10 largest churches in Russia

The largest cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Moscow and can accommodate up to 10,000 people. This is an exact copy of the cathedral, built back in 1882 in honor of the victory of the Russian Empire over Napoleonic France. The original church was blown up by the Bolsheviks and was replaced by a public swimming pool for a long time before the cathedral was rebuilt after the collapse of the USSR.

The third tallest Orthodox cathedral in the world at 103 meters is directly linked to the history of the Second World War: some of its elements, including steps, were forged from molten German weapons; some of Hitler's personal belongings are preserved inside, including his military headgear. The black-and-green metal and bronze cathedral opened its doors in 2020 near Moscow, quickly becoming the most talked about place of worship in the country.

One of the most famous symbols of St. Petersburg is the family church of the royal Romanov dynasty, built in the image of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. In Soviet times, the cathedral, ironically, housed the Museum of Religion and Atheism, and today it is one of the largest functioning cathedrals in the country.

Construction lasted 40 years, until 1858, 100 kg of pure gold was used to finish the main dome. However, residents of the northern capital considered the cathedral to be terribly hefty, believing that it outshines the surrounding buildings. It took time for people to get used to its huge size, although today it is impossible to imagine the cityscape of St. Petersburg without St. Isaac's Cathedral.

The cathedral broke all construction records, taking 87 years to complete, with construction frequently halted due to lack of funds and changing architects, among other delays. Initially conceived as a monastery, it turned into a privileged educational institution - the Institute of Noble Maidens. Today it serves as a church and has an interesting optical illusion: the closer you get to it, the smaller it seems.

The cathedral was partially built at the personal expense of Tsar Nicholas I. The blue domes were decorated with golden stars on his orders. But in the Soviet Union, the building was closed and remained unscathed only due to a fortunate combination of circumstances - it was planned to be demolished, the site was assigned to the city crematorium, and then the cathedral was transferred to the Soviet Ministry of Telecommunications, which simply used it as a warehouse.

It is called the "Pearl of the Far East". From the ground to the top, it reaches 95.5 meters, which is close to the level of a skyscraper. The cathedral was built in 2004 with donations from the residents of Khabarovsk.

The appearance of the cathedral in Voronezh is associated with the founding of the city in 1586, when it was still made of wood. Since then, it has been rebuilt many times, changed places and completed again, until one day it became the tallest building in the city. Its crosses are visible from almost anywhere in the city.

The cathedral at the intersection of the Volga and the Oka did not survive the atheistic 1930s, in the end it was closed, and all its wooden treasures were used for firewood. His basement has been turned into a storage room. During the war, an anti-aircraft battery was placed on its roof. In 1992, the building was restored to its former glory.

The church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was mortally wounded in 1881. Inside there are mosaics with a total area of seven square kilometers.