St Isaac’s Cathedral
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The ceremonial consecration of St Isaac’s Cathedral took place in summer of 1858. Troops paraded to the Cathedral in full ceremonial uniform. Finally the Emperor himself arrived with his family, in a grand open State Carriage. Clergy from every church and cathedral in the city attended, in gold-and-white robes, making a procession from St Isaac’s to Kazan Cathedral and back. The cathedral was announced as the principle in the entire country. And it remained as such until the Holy Schism of 1922.
The preciously-ornamented interiors of St Isaac’s were intensively and systematically looted following the Russian Revolution, and then officially pillaged by the new soviet authorities. In three days – from 5th to 8th May 1922 – the soviet powers relieved the cathedral of 43 kilograms of gold items, two tonnes of silver, and 796 different precious stones. Religious worship was suspended entirely from 1928, even before the Stalin-era clampdowns – and three years later the cathedral was converted into a museum. They suspended a Foucault’s Pendulum from the dome, as part of a demonstration of how Magnetic North differs from True North.
At present St Isaac’s Cathedral continues to be classed as a museum. However, at least the Foucauld’s Pendulum has been removed, and taken off to the Academy of Sciences. The cathedral is reconsecrated, but services are only held on major religious holidays.
The preciously-ornamented interiors of St Isaac’s were intensively and systematically looted following the Russian Revolution, and then officially pillaged by the new soviet authorities. In three days – from 5th to 8th May 1922 – the soviet powers relieved the cathedral of 43 kilograms of gold items, two tonnes of silver, and 796 different precious stones. Religious worship was suspended entirely from 1928, even before the Stalin-era clampdowns – and three years later the cathedral was converted into a museum. They suspended a Foucault’s Pendulum from the dome, as part of a demonstration of how Magnetic North differs from True North.
At present St Isaac’s Cathedral continues to be classed as a museum. However, at least the Foucauld’s Pendulum has been removed, and taken off to the Academy of Sciences. The cathedral is reconsecrated, but services are only held on major religious holidays.
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