View from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour: what Moscow looked like in 1867

In September 1839, the solemn laying of the new Cathedral of Christ the Saviour took place. The construction lasted almost 44 years.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church not far from the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva River, on the site previously called Chertol. The original church was erected in gratitude to God for saving Russia from the Napoleonic invasion: "...to preserve the eternal memory of that unparalleled zeal, loyalty and love for the Faith and the Fatherland, which in these difficult times the Russian people exalted themselves, and to commemorate Our gratitude to the Providence of God, who saved Russia from the destruction that threatened it." On the walls of the church were inscribed the names of the officers of the Russian Army who fell in the war of 1812 and other military campaigns close in time.