, concludes the Nevsky perspective as sumptuously as the Winter Palace inaugurates it. The monastery complex, which consists of several churches behind a pink plastered enclosure wall enhanced by a rich decoration of white pilasters, statues and colonnades, still looks good, despite the ravages of time. In 1710, Peter the Great ordered the construction of a monastery dedicated to the great Russian prince Alexander Nevsky, who defeated the Swedes in 1240, on the supposed site of his victory. The hero takes his name from the great river of St. Petersburg, on the banks of which he accomplished his exploits. Alexander Nevsky is thus Alexander of the Neva. His relics were transferred from Vladimir (near Moscow) to the monastery in 1724. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Sviato-Troitsky), built in 1790, with the sacred mission of collecting the silver shrine containing the relics, is the most grandiose of the ensemble.

In order to make this new capital a spiritual beacon of Holy Russia, Peter the Great made the monastic complex a "Lavra", in the same way as those of Moscow and Kiev. Alexander Nevsky Lavra is a kind of open-air pantheon: two cemeteries, where personalities dear to the hearts of the people of St. Petersburg are buried, extend over its territory. The Russians spend five minutes there to meditate or a whole day to pray, creating a permanent movement around the churches and the monastery park.

Saint Lazarus Cemetery (Lazarevskoye): the path leading to the monastery is bordered on the left by the oldest cemetery in Saint Petersburg; since 1710, it has been the burial place of architects from the former capital, both Russian and foreign: the Italians Quarenghi and Rossi, the Frenchman Thomas de Thomon and the Russian Stassov rest there next to the great 18th-century Russian scholar Lomonossov.

Our Lady of Tikhvin Cemetery (Tikhvinskoye): dating from 1823, also known as the "artists' cemetery", it ensures the eternal rest of Dostoyevsky, Karamzin, Zhukovsky, the composers Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin or Glinka, and the French choreographer Marius Petitpas.

Finally, the Lavra remains a centre for the spread of Orthodox faith and theology, since it houses behind its walls the Spiritual Academy, the Patriarchate's higher education establishment.

A masterpiece of Russian Baroque, the Cathedral of the Resurrection is the centrepiece of the monastic ensemble of the Virgin and Resurrection (Voskressenski Novodievitchi, commonly known as Smolny because of its proximity to the court of the same name), an ensemble invested by the apparatchiks during the Soviet period. Restored to the Orthodox clergy in 2009, this superb blue, white and gold baroque monument bears in its baroque elegance the signature of Rastrelli, who worked there from 1748 to 1769. The cathedral was erected at the request of the future Empress Elisabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great, on the site of the palace where she had spent her childhood. Initially prevented from acceding to the throne and sent to a convent, she did not forget her vows after her accession to power in 1741. You can visit one of its four bell towers, from which there is a superb view of St. Petersburg. The Cathedral of the Resurrection houses an exhibition and concert hall, but the Orthodox liturgy has regained its rights there for the main religious ceremonies. The magnificent church is surrounded by monastery buildings which housed Russia's first female educational institution, reserved for the aristocracy. It is hard to imagine that this string of pastel walls also housed the hierarchs of the Communist Party. Yet it was in the monastery's monastery buildings that Lenin set up his staff before moving to Moscow.

If there is only one cathedral to visit, this is it. Of all the monuments of the Orthodox faith in Russia, the Dormition Cathedral is the most majestic, the most beautiful, and also the most inviting to meditation. This church has always been an important sanctuary where princes were crowned and metropolitans were buried, but it was Ivan the Great who undertook to make it a symbol of the power of the nascent Moscow nation by calling on the Italian architect Fioravanti to transform the building. The latter worked on what became the masterpiece of his career. He used the rules of the Italian Renaissance, playing with space and light, which he combined with the Slavic style, which played with colours, wood carvings and shapes. The result is awe-inspiring: the interior of the cathedral, decorated with gold, commands respect, and the shimmering reds and blues that paint it make it seem larger. Today you can also see the throne of Ivan the Terrible, a relic of the past with wood decorated with scenes of everyday life of his time (1550).

The iconostasis of the cathedral dates from 1652 and its famous icon of Our Lady of Vladimir is to the left of the central entrance (a 15th-century copy of the 12th-century Byzantine original is in the Tretyakov Gallery). All in all, take at least an hour to soak up the almost mystical atmosphere of a plunge into the heart of the Russian Orthodox faith and the power of the Tsars.

Contemporary of the one in Smolny, to which it resembles a twin sister, the cathedral of Saint Nicholas of the Epiphany is dedicated to the patron saint of sailors. A fine tribute to him by this bright blue façade, criss-crossed by the white foam of the bas-reliefs and colonnades that give the building its baroque exuberance! Built between 1753 and 1762 by the architect Savva Tchevakinski, a pupil of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and builder of the Imperial Russian Navy. The maritime vocation of this sanctuary, so intimately linked to St Petersburg, perhaps explains why the cult was celebrated there without interruption, sparing it the anticlerical rigours of Soviet power. The cathedral, with its five golden domes, is one of the most beautiful specimens of Russian Baroque. With its elegant façade preceded by a three-storey blue campanile, also topped with gold, at the crossing of the Griboedov and Kriukov canals in the former maritime business district, St. Nicholas' Cathedral is currently the largest working church in St. Petersburg, and the saints depicted on its beautiful icons attract many worshippers. Built in the Greco-Byzantine style in the 17th century, the icon of St. Nicholas the Miraculous, displayed in the crypt, is the most precious relic of this particularly elegant religious complex, where the people of St. Petersburg used to celebrate their weddings.

The St Petersburg Mosque, which has stood unashamedly since 1720 on the edge of the vast park of the Peter and Paul Fortress, bears witness to a certain tradition of religious tolerance in Russia. Its reconstruction in 1910 was financed by the Muslims of Russia with the support of Stolypin and the Emir of Bukhara. It was then the largest mosque in Europe, in the capital of an empire where Muslims represent a large part of the population. Its dome, designed by the architect Nicolas Vassiliev, reproduces the dome of Gour-Emir's mausoleum in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Skilled workers from all over Central Asia took part in the project. With a capacity of up to 5,000 worshippers, the mosque hall, decorated in oriental style with a profusion of prayer carpets from the Central Asian republics or Azerbaijan, seems a little too large today for the limited attendance of Tatars and other nationals of the Muslim republics of the former USSR, who are less numerous in St. Petersburg than in Moscow.

Access for visits is not possible during the prayers and they are usually done with a guide accredited by the mosque (in Russian or Central Asian languages). However, do not hesitate to make a detour on your way to the Museum of Political History, the Pierre-et-Paul fortress or the Aurore cruiser nearby, the architecture of the place of worship is very appreciable even from the outside.

The Annunciation Cathedral is one of the finest examples of Russian religious architecture, influenced by the Italian Renaissance. It served as the family church of the tsars, hence its more intimate character. The iconostasis is said to have been decorated by two of the greatest Slavic icon painters: Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev. The door of the southern facade was added by Ivan the Terrible who, excommunicated, could only attend services behind this gate.

You may have seen a few statues of Lenin when you first came to Moscow? Well, you will have the opportunity to see that the man is smaller in life size. Especially since the famous intellectual, revolutionary and leader, already not tall in his lifetime (1.65 m), was shrunk during his mummification. The result is therefore not so impressive and it is often a vague impression of disappointment that we feel at the end of this agonizing journey constituting the visit of the mausoleum. Still, we recommend this pilgrimage, although it has not been de rigueur since the late 1980s, as it is captivating to have access to this piece of world history, preserved after a century of morbid fascination.

The mausoleum itself has a history : it dates back to 1929 and was built after nearly 500,000 Soviet citizens rushed to pay their respects to the remains of the (not-so-)great man, a week after his exposure to the general public in a temporary structure had begun. Lenin had to share his spot for eight years with an even smaller (1.62m) man, Stalin, before he was removed during de-Stalinization and relocated to the Kremlin walls. Since then, Lenin has been alone again as nostalgic, fanatical and mocking people pass by. Today, there is more and more talk about the possibility of paying him a last trip to St. Petersburg in the family vault: a solution that is requested by many, but never voted.

The third basilica of the Kremlin (АРХАНГЕЛЬСКИЙ СОБОР) benefited most from the contributions of the Italian Renaissance. The decoration is martial: frescoes depict great battles in Russian history; a 10 m high golden iconostasis (1681) supports the icon of the Archangel St. Michael attributed to Andrei Rublev. It is in this building that the princes and tsars of Moscow up to Peter the Great are buried: there are 46 gravestones, including the tomb of Ivan the Terrible.

Built in the 15th century according to an asymmetrical plan, on the tomb of St. Sergius of Radonezh, it was one of the first buildings of Moscow Russia. The cathedral is the oldest building, built in white stone, symbol of wealth and refinement. It is for it that Andrei Rublev painted the icon of the Trinity, currently exhibited at the Tretiakov Gallery. Adjacent to this church, the sacristy is more recent since it dates from the beginning of the 19th century. It houses a museum with all kinds of religious objects made of precious metals and stones.

Built by architects from Pskov, it was to serve as a counterpoint to the Italian influence. The church (ЦЕРКОВЬ РИЗОПОЛОЖЕНИЯ) was that of the patriarchs, before becoming in the 17th century that of the great princes. There are beautiful frescoes and a remarkable iconostasis by the painter Nazari Istomine (1627). Today it is possible to visit it and admire its iconographic treasures. In addition, the north gallery of the church is used as an exhibition space.

It is the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, which was inaugurated in 2005 by the Dalai Lama himself. The sumptuous building was designed by an architect from Tibet. At the entrance, on a small square, prayer drums are arranged under small pagodas on either side of the entrance doors. Inside, the Buddha statue is one of the largest in the world and measures 11 meters. One will be imbued with the atmosphere of serenity that reigns there and the murmur of prayers.

Visible from Saint-Nicolas-des-Marins Cathedral, the neoclassical-style Trinity Cathedral is at the antipodes of the latter's Baroque exuberance. It must be said that its martial vocation - it is dedicated to the imperial Izmaïlovski regiment, one of the oldest in Russia - did not invite the lightness of the Baroque. The cathedral has marble plaques on its walls with the names of the fallen officers of this regiment engraved on them. Although it follows the rigorous models of Greco-Roman antiquity, it is nevertheless not lacking in elegance with the classic pediment and colonnade of its façade, whose immaculate white contrasts with the blue of its five domes. It was designed by the architect Vladimir Stassov, one of the most eminent representatives of the neoclassical style, who designed the refurbishment of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration and the completion of the Smolny Cathedral and Convent.

Among the church's titles of glory is the fact that Dostoyevsky was married there. Less glorious episode, the church will be disused during the Soviet period to serve as a warehouse for the sets of the Kirov Theatre. The Cathedral regained its original vocation and, in 2006, survived a terrible fire that destroyed the large and small domes. The main dome was known as the largest in the world with a wooden frame. The restoration work lasted 11 years and was completed in 2017.

Located in the Kremlin, the cathedral (БОГОРОДИЦЕ РОЖДЕСТВЕНСКИЙ СОБОР) is the oldest monument in Suzdal. It was built in the 13th century, but only the lower part of the cathedral, which is made of stone and finished with an arched frieze, has survived from this period. An original souvenir is holy water in a beautiful samovar-shaped stoup. On the outskirts of the cathedral you will also find horse-drawn carriages for hire to take a tour of the kremlin or the village.