Description of the attraction
On Nevsky Prospekt, almost opposite the Kazan Cathedral, there is the oldest Catholic church in St. Petersburg - the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria. Even Peter I planned to build churches belonging to different confessions on Nevsky Prospekt in order to attract representatives of different faiths to the new city. The architect Trezzini completed the project of the first Catholic church in St. Petersburg, but it was not implemented. During the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, land for building was allocated to the Catholic community. The temple was built in 1763-1783 by architects Antonio Rinaldi and Jean-Baptiste Valen-Delamot in the style of early classicism.
The church is one of the largest churches in St. Petersburg. The main facade of the temple is a solemn arch resting on free-standing columns. It is crowned with a grandiose attic, the upper parapet of which is decorated with figures of angels and evangelists. The temple is connected by arches to the church houses (according to the technique conceived by Trezzini), in the lower floors of which arcades were arranged. Initially, the houses were three-storey, then completed with two more floors. The houses were built in the early 1850s under the direction of Antonio Rinaldi. The houses are connected with the church by stone fences, in which the arches of the gates are made.
The temple was consecrated on October 7, 1783 in honor of St. Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of Catherine II.
The interior of the temple was executed with exceptional sophistication, it was decorated with monumental painting, colored stained-glass windows, and numerous sculptures. A large image of St. Catherine, executed by the artist Mettenleiter and donated by Empress Catherine II, was placed above the main altar of the church. In the late 20s of the nineteenth century, the walls and columns supporting the high vault of the temple were decorated with artificial marble. At the same time, a luxurious marble throne made in Italy was installed in the temple. There is also a crucifix above the altar, made according to a sketch by I. P. Vitali. The pride of the temple was a beautiful organ, made by German craftsmen on a special order. The church's library was also the property of the church, which consisted of more than 60 thousand books published in thirty languages. Various schools and gymnasiums were organized at the temple.
Many celebrities visited the church - Adam Mickiewicz, Théophile Gaultier, Franz Liszt, Honore de Balzac, Alexander Dumas and others. Polish kings Stanislav August Poniatowski and Stanislav Leszczynski, French general Jean-Victor Moreau, who spoke on the side of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, were buried here. Here Dantes got married here with E. N. Goncharova. There was a funeral service for the builder of the most famous church in St. Petersburg, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the French architect Montferrand.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the same happened to the Church of St. Catherine as to many other churches in St. Petersburg and Russia. In September 1938 the church was closed. It was turned into a warehouse, and the directorate of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism was located here. The library disappeared, the magnificent interior was gone, the organ was damaged. In the second half of the twentieth century, it was decided to transfer the church of the State Philharmonic to them. D. D. Shostakovich, to open an organ hall in it. Restoration work began, but in 1984 a fire destroyed everything that had been done and what was still left of the previous decoration of the temple.
In the early 90s, the church was transferred to St. Petersburg Catholics, and in 1992 services were resumed here. Today the community of the church of St. Catherine is about six hundred people, most of them are Russians. But among the parishioners there are also those who speak English, Polish, French, Spanish or Korean, therefore, daily services are held here in different languages and in Russian, as well.
