St. Isaac's Cathedral is a remarkable monument of Russian architecture. Alongside with the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Admiralty it became an important architectural landmark in the cityscape. The golden dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral can be seen from any part of the city, and in the clear weather - even from the suburbs.
According to the Orthodox calendar, Peter the Great was born on the day of Saint Isaac Dalmatian, the Byzantine monk, who was canonized after death. In 1710, Peter the Great ordered to build in Petersburg a church in honor of his saint patron. The church was put up near the Admiralty. In St. Isaac's Church on the 19th of February, 1712 Peter the Great and Ekaterina Alexeevna, the future Empress Ekaterina I, were married. In 1723, Tsar Peter I signed the special order, according which the sailors of the Baltic fleet had to swear allegiance only in St. Isaac's Church.
Russian Emperors in different times made attempts to reconstruct the church and put up a cathedral, which would harmonize with the architectural ensembles of the center of Saint Petersburg, but because of many reasons none of the constructions was completed and approved. For example, the temple of St. Isaac, founded in 1768 by architect Rinaldi, was unstable. During one of the sermons a part of the plaster fell from the ceiling. After the detailed inspection of the temple it became clear that the building is in very poor condition and needs thorough repairs.
In 1809, Alexander I arrange the contest for the best project for the new cathedral. The most well-known architects took part in the contest, but Alexander I approved the project submitted by young French architect and talented drawer August Montferrand, who had just arrived from Paris.
It took forty years to build the cathedral. Three years after the construction had started it came to a halt because of a number of mistakes made in the project and during the building process. A special commission of notable Russian architects was formed. Lots of complicated engineering problems were to be solved for the first time in history. A large group of engineers, architects and constructors helped Montferrand to solve a number of problems, as alone he couldn't obtain all the obstacles, which inevitably appeared during constructing of such a grand cathedral. In 1825, the construction works were resumed according to the corrected project.
St. Isaac's Cathedral is the forth largest domed cathedral in the world, after the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, the Cathedral of St. Paul in London and the Cathedral of St. Maria in Florence. St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is 101.5 meters high and has the area of 4 thousand square meters, can hold up to 12 thousand people. On the porticos of the cathedral and around the dome barrel there are 72 granite monolith columns, weighting from 64 to 114 tons. It was for the first time in the history of architecture that the columns of such weight and size were delivered up to the height of more than 40 meters.
It took sixteen years to decorate the interior of the cathedral. A lot of valuable materials were used, such as lapis lazuli, malachite, porphyry, all kinds of marbles. Inside and outside the walls and vaults of the cathedral bear paintings, mosaic works and sculptures made by well-known Russian artists and sculptors, such as Briullov, Klodt, Pimenov and others. The stained glass window, with the total area of 28,5 square meters, is one of the largest in Russia and deserves special attention. The sculptures that decorate St. Isaac's cathedral were made by the method of electrotype. It was for the first time that the method was used for making monumental sculptures.
The process of St. Isaac's Cathedral decoration was long and difficult. The domes' gilding was especially tough. Altogether 100 kg of gold were used for the domes. 60 masters died from gilding the domes, poisoned by the vapors of mercury, the essential element of the gilding process.
The cathedral, which stands out for its grandeur, was sanctified in 1858 and became the main church in Saint Petersburg, where the members of the royal family were baptized.
According to the legend, the architect of St. Isaac's Cathedral, August Montferrand, was foretold that he would be alive until the cathedral was finished. It might be just a coincidence, but the month after the cathedral had been finished, August Montferrand died.
During the World War II era the gilded dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral was an easy target for bombing, so the dome was painted gray and the cathedral didn't suffer greatly from bombing. Still, today we can see the marks of splinters on the columns of the cathedral.
Nowadays St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the most popular museums and monuments in Saint Petersburg. The visitors are suggested to climb the lower colonnade of the cathedral and enjoy the view of the center of Saint Petersburg from 43 meters height. In 1988, when Russia was celebrating millennium of Christianity, the cathedral for the first time after the long interval was used for prayer.