Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. The name refers to the blood of the assassinated Alexander II of Russia, who was mortally wounded on that site on March 13, 1881.

Construction began in 1883 under Alexander III, as a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907.
The Church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal. The embankment at that point runs along either side of a canal. As the tsar's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. Another conspirator took the chance to explode another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died a few hours later.

It was decided that the section of the street where the assassination took place was to be enclosed within the walls of a church. Inside, a shrine was constructed on the exact place of Alexander's death, garnished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones. Amid such rich decoration, the simple cobblestones on which the tsar's blood was spilled and which are exposed in the floor of the shrine provide a striking contrast.

Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics.

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior. The Soviet government closed the church in the early 1930s. During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by hostile Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary storage site for the corpses of those who died both in combat and of starvation and illness. It suffered significant damage. After the war, it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Savior on Potatoes.

The church was reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration.

(extracts of Wikipedia)

Budapestman, guntoro, Ola_Kwiatek, serp2000, besnard, phwall, bukitgolfb301, cd70, BelCan75, worldcitizen, jjcordier, macjake, macondo, jhm, npecanhuk, josepmarin, emjleclercq, vasilpro trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

PixelTerror (86663) 2009-10-25 2:18

Hi Paul
Definitely one of my favorite churches, I'd like to return to Piter just for it, good view from the other canal side with an attractive and well exposed cloudy sky.
Have a nice day jY

Budapestman (42660) 2009-10-25 2:21

Hi Paul,
beautiful photo of this amazing architecture, the composition of the photo is very attractive, the details and colours are beautiful, superb lights. Tfs! Have a nice Sunday!
George

Ola_Kwiatek (2738) 2009-10-25 2:25

Amazing church, wonderful architecture, good point of view and composition. Nice colors. Original take.
Cheers

sandpiper (1635) 2009-10-25 3:42

Hi Paul

Its a fantastic church with amazing architecture. Well captured with beautiful light and good POV. Lot of nice details to look at, good composition.

chris

besnard (31000) 2009-10-25 3:45

Bonjour Paul
Une très belle image dominicale avec cette superbe église que je n'ai pas pu visiter lorsque je suis passée, elle était en réfection. C'est lumineux et bien cadré.
Merci pour le partage et bon dimanche.
Nicole

phwall (5697) 2009-10-25 4:41

Hello Paul,
An amazing and beautiful building, your choice of angle and composition does justice to this impressive scene.
It must be wonderful to see it in person.
Regards
Peter

bukitgolfb301 (4883) 2009-10-25 5:31

Hello my dear Paul

What an another impressive shot! Tight framework and composition and wonderful deep exposure are marvelous as usual!
Sharpness in the detail is outstanding.
Anyway congratulation on your masterpiece!
Thanks for sharing and best regards,
Have a nice Sunday evening !

Takero

wolf38 (13085) 2009-10-25 6:08

Hello Paul. This church is a fantastic sight. Well done and worth seeing. Compliment. Regards, Wolfgang.

cd70 (765) 2009-10-25 6:11

Hi Paul,
quelle archtitecture ! c'est très impressionnant, avec de belles teintes dans les couleurs et une bonne saturation. Le cadrage offre une belle profondeur dans l'image. Bravo !
Cyrille.

Dyerco (9246) 2009-10-25 7:34

Hi Paul
The church stands so proudly against the backdrop of those clouds. It is certainly a well eaposed shot. You chose a good POV in that the wall of the canal becomes a leading line to the church. Nicely done.
Phil

darek1978 (11401) 2009-10-25 8:13

Hi Paul,
This is absolutely amazing! Excellent perspective and POV of this church with the sharpness and the clarity to be fascinating. A masterpiece of composition. Well done! I'm very impressed.
Thanks for sharing,
Darek

yquem46 (8361) 2009-10-25 8:30

Une bien belle église paul, bien cadrée, lumineuse et une image d'excellente qualité
Traitement HDR, je me demande ??
Bon dimanche
Patrick

BelCan75 (2420) 2009-10-25 10:37

Hallo Paul,

Wow, zeer indrukwekkende foto! Je hebt hier een heel mooi standpunt gekozen met zicht op die kerk en nog wat mooie gebouwen in de achtergrond. Knap licht, prachtig kleuren en schitterende details. Excellent werk, Paul!

Groetjes,
Ann

worldcitizen (2289) 2009-10-25 12:56

Hello Paul,
What a magnificent church! It's a shame that it lay in ruins for some many years, but thankfully it was restored to its former splendor. It would have been terrible to lose this beautiful structure. I am impressed by all of the details on the facade and domes. It is like a giant jewel box. Your POV with the canal and lovely sky is great.

gneufeld (15233) 2009-10-25 14:07

Hi Paul,
A spectacular work or architecture - striking details and intricate textures. Very well done and TFS. Gerald

jjcordier (25104) 2009-10-25 14:26

Paul
Magnifique photo de cette très belle église, superbement composée et aux splendides couleurs.
Amicalement
JJ

lamentforicarus (385) 2009-10-25 20:31

Beautiful shot of one of Saint Petersburg's iconic churches, Paul,

The conditions for this shot appear absolutely perfect: the weather looks warm and partly cloudy (which was not really the case during my visit last summer) and a brilliant light is cast over the building's ornate facade. Add to this the great POV, wonderful framing and jaw-dropping clarity and sharpness and you get a great composition and beautiful image overall! Well done!

Brian

AiresSantos (42750) 2009-10-26 1:02

Hi Paul
You show us this wonderful architecture in this excellent picture.
Lovely colours and cloudy sky
Fine contrast and details
have a nice week
Aires

anokutan (7853) 2009-10-26 8:15

Hello Paul,
Amazing church, wonderful architecture, good point of view and composition. It must be wonderful to see it in person.

sacimar (7604) 2009-10-26 8:24

Hi Paul,

impressive building and great picture! I like it very much, the perspective, colours and light management are great, excellent details, well done!

Best regards

Sergio

scalerman (25783) 2009-10-26 12:02

Paul: superb sharpness and dtail - what a nice shot. c

Uhu (7426) 2009-10-26 13:26

Oh yeah, classic's classic. This building was regarded as unfitting the place, totally out of it, out of style of St-Petersburg, and it have raised the public anger since the time of its construction - but now it's one of the main sights indeed. Funny.
Great photo you have made - you was extremely lucky with a sky here!

macondo (13239) 2009-10-27 0:43

Hi Paul.
A most impressive presentation of this fantastic cathedral, one which I remember seeing in the middle of a freezing winter, about 35 years ago, in 'Leningrad'. I like the angle of your shot, creating a perspective effect with the angled wall of the river. The cathedral looks splendid against that huge Summer sky full of fluffy clouds.
Regards,
Andrew

peppe59 (2118) 2009-10-27 13:07

Ciao Paul,
merci pour tu complimentes que je rends dans cette splendide photo des mille couleurs avec un excellent point d'observation. Tu complimentes
Peppe

Waylim (11081) 2009-10-27 13:53

Hi Paul,
Oh wow, I just love, those clouds, Okay and this beautiful and so ornately decorated chuch. Fantastic details, perfect sharpness and clarity, beautiful light and natural and lovely colors without overly saturated or contrast. Great composition. I can almost feel the cloud moving. Great work. My complements.
Way

raszid62 (3407) 2009-10-27 15:39

Hello
wonderfull church with amazing copules. splendid natural colours and very good sharpness.
Best regards
Joseph

toto (18755) 2009-10-27 23:52

Bonjour,
belle photo de cette superbe église a l' architecture particulière et si plaisante avec ces magnifiques dômes coloré et garnis.
Le fait qu' il y ai de l' eau est un plus a votre photo.

Amitiés Thomas

delkoo (34588) 2009-10-28 3:04

bonjour paul,
le POV est parfait pour mettre en valeur cette magnifique église orthodoxe en plus tu as bénéficié d'un super ciel pour parachever cette photo.

didier

jhm (83161) 2009-10-28 4:40

Dag Paul,

Schitterend weergegeven met de passende wolken aan de hemel.
Zeer goed samengesteld u geeft nog een stuk van de rivier en de brug in de achtergrond.
Mooi foto werk, bedankt.

Groeten,
John

luciola (1082) 2009-10-28 7:23

Hello Paul,
Wonderful architecture on the background of an interesting sky. Nice natural colors.
Regards
Lucja

npecanhuk (14492) 2009-10-29 2:49

Hello Paul!
What a magnificent urban photograph and the main reason for that is the wonderful architectural details, specially in this beautiful highlighted church and also because of the excellent photo qualities: sharpness, exposure, dof, pov, colors and composition!
TFS - congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

jasmis (50891) 2009-10-29 6:52

Superb presentation of this gem of architecture.
Regards.

danyy (69319) 2009-10-29 15:00

Woaw Paul,
c'est fantastique, le post processing est vraiment de haute qualité. Le ciel est splendide, j'en suis jaloux.
Les lumières sont parfaites, les contrastes efficaces.
Je ne vois aucun point négatif.
Un coup de coeur.
Mes amitiés.
Daniel.

josepmarin (34011) 2009-10-30 2:15

Hi Paul,
Your framing and the good perspective allow us to see with all brightness this church, which has an impressive, very rich and beautifully decorated architecture.
Other elements that accompany her, as the buildings in BG, the canal, the people, the trees and the wonderful clouds in sky, increase the graphical and chromatic quality of the composition.
Good work.
Best regards,
Josep

emjleclercq (14446) 2009-10-31 15:10

A beautifull "cake" as far as architecture is concerned, but you have managed to catch all the fine details and diversity of colors of this sophisticated church.

All the best,

Emmanuel

vasilpro (9258) 2009-11-02 13:24

Hello Paul,
Amazing architecture, a wonderful church, an excellent composition, a very nice POV, very good light management and lovely colors.
Have a nice evening, Vasilis.

jemaflor (39675) 2009-12-06 2:55

Hi Paul,
Classical pov and frame for this original and beautiful colourful church, well made. Good light and sharpness, always pleasant to see and a good memory for me ...

Photo Information

Copyright: Paul Bulteel (pauloog) (6811)
Genre: Lieux
Medium: Couleur
Date Taken: 2009-07-06
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm VR II
Exposition: f/10.0, 1/400 secondes
More Photo Info: view
Versions: version originale
Thème(s): Ney's favorite pictures of ancient architecture ! [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-10-25 2:16