St. Isaac's Cathedral

Designed by Auguste Montferrand and erected between 1818 and 1858 , St.Isaac’s is one of the most monumental structures in the world for its size,exterior and interior decoration. Many-columned porticos surround the building on all four sites. The monolithic granite columns are 17 meters high. The sculptural décor of the edifice consists of about four hundred pieces executed by Ivan Vitali, Piotr Klodt and Alexander Loganovsky. The interior décor of the cathedral is made of gold, marble and malachite. There is great collection of mosaic compositions inside the Cathedral executed by Karl Briullov, Fiodor Bruni, Piotr Basin, Vasily Shebuyev and others.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the central part of the city. Its gilded dome is visible from many points of the city.
In 1931 the Cathedral was converted into a museum. Numerous schemes, documents, models and mock-ups speak of the work performed by the talented and ingenious architects, engineers, stonemasons and founders who erected this magnificent edifice.
The building was damaged during the Great Patriotic War. Its reconstruction required long time and much efforts of the restorers.
Now you can see St. Isaac’ Cathedral in all its power and grandeur.