The Kazan Cathedral is located in the very center of St. Petersburg, on Nevsky Prospect, near the Gostiny Dvor department store and the Dom Knigi store. It is one of the largest cathedrals in St. Petersburg and one of the city’s most famous landmarks.
Thanks to its unusual appearance (for a Russian church), it’s impossible not to notice the cathedral while walking along Nevsky Prospect.
A grandiose, semicircular colonnade faces Nevsky Prospect. A semicircular cast-iron grille, considered a masterpiece of casting art, stands in front of the western façade.
Be sure to visit the cathedral’s interior. The cathedral’s decoration is equally impressive. The interior resembles a palace hall. Inside, there are 56 columns of pink Finnish granite with gilded decorative elements. Note the cathedral’s floor. It is made using different types of marble, creating a unique pattern on the floor. The lighting is well thought out.
Kazan Cathedral is closely associated with the War of 1812. After the victory over Napoleon, military trophies were brought here: 107 captured French flags and standards of defeated French regiments, and 93 keys to fortresses and cities captured by the Russian army. Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov, who commanded Russian troops during the war with Napoleon, was also buried here.
In 1837, bronze monuments to the Russian commanders M. I. Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly were ceremoniously unveiled in the square in front of the Kazan Cathedral. A significant portion of the trophies are now in museums, but some still hang on the walls of the cathedral.
Architectural Features
The architect Voronikhin designed the Kazan Cathedral. Emperor Paul I desired the new cathedral to be similar to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. At the same time, according to Orthodox tradition, the main entrance to the church should be located in the west, and the altar on the east side of the building.
For this reason, the Kazan Cathedral is located sideways to Nevsky Prospect. The main entrance to the Kazan Cathedral is not on Nevsky Prospect, but on Kazanskaya Street. Architect Voronikhin came up with an original solution. He added a semicircular colonnade (reminiscent of the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square in Rome) to the side wall of the church facing Nevsky Prospect. This is the one we see from the city’s main street. The cathedral itself is hidden behind the columns. The dome of the cathedral rises above the center of the colonnade.
Construction of the cathedral began in mid-1801, and it was completed in September 1811. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary formerly stood on this site, housing one of St. Petersburg’s most important relics—the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Kazan. The new cathedral was built specifically for this icon. The Kazan Cathedral is a functioning church, which should be taken into account when visiting the cathedral.
Dimensions and Other Information
The length of the Kazan Cathedral from west to east is 72.5 meters, and from north to south, it is 57 meters. The total number of columns forming the colonnade and portico is 136.
The colonnade on the Nevsky Prospekt side consists of 94 columns.
The portico on the south side of the cathedral has 20 columns.
The portico on the west side has 12 columns.
Column weight: 28 tons.
The height of the outer column is approximately 14 meters.
The lower column diameter is 1.45 meters, and the upper column diameter is 1.1 meters.
Maximum height: 71.6 meters.
Dome diameter: over 17 meters.
Admission to Kazan Cathedral is free.
The nearest metro stations are Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor.
You can find the cathedral’s location on a map of St. Petersburg.
Not far from the Kazan Cathedral there are: Bank Bridge, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the Russian Museum, and the Mikhailovsky Theatre.