Saint Isaac's Cathedral

(Image source: www.visit-petersburg.ru)

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is the largest Russian Orthodoxcathedral (sobor) in the city. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I. The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.