Muse back!
July 22, 2008 / Tuesday
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
This morning, I walked from the apartment to the Church of Our Savior On Spilled Blood. It's not BIG like the other churches I've been to, but I was drawn to it by its Tetris-like exterior. I took some pictures outside, bought a ticket (in Russian!), and went in.
The interior did not dazzle me as much as those of St. Isaac's and Kazan, but it is notable in that it's one of the largest church mosaics in the world. Pretty much every surface that wasn't a window was part of the mosaic. I took a few pictures as I dodged a photo sticker checking babushka.
A couple historical facts about this church: It was built on top of the site where Alexander II was assassinated (I told you, assassinations abound!) as a memorial to him. It was heavily damaged in World War II (there was even an unexploded shell lodged in its main dome), and was under scaffolding for over three decades before being reopened in 1997. It's pretty amazing, how much restoration has been done in this city since that war.
Afterward, I did a little souvenir shopping. At one of the shops, I tried to communicate with the shopkeeper, but my Russian was too poor and their English was too. Finally, they said, "Parlez-vous Français?" "Un peu," I replied. A little, yes, but enough to conduct the transaction. I honestly did not think that I would be speaking any French on this trip. German, yes, at Frankfurt airport, but French in Russia? Too funny.
Took the subway to office, where I am now. It helped a LOT to be able to read Cyrillic. I really don't think I'd be sitting here right now if I couldn't. Words are coming more naturally to me now; I can sound things out a lot faster than I could just a couple days ago.
To follow up on yesterday's longest escalator ride of my life, I timed the ride from the tunnel back to the surface at чёрная Речка (Chyornaya Rechka) station: 2 minutes, 53 seconds. Schwew!
July 22, 2008 02:05 AM | St. Petersburg
Comments
Wow, 3 minutes! That is long. Love the church name. Can't wait to see the mosaic photos.
Posted by: Jennie at July 22, 2008 10:29 AM
Wait, it's an escalator? I was thinking elevator. WOW
Posted by: Jennie at July 22, 2008 10:35 AM
I wow because it's a darned long escalator, but could you imagine how deep it would be if it were an elevator? That'd be wow-worthy too!
Posted by: Viv at July 22, 2008 10:37 AM
My love of escalators is going to have to take me to Russia some day
Posted by: Scully at July 25, 2008 02:48 PM
I hope you also have a love of crowds, too. :)
Posted by: Viv at July 25, 2008 09:59 PM