Religious buildings have always been impressive in size. Orthodox churches and bell towers are no exception. Some of them soar up to 100 meters or more. The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the bell tower of Ivan the Great can compete with the highest Orthodox churches.
One of the greats
So you can rightfully call St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. After all, it is one of the most significant and beautiful domed structures in the world. The size of this temple is surpassed only by the cathedrals of St. Peter (Rome), St. Paul (London) and St. Mary (Florence). In Russia, only the newly rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow is considered higher than St. Isaac's Cathedral, its height, together with the cross, is 103 meters.
The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg reaches 101.5 meters. It covers an area of 4000 sq. m. The total weight of the temple is also calculated - about 300,000 tons. At the same time, it can accommodate about 12,000human. The cathedral is surrounded by 112 monolithic columns. The height of the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral, or rather, some of them, reaches 17 meters.
This is a five-domed temple, the diameter of the main dome of which is about 25 meters. Four more small domes are installed over four belfries located at the corners of the main volume of the building.
History of Creation
The current St. Isaac's Cathedral is the fourth built on this site.
St. Isaac's Church was the first to be built in 1707, simple, wooden, but with a high spire. The church was erected by order of Peter the Great, and on the day of his birth the laying of the temple took place. And since May 30 is also the day of veneration of St. Isaac of Dolmatsky, the church received his name. By decision of Peter, two years later, restoration improvements were made to the temple. In the same church in 1712, the tsar married Catherine.
However, in 1717, the construction of the stone St. Isaac's Church began. Wooden by this time dilapidated. The new stone church was not particularly beautiful. It was very similar to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Its construction was completed in 1727. However, the close proximity to the Neva (subsidence) and a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1735 eventually brought the building into disrepair. And although they tried to restore it, good results were not achieved. It was decided to dismantle the church and build a new, more significant one, that is, not a church, but a cathedral. But at that time it was still impossible to guess whatthe height of St. Isaac's Cathedral will be final.
Third Cathedral under Catherine II
The construction of a new cathedral began by order of Catherine II in 1768. A. Rinaldi became the architect of the project. According to the architect's plan, the cathedral was supposed to have five domes and a high bell tower. However, he did not succeed in realizing his plans to the end. When Catherine II died, the construction was completed only to the eaves of the building. Work was suspended at that time, A. Rinaldi left for his homeland.
The new Tsar Pavel soon ordered the construction of the cathedral to continue and commissioned the architect V. Brenna to do it, who significantly distorted the original project, especially with regard to the domes and the spire. The dome was left alone, and even that decreased in size. As a result, the height of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which was consecrated in 1802, was significantly lower than that designed by A. Rinaldi. The temple turned out to be quite plain.
The history of the construction of the modern St. Isaac's Cathedral
The cathedral did not correspond to the status of the capital at all. Therefore, less than seven years have passed since a competition for the construction of a new one was announced. Alexander the First set the condition for the preservation of the three altars that existed earlier. One by one, the king rejected the proposed projects. In the end, the young architect Montferrand, a Frenchman, was commissioned to develop the project. At the beginning of 1818, the project was approved by the king.
A special commission was created to manage the construction, and in 1819 the first stone was laid.
However, soon the well-known architect A. Maudui criticized the project. His main remarks boiled down to the fragility of the foundation and the incorrect design of the main dome. I had to redo the project and refine it, but all the comments were taken into account. Only in 1825 the project was finally approved, and the construction of the cathedral continued. It ended after 40 years.
May 30, 1858, the consecration of the new church took place in the presence of the royal family.
By the way, the height of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the bell tower of Ivan the Great in Moscow at that time was considered the most significant.
Observation deck of the Cathedral
If until 1917 St. Isaac's Cathedral was considered the main cathedral of St. Petersburg, then after it it turned into a museum. During the Great Patriotic War, the temple building was not particularly damaged, although it was hit by shell fragments.
At present, the cathedral is still a museum, but on holidays, with the permission of the directorate, services are held there. The first took place in 1990.
An observation deck has been built on the colonnade of the cathedral, from which a lovely view of the city opens. You can see almost all the main sights of St. Petersburg: the Winter Palace, the Admir alty, Vasilyevsky Island with the Academy of Arts, the building of the Senate and the Synod and others.
The height of the observation deck of St. Isaac's Cathedral is 43 meters. Above is only the bell tower of the Smolny Cathedral, the observation deck of which was built at a height of 50 meters.
It is noteworthy that inSt. Petersburg white nights Isaac's playground is open around the clock.
From Petersburg to Moscow
The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the bell tower of Ivan the Great is of interest to many lovers of history and architectural monuments of Russia. So far, everything has been said about the St. Petersburg Cathedral. It's time to go to Moscow, to its very center.
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is located on Cathedral Square in the Kremlin. Its full name is the church-bell tower of John of the Ladder. She turned 500 in 2008.
The height of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower reaches 81 meters (without the cross).
In the bell tower there are museums, for example, the history of the Moscow Kremlin. There is also an observation deck here.
History of Ivan the Great Bell Tower
Some sources testify that on this place in 1329 the church of the Christian theologian John of the Ladder was erected, specially designed "under the bells". However, it was later destroyed.
In 1505-1508, the architect Bon Fryazin built here a three-tiered pillar of white stone and brick, the height of which was about 60 meters. In the lower tier was the church itself, in the upper - the bells. The building was erected in memory of Ivan the Third.
Later the church was rebuilt several times. So, under Borisov Godunov, the height of the main pillar was increased. As a result, the height of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower was 81 meters. And a little earlier it was attached to itbelfry designed for large bells, with another temple.
During the years of Napoleon's invasion, the bell tower was damaged and partially destroyed. In subsequent years, restoration work was carried out.
The Bells of Modernity
Currently, 21 bells have been preserved on the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Three of them, the largest, are installed on the Filaret Annex and the belfry - Uspensky (more than 65 tons), Reut (Revun, almost 33 tons) and Seven Hundred (13 tons).
Directly on the bell tower there are 18 bells, of course, smaller ones. Six of them are installed on the lower tier. By the way, their names are very peculiar: "Bear", "Swan", "Wide", "Novgorodsky", "Slobodsky" and "Rostovsky". Their weight is also impressive - from 3 to 7 tons.
On the second tier there are 9 bells, the size of which is even smaller. Finally, on the very last, third tier, three more bells were installed.
Initially, all bells hung on wooden beams, much later they were moved to metal.
All bells of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower are active. They call on holidays.
In conclusion, we can add that, of course, the height of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the bell tower of Ivan the Great is impressive. However, their whole appearance leads to even greater admiration, because they are rightfully masterpieces of world architecture.
