5. Петропавловский Собор: история и современность/The Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral: the past and the present, 1712-1733

Authors: architects - D.Trezzini (1712 - 1733), I.Zarudny (1722 - 1729), D.Zhuravskiy (1857- 1858) Address: Zayachiy ostrov On 29 June 1703 a small wooden church dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul was built in the centre of the Fortress, and on 1 April 1704 it was consecrated. On 30 May 1712 when the capital was moved from Moscow to Saint-Petersburg D.Trezzini started the construction of a big stone church around an old wooden one. On 30 May 1714 the ceremony of consecration was held. The construction was started from the belfry - that was the order of the Tsar and could be easily explained - the belfry was a good place to watch the enemy attack from Sweden. During voyages to Europe Peter saw a lot of chimes that decorated cathedrals and wished to have something like that in Saint-P. Three chimes were bought in Amsterdam, and one was brought to a new capital to be placed at a half finished belfry in 1720.The spire was created in 1717 - 1720 to the design by architect Van Boles. D. Trezzini suggested to decorate it with the figure of an angel holding a weather-vane in his hands. The Cathedral building was quite unusual for that time - the walls were thinner, windows were larger, there were high narrow pylons and there was only one dome instead of traditional five. The building became an exemplary for other church buildings in Russia up to the mid. of 18^lh cent., when 5 dome-form was reanimated. On 29 June 1733 the Cathedral was solemnly consecrated in the presence of Empress Anna Ioannovna.The interior decoration was quite extravagant as well: before only biblical plots had been allowed inside the church - in the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral interior painting decor one could see the secular motifs as well. The wall painting was accomplished by Russian artists Vorobyov and Negrubov, the plafonds were executed by P. Zybin. On the walls there are large paintings on Gospel subjects executed in 1729 - 1732 by A. Matveyev. V. Ignatyev and G. Gsell, seven of them have survived up to nowadays. The chief adornment of the Cathedral interior is a carved gilded iconostasis (created in Moscow) and the canopy above the altar — the gift from Peter I and his wife Catherine I. The frames of the iconostasis contain 43 icons created in 1727 - 1 729 by a Moscow icon-painter A. Merkuryev: among the images one can see Russian nobles canonized by the Orthodox Church, the Apostles Peter and Paul, and a group of saints in honour of which the Royal Family members were called.

The Cathedral was seriously damaged in 1756 when the lightning stroke at the spire on 29 April. The belfry was completely ruined and was being reconstructed for 20 years. In the reign of Peter III money for the Cathedral reconstruction was not given; in the reign of Catherine II a special architectural competition on the best project was organized. Finally the Empress ordered to reconstruct the Cathedral according to Trezzini’s design. The Dutch craftsman B.Krass produced new chimes and brought them to Saint-Petersburg in 1761, though they were installed only in 1776 under the supervision of a Viennese clockmaker J. Ridiger,A new spire was largened from 112 to 117. Unfortunately the second golden angel was damaged after the hurricane of 1778, and the project of the third angel was worked out by A. Rinaldi. He somehow changed the position of the angel - he was not flying anymore but was sitting at the cross and didn't serve as the weather-vane. In the mid. of 19^lh cent, the spire was reconstructed one more time. At that time its height raised up to 122.5 m. In 1858 the chimes were also redesigned - the minute hand was installed and the clock began to ring out the church anthem How Glorious and the State anthem God Save the Tsar. They fell silent in 1917 and rang out again only in 1952 performing the melody of the Soviet anthem. In 2002 the restored chimes began to ring out God Save the Tsar twice a day and How Glorious each two hours. A year later the carillon of the Cathedral was restored, the bells being made in Holland. The Cathedral became the burial place of the members of the Royal Family in the reign of Peter I (nowadays there are 32 tombstones). After Peter's death (on 28 January 1725) his coffin was placed in a temporary wooden chapel created by D. Trezzini within the unfinished Cathedral on 10 March. The coffin stood beneath the canopy of a black cloth surrounded by candies, coats-of-arms and banners for 6 years before being committed to the ground on 29 May 1731. In 1865 - 1867 all the tombs were replaced with new white Carrara marble ones designed by A. Poiraux and A. Gun. On the lid of each sarcophagus there is a large gilded bronze cross; at the head end on the side wall there is a bronze plaque with the name of the deceased, his or her title, date and place of birth and death, the date of accession. The tombstones of the rulers also have bronze coats-of-arms of the Russian Empire on each of the four comers. In 1887 by order of Alexander 111 richer and more attractive tombs were placed over the graves of his parents - Alexander II and Mariya Ale.xandrovna. In February 1906 new sarcophagi produced from green Altay jasper and pink Urals stone were installed there. The remains of Emperor Nicholas II and the members of his family shot in 1918 were buried in the St Catherine Side-Chapel of the Cathedral in 1998.

In 1873 the eastern facade of the Cathedral was decorated with the fresco designed by G. Boldini and depicting Christ and the Apostles Peter and Paul. In 1896- 1908 the Grand Ducal Buria/ Chapel designed by D. Grimm, A. Tomishko and L. Benois was built to give more space for new burials. Outside the east end of the Cathedral there is the Commandants' Cemetery dating back to 1720. After the Revolution the Cathedral interior was severely damaged; in 1930s the bol'sheviks discussed the idea to replace the figure of the angel with a ruby star.