Vladimir Cathedral

The Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, or Vladimir Cathedral, stands on the square of the same name in the center of Saint Petersburg and is a monument of architecture in the transitional style from Baroque to Classicism. The stone church was built in 1761–1769, presumably to a design by the architect Christian Knobel or Pietro Trezzini, on the site of a wooden church from the mid-18th century. The five-domed church combines the upper, unheated Vladimir Church with the lower, heated church of Saint John of Damascus. It was consecrated in 1783. In 1791 the architect Giacomo Quarenghi completed the freestanding two-tiered bell tower, to which the architect Franz Ruska added a third tier in 1848; at the same time he built two chapels and a fence around the church. The narthex was added in the 1830s by the architect Abraham Melnikov, and the side extensions in the 1880s by Alexander Golm.

The interior of the upper church retains an ornate 18th-century Baroque iconostasis, transferred here in 1808 from the private church of the Anichkov Palace. Among the cathedral's venerated relics is the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most revered icons in Russia, which gave its name to the church, the square, and Vladimirsky Prospect. According to pre-revolutionary guidebooks, the church's décor included valuable icons, among them a "Last Supper" attributed to Rubens or masters of his school.

Vladimir Cathedral is closely tied to the history of Russian culture: in 1828 the funeral service for Arina Rodionovna, the nanny of Alexander Pushkin, was held here, and in the last years of his life Fyodor Dostoevsky, who lived nearby, was a parishioner of the church. From 1865, a charitable society operated at the church, running a shelter and almshouse for needy parishioners. After the restoration of 1887–1888, celebrations marking the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus were held within its walls.

In 1932, the Soviet authorities closed the church for worship and installed the "Lenmashuchet" factory in the building. Church life resumed only in 1989, when the building was returned to the diocese; a re-consecration took place in April 1990, after which a large-scale restoration of the interiors was carried out. In 2000, the church was granted cathedral status. Today it is an active parish cathedral and one of the significant architectural and spiritual landmarks of the city's historic center.