The St. Petersburg Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, or the Resurrection of Christ, is loved to decipher: here are symbols, riddles, and legends. This church was founded on October 18, 1883 at the site of the murder of Alexander II.
The legend of the collapse of the USSR
The forests around the Savior on Spilled Blood have stood for so long that they have become a legend of St. Petersburg, if not its attraction. And they even entered the culture: for example, Rosenbaum, in his song "Show me Moscow, Muscovites …", sings that he dreams of removing forests from the Savior on Spilled Blood. The people said, half in jest, half seriously, that as soon as these forests were removed, the entire Soviet Union would collapse. Surprisingly, in 1991, the scaffolding was dismantled, although they had not been touched for decades. And in August 1991, the famous events took place that put an end to Soviet rule in Russia.
Underwater crosses
The Savior on Spilled Blood stands right on the Griboyedov Canal. In order for the temple to resist and the waters of the canal did not penetrate under the building, the use of piles was abandoned here when strengthening the soil. For the first time in urban planning, a concrete base was erected under the entire building area. For the construction of the bell tower, an 8-meter ledge was made on the embankment.
This channel, according to legend, played a significant role in the restoration of the cathedral. There is a story about how the crosses of the Savior on Spilled Blood were "baptized" with the water of a canal. They say that in order to save them from the Bolsheviks, in Soviet times the inhabitants of St. Petersburg hid them … at its bottom. And when the temple finally began to be restored, one citizen of St. Petersburg, "an accidental passer-by," told the restoration team about where the crosses could be and indicated the place. The divers did find the hidden shrines, and they returned to their domes.
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Morgue and set storage
The Soviet government, as you know, did not spare the monuments of church architecture and mosaics. The Savior on Spilled Blood was not demolished, although the decision to dismantle it was made: it was included in the lists as an object "not of any artistic and architectural value." They say that holes have already been drilled in the walls, explosive charges have been prepared. But the war broke out, and the bombers were sent to the front.
During the war and the Leningrad blockade, the temple was located - not much, not a little - the district Dzerzhinsky morgue, and the temple seemed to justify its name for the second time - "On the Blood".
A little later, the building was rented by the Small Opera House in order to arrange a storage for its scenery there.
Consecrated paving stone
The Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood, or the Resurrection of Christ on Spilled Blood, was built, as you know, in memory of the tragic death of the Russian Emperor Alexander II. At this point, on March 1, 1881, a bomb from the Narodniy terrorist Ignatius Grinevitsky threw a bomb at Emperor Alexander II. Evidence of these events is still stored in the cathedral: inside there are stones of the cobblestone pavement on which the mortally wounded Alexander II fell, sidewalk slabs nearby and part of the grate of the Catherine Canal
Not only evangelical symbolism
Surprisingly, even the proportions of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ are symbolic: the height of its central structure is 81 meters, and this number was chosen to remind about the year of the death of Tsar Alexander II - 1881. The second highest dome is 63 meters, a symbol of the age of the slain emperor. The symbolism of numbers is generally characteristic of Orthodoxy, and it can also be found in the number of domes chosen by the architects and in other details.
Twenty red granite plaques are installed in the basement of the temple. They show the deeds of Emperor Alexander II: the main events from February 19, 1855 to March 1, 1881. Also on the temple you can find a two-headed eagle, and on the bell tower - the coats of arms of Russian cities, provinces and counties. The cross of the bell tower of the Savior on Spilled Blood is crowned with a gilded royal crown.
Masterpieces
The collection of mosaics of the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg is one of the largest in Europe. Mosaics cover more than 7 thousand square meters of the building of the temple, and the production of these masterpieces delayed the completion of work on the temple and its consecration by ten years! Among the manufacturers of sketches for mosaics are the most famous Russian masters - Vasnetsov, Nesterov, Belyaev, Kharlamov, Zhuravlev, Ryabushkin. There is even an iconostasis in the Savior on Spilled Blood.
The temple was originally built as an electrified one and was illuminated by 1689 electric lamps. Mosaics in this kind of lighting had to look special. In addition to this technical innovation - electricity, there were others in the temple, for example, a lightning protection system was skillfully installed in its multi-colored domes.
Mysterious Icon
Whether this is true or not, no one knows, but in connection with the Savior on Spilled Blood, they constantly talk about a mysterious icon located in this cathedral, on which the turning dates for the history of Russia are allegedly encrypted: 1917 is the year of the October Revolution, 1941 is the year the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 1953 - the year of Joseph Stalin's death. In addition to these dates, some other dates appear on the amazing icon, so far indistinct and, possibly, related to the future. Whether this icon really exists or is an invention of mystical citizens, we do not know, but the guides of the temple love to tell this story to its visitors.