Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral (Saint Petersburg)

Alexander Nevsky Lavra (Monastery) Baltic Sea · Russia · Saint Petersburg

The history has seen two ways in which monasteries emerge: the first way is when monastic abodes develop by themselves, in desolate locations, based on "monastic feats" of saintly hermits; the other way is when monasteries are created by devote Christians, largely near cities or towns, as church fortresses to protect and extend the Christian faith ...

Smolny Cathedral Baltic Sea · Russia · Saint Petersburg

On 30 October 1748, Empress Elizabeth I ordered to found the Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Construction lasted for about a century. Architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli started to build it in 1748 and went on till 1763. His work was continued by architect Vasily Stasov from 1832 to 1835. Compositionally, it was a cross-type complex. Fo...

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on Mount Lyshchikova Russia · Moscow

The Church of the Intercession stands at the foot of a hill where Lyshchikov Monastery of the Intercession and its sloboda (settlement) were situated in ancient times. Mount Lyshchikova is a place of one of the most ancient Moscow settlements on the left high bank of the Yauza River. It is supposed to be known since the 12th century. In the 15th an...