State Museum-monument "St. Isaac's Cathedral"

Created by architect Auguste Montferrand, St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is an outstanding monument of Russian architecture of the XIX century and one of the greatest dome structures in the world, a symbol of imperial power embodied in stone.

The construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral lasted four decades and became a school of new technologies, many of which were used for the first time, including a rail track, a light metal dome and the widespread use of electroplastic in decorative decoration.

The facades of the cathedral are decorated with porticoes with monolithic granite columns, which were cut down in the Pyuterlax quarry and delivered by water on barges to the construction site. The installation of these columns, which caused the admiration of contemporaries, occupies a special place in the history of construction equipment. With the help of original scaffolding and gates, the column was installed in less than an hour. A model of lifting forests, made in 1826, is presented in the museum.

More than 350 works created by Russian sculptors in St. Isaac’s Cathedral are a unique ensemble of monumental and decorative plastics of the XIX century.

The cathedral is decorated with sculptures of angels on the outer attica, angels with a lamp, evangelists and apostles on the pediments of the porticoes. On the balustrade of the main dome there are 24 sculptures of angels and archangels (sculptor I. Herman), on the pediments of the porticos there are high reliefs “The Resurrection of Christ” and “The Meeting of Isaac of Dalmatia with Emperor Valens” by F. Lemer and “The Adoration of the Magi” and “Isaacius Blesses the Emperor Theodosius” by I. Vitali.

In the niches of the walls of the southern and northern porticoes are the works of P. Klodt and A. Loganovsky “Carrying the Cross”, “Lamentation”, “Beating of Infants” and “The Appearance of an Angel to the Shepherds”.

The large exterior doors of the temple were designed by I. Vitali; the western doors with the compositions “The Sermon on the Mount”, “The Resurrection of Lazarus” and “Healing the Relaxed” are especially interesting.

The sculpture on the vaults, the drum of the dome and iconostasis is made of copper by the method of galvanoplasty, first used on such a scale in the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral has preserved the richest collection of Russian monumental religious and historical painting of 1840-1850.

103 wall paintings and 52 paintings on canvas were created by the largest representatives of the Russian academic school of that time, including V.K. Shebuev, F.A. Bruni, K.P. Bryullov, A.T. Markov, N.M. Alekseev, P.V. Basin, F.P. Bryullov, T.A. Neff, K.A. Moldavsky and others.

Grandiozen in its size (816 square meters) plafond of the main dome of the brush of the great Karl Bryullov “Our Lady in Glory”.

The artistic decoration of St. Isaac’s Cathedral was the reason for the revival of mosaic art in Russia in the XIX century. Here you can see 62 mosaics with a total area of more than 500 square meters. Mosaic work began in 1851 and continued until 1914.

The mosaics of St. Isaac’s Cathedral are distinguished by the perfection of technical execution. In 1862, at the World's Fair in London, they received the highest praise. Experts noted that in Russia, the manufacture of smalt "bred to such perfection as nowhere else in Europe."

The museum conducts excursions in Russian and foreign languages, conducts educational work with schoolchildren, conducts art master classes for children.

Special programs have been developed and an infrastructure equipped with the latest technology has been created for visitors with disabilities, including for visiting the observation deck with a guided tour at an altitude of 37 meters by visitors in a wheelchair.

Today, under the vaults of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, concerts of classical and sacred music are held performed by the Concert Choir of St. Petersburg.