St. Petersburg, part XVII - The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - Церковь Спаса на Крови (i)

We retraced our steps along the Griboyedov embankment, and slowly paced toward The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, or Церковь Спаса на Крови in Russian. When I saw this, I thought - this is what I came for, this is the Russia I came for, the Saint Petersburg that I've been waiting for and longing for all my life. Nothing quite captures the spirit of Russia so much as this cathedral does, with its colourful, almost candy-like facades and golden onion domes. I was in love. We all were in love. I will never be out of love.

More pictures, and more to come, of course.

You can see Juan laughing at me as he walks up. Fun fact, Juan's birthday is on the same day as mine

St. Petersburg, part XVII - Griboyedov channel embankment, Kazan Cathedral & Kazan Square

Kazan Cathedral & Kazan Square

Griboyedov Canal or Kanal Griboyedova (Russian: кана́л Грибое́дова) is a canal in Saint Petersburg, constructed in 1739 on the basis of the existing river Krivusha. In 1764–90, the canal was deepened, and the banks were reinforced and covered with granite. (source: wikipedia).

It had stopped raining at this point, and we wandered along the embankment. In the far distance we saw gorgeous Church of Spilled Blood, which will come in the next few entries, but first we went to see the majestic and imposing Kazan Cathedral & Square, which reminded me a little, but just a little, of Heroes' Square in Budapest (although a much colder version, which can only be an improvement - the stiflingly hot weather in Budapest was the only thing I disliked about the pearl of the Danube) and Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. I smiled, and sighed, and oohed and aahed and it was very nice.

To be continued.

Alors, you can clearly see the Church of Spilled Blood in the distance