St. Issacs Cathedral and Nevsky Prospect

The first wooden church of St. Issac was built in 1710 by Peter, but this is its fourth incarnation, designed by Montferrand in 1818; it took 40 years to build and cost ten times what the Winter Palace's construction had. It can hold 14,000 worshipers and was inaugurated on May 29, 1858 as the main cathedral of St. Petersburg. Like so many Russian churches and cathedrals, it is now a museum, although sometimes services are held during special religious holidays.


Nikolai Gogol said "There is nothing finer than the Nevsky Prospekt...In what does it not shine, this street that is the beauty of the capital." I cannot disagree.