Church of the Savior on Blood
A Russian-revival church on a city canal, covered inside and out with mosaics.
About
While most of St. Petersburg is classical and restrained, this church is a burst of colour in the older Moscow style: multi-coloured domes, tiled gables and patterned brickwork rising above Griboyedov Canal.
The main surprise is inside, where nearly every wall and pillar is covered in mosaic pictures of saints and biblical scenes. The effect is closer to jewellery than to paint, and the guides will tell you there are thousands of square metres of it.
The church is run as a museum rather than as a regular parish.
History
It was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881 and finished in the early twentieth century. It was closed after the revolution, damaged and used for storage, and was reopened after a long restoration in the late twentieth century. The church was designed by the architect Alfred Parland together with Archimandrite Ignaty, and was paid for by the imperial family and public donations. It was consecrated in 1907. Designs for the mosaics came from leading artists of the day, including Viktor Vasnetsov and Mikhail Nesterov.
UNESCO World Heritage: Inscribed 1990.