Because it was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881,
this church is popularly known as the Church on Spilled Blood.
(It's also called the Church of the Resurrection, Church of the Savior on the Blood,
Resurrection of Christ, Assumption, and Church of the Redeemer. But somehow
everyone always understands what you're talking about.)



The flamboyant exterior is supposed to represent the nation's grief at losing their Tsar.



Situated just off of Nevsky Prospekt, it takes your breath away
when you first spy it from the bridge over the Griboyedova canal.



The interior of the church is decorated with different marbles and several zillion mosaic tiles.



After the October Revolution the church was closed, briefly used for a propaganda
exhibition, and then for potato storage before being allowed to fall
into decay. The Communists saw it as an "inappropriate" symbol of
Christianity in a largely atheistic society.



Restoration took over 25 years.



These pictures don't do it justice.


Around St. Petersburg / Around St. Petersburg (II) / Around Moscow / Church on Spilled Blood / Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg /
The Kremlin and Red Square / Moscow Churches / Night Train to Moscow / On the Neva / Palace Square / Peterhof / Peter and Paul Fortress /