Sightseeing

SMOLNY CATHEDRAL One of the finest architectural ensembles of St.Petersburg, the Smolny Ensemble built in the middle of 18th century features not only four blocks of the nunnery, but also a graceful cathedral designed in the style of Russian Baroque, and the history of its foundation dates back to the times of Elizabeth’s reign. In 1747 the exceptionally pious Empress, who made a thunderbolt decision to take the veil and expiate her many sins, ordered Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (the architect is also renowned for designing the Winter Palace) a convent in the city outskirts on the abandoned site, where tar and pitch for shipyards used to be stored – hence the name of the Smolny convent, and the cathedral correspondingly, from the Russian “smola” - tar. The construction according to Rastrelli’s project – the building of the convent, having a cruciform outlay with a small chapel in each side corner, with the festive-looking cathedral in the middle of the ensemble – began in autumn 1748, when the foundation stone was laid. But architect’s intention to create a graceful five-tired belfry above the convent entrance twice as high as Moscow’s Bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Kremlin, and a third higher than the Peter-and-Paul Fortress spire, was never fulfilled – a war with Prussia broke out and made this plan unaffordable. Rastrelli did not see the construction works of the 93,7 meters high magnificent white and blue Smolny Cathedral, falling in two pronounced parts: a five copulas (as the Russian custom demanded) on high sculptured drums, and the edifice proper as their base with columns, pilasters and reliefs, completed since in 1757 the construction was suspended due to the war difficulties. In the 1830s construction was continued under the supervision of Vasily Stasov whose main priority was the interior decoration of the Cathedral in style of Classicism. Consecrated as the Resurrection Cathedral and having the status of the Cathedral of All Educational Institutions (after Empress Elizabeth death, who gave up her intention to take the veil, the new Russian Empress Catherine II transformed the convent into Smolny Institute - the first Russian School for daughters of nobility and high aristocracy –hence the title). Used as a church until the 1920-s, the Cathedral remained closed during the Soviet period, and after the thorough restoration held in 1990s it was transformed into the Concert and Exhibition Hall, where concerts of church music take place regularly.

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