Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - a Mosaic Masterpiece
The height of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is 81 meters, that is quite symbolic: it was erected on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881. His successor, Alexander III, together with the Synod decided to build a church on this site. Construction work began in 1883, and in 1907 the church was consecrated. It is nine-domed, asymmetric, with a double-deck bell tower and a central dome covered with colored enamel. The niches of the cathedral contain granite plaques indicating the major reforms of Alexander II, and mosaic coats of arms of Russian cities are installed on three sides of the bell tower.
Despite the fact that the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood reminds us of the tragedy, its interior finishing is bright enough. The walls, pylons, arches and domes inside the temple are covered with mosaics, and this mosaic collection is one of the largest in Europe. The walls, floor and the iconostasis are lined with ornamental and semiprecious stones, and the icons are painted as per sketches of Nesterov and Vasnetsov. The place where the Emperor was mortally wounded is railed and topped with a ciborium with gray-purple jasper columns and a topaz cross. Under the ciborium there are sad relics of the Cathedral: fragments of the bridge, where the Emperor fell on and part of the Catherine Canal fence.
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