Description of the attraction
Sampson's Cathedral is a special monument of our history and architecture of the early 18th century, erected at the behest of Peter I to commemorate the victory of Russian weapons in the Russian-Swedish war and in the battle of Poltava. The battle took place on June 27, 1709, on the day of St. Sampson. Therefore, the future temple was dedicated to Saint Sampson the Stranger. The Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg.
The temple was ordered to be erected near the road leading to Vyborg, along which Russian troops were sent to the war with Sweden. In 1710, the built wooden church was consecrated. Soon, a cemetery was organized near it, where the remains of famous masters were laid to rest, whose works became the sights of St. Petersburg - architects Trezzini, Mattarnovi, Leblon, sculptor Rastrelli, painters Torelli, Karavak. Later, a hospice was opened next to the church for orphans, wanderers and beggars.
Wood is a fragile building material. The dilapidation of the church and the increase in the number of parishioners became the reason for the construction of a new, this time stone cathedral.
Until now, the name of the architect of this temple has not been documented. According to some versions, the authorship of the project is attributed to Domenico Trezzini. This one-story building is a mixture of elements of pre-Petrine and European architecture. The bell tower of the temple, for example, is an octahedral tent with small windows and a bulbous head, which resembles many churches in Moscow and Yaroslavl from the times prior to construction. The temple itself was decorated with a dome on a high faceted drum, to which four small domes were later added, which turned the church into a five-domed church, traditional for Russian architecture.
The "pearl" of the cathedral is its carved wooden eleven-meter iconostasis, which easily competes with the creation of Ivan Zarudny in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The picturesque decoration of the cathedral, numbering more than 100 works, is one of the most significant in Russian cult painting of the 20-30s of the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century, part of the relics of St. Sampson was transferred to the temple.
In Soviet times, in 1938, services in the church were discontinued, the premises were used as a vegetable warehouse. At the end of the 20th century, the restoration of the cathedral was carried out. Here is now a branch of the State Museum "St. Isaac's Cathedral". Divine services are held on weekends.
