St. Isaac’s Cathedral is very beautiful and is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg. It’s cupola is the 4th biggest in Europe after Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, St.Paul’s Cathedral in London and Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Italy. One day a fortune teller told the arсhitect Auguste de Montferrand that he would die as soon as the masterpiece of his life is finished. That’s why he was postponing the construction as much as he could and it took 40 years to build it from 1818 to 1858. That’s true. He died as soon as the construction of St.Isaac’s Cathedral was over. The Orthodox Church did not let his widow to bury Auguste in the church and she took him away back to France.
The Cathedral has been richly decorated. Malachite columns. By the way, if you see an object made, as you think, of malachite it is always mosaic. Pieces of malachite 3-5 centimeters each with thickness equal to 1-2 mm. The most expensive material of the cathedral is lapis-lazuli. If you pay attention to this stone it has golden veins. More veins there are more expensive the stone will be.
St.Isaac’s Cathedral is also famous for the fact that here under its floor Leningrad museum collections which had not been taken for evacuation during World War II were kept through the siege of 1941-1944.That’s why they say Adolf Hitler refused to bomb this area because he was so sure he would be able to conquer Leningrad city quickly. All of those precious collections were looked after by museum employees majority of whom died already during the first siege winter in 1941. St. Isaac’s Cathedral is one the must see curiosities. Highly recommended.
