KAZAN CATHEDRAL, Kazan Cathedral

Hi, my name’s Jill, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the sumptuous Kazan Cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral is dedicated to one of the most revered icons in Russia, studded with diamonds and rubies, entitled "Our Lady of Kazan".

The construction of the cathedral, which began in 1801 and lasted for ten years, was commissioned by Tsar Paul I to replace the Church of the Nativity of Mary.

In accordance with the wishes of the Emperor, the architect Andrei Voronikhin took his inspiration for the building from St Peter's Basilica in Rome, despite the Russian Orthodox Church's opposition to the idea of a replica of a Catholic basilica in the capital.

Like St. Peter's, the cathedral features a monumental colonnade of 96 columns, but only on the side that opens onto Nevsky Prospekt; there was no money at the time to build the second side, and subsequently there was no space for it....