Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood in Russia

Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood in Russia
Griboyedov Canal Embankment, St Petersburg, Russia

NOTE: Translations of the church’s name vary between guidebooks and include The Church of the Savior on Blood, The Resurrection Church and The Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (known locally as Spas na Kravi) is a beautiful gold-draped onion-domed church on Griboedova Canal, one of the many waterways in the old Russian capital. You will have no problem spotting it from the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Kazan Cathedral. It was built on the place where the Russian emperor Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1881. Alexander II was called the Liberator because he set peasants free thus abolishing serfdom. After the Revolution of 1917 the church was closed, and the new government even wanted to demolish it. During WWII the Saviour on Spilled Blood was used as a morgue, then - as a warehouse. BTW, in 1961 they found a high-explosive bomb in the central cupola of the church. Obviously, it was a Nazi bomb that hit the church during the WWII but for some reason did not blow up. It had been sitting inside the church for 18 years waiting for the moment to be discovered! And it was discovered and extracted and destroyed.

This Russian old style church is seen from all over the city.  It has some of the loveliest mosaic interiors which have been restored by 10 mosaic artists over a 14 year period.  The inside is as gorgeous as the outside!  There are over 7,000 Square METERS of beautiful mosaics.

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