Our Savior on Spilled Blood

For a full appreciation of this building, a little historical Russian assassination refresher lesson may be in order. Construction of Our Savior on Spilled Blood was begun by Tsar Alexander III in memory of his father, Alexander II, who had been assassinated on the spot where the structure now stands. Construction was completed 24 years later under Tsar Nicholas II. Who was himself assassinated, with his entire family - in another church - eleven years later. Ironically, ‘Spilled Blood’ or ‘Savior on Blood’ as it’s more often called, has never actually been used as a church, beyond scheduled memorial services.

The original building has suffered great damage twice since its completion. First, the Russian Revolution in 1917 and its aftermath brought looting and vandalism that destroyed much of the church's beauty. Then, World War II brought further destruction when the church was used as a morgue, and ultimately after the war, a warehouse for food. It wasn't until 1970 when St. Isaac's Cathedral museum assumed management that restoration of this beautiful building commenced. The lengthy reconstruction took 27 years, before the structure could be re-opened as a secular mosaics museum in 1997.

Its architecture emulates the same Russian Orthodox style as Moscow's famed St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, with characteristic asymmetrical staggered layering of the onion-shaped domes. As striking as the exterior is, the interior is even more so. There are over 80,000 square feet of mosaics embellishing the walls of the interior. The cobblestone of the original street survives within the museum, and the exact spot where the deadly deed was committed is marked by a shrine lavishly embellished with semi-precious stones.