La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

As part of the East Side Access megaproject, the MTA is building a new concourse for the Long Island Rail Road under Grand Central Terminal. This photo shows progress as of October 2013.

Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

This graffito just off Pripyat's Lenin Square might just date to sometime after the city’s abandonment!

Pripyat’ (Ukrainian: Прип’ять) is a ghost city which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, just 3 kilometres away. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the city was founded on 4 February 1970, as the ninth nuclear city or “atomgrad” in the USSR. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster.

The Soviet authorities wanted to attract the best workers to the strategically and economically critical megaproject, so Pripyat’ had a notably high standard of living compared with most Soviet cities, with generously sized apartments, well-stocked supermarkets and hotels, and even its own amusement park.

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

The Hotel Polissya was built in the mid-1970s on Lenin Square in the then new city of Pripyat’ to house workers and scholars visiting the Chernobyl nuclear complex. After the great nuclear accident of 26 April 1986, the hotel was used both to house emergency workers and, given the clear view of the reactor complex from the roof, to co-ordinate the work of helicopters trying to damp down the fire at the plant, by dropping sand and lead on it.

The Chernobyl.One website says that “Rumor has it that in 1986 Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev stayed at the hotel.”

Pripyat’ (Ukrainian: Прип’ять) is a ghost city which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, just 3 kilometres away. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the city was founded on 4 February 1970, as the ninth nuclear city or “atomgrad” in the USSR. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster.

The Soviet authorities wanted to attract the best workers to the strategically and economically critical megaproject, so Pripyat’ had a notably high standard of living compared with most Soviet cities, with generously sized apartments, well-stocked supermarkets and hotels, and even its own amusement park.

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Abandoned supermarket in Pripyat', just off Lenin Square.

Pripyat’ (Ukrainian: Прип’ять) is a ghost city which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, just 3 kilometres away. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the city was founded on 4 February 1970, as the ninth nuclear city or “atomgrad” in the USSR. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster.

The Soviet authorities wanted to attract the best workers to the strategically and economically critical megaproject, so Pripyat’ had a notably high standard of living compared with most Soviet cities, with generously sized apartments, well-stocked supermarkets and hotels, and even its own amusement park.

sdr_HDRB

Çamlıca Mosque was designed by two female architects, Bahar Mızrak and Hayriye Gül Totu, at a cost of around TL 150 million ($66.5 million). The length of the four mosque minarets span 107.1 metres, a measurement that refers to the Battle of Manzikert (1071) fought by the Seljuk and Byzantine Empires.

The mosque is one of a number of megaprojects built by the Turkish government to show the strength of the economy and provide a legacy for the governing AK Party. Turkish President Erdoğan said at its inauguration: "When a horse dies it leaves behind its saddle, when a man dies he leaves behind his works. We will be remembered for this."Turkish analyst Ziya Meral told The Times that "This is about cultural diplomacy and a vision of Turkey's role in the world."

The Çamlıca Mosque was inaugurated on 4 May 2019 by Turkish President Erdoğan. Several world leaders were present at the ceremony including Senegalese President Macky Sall, Guinean President Alpha Conde, Albanian president Ilir Meta, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and other foreign dignitaries.

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

The UK needs to make a series of major strategic infrastructure decisions over the next few years, including airport capacity, climate change and energy security. Well-judged projects contribute to a successful economy – bad decisions can result in expensive mistakes.

Recent ‘megaprojects’ including High Speed 2, Hinkley Point C and the third runway at Heathrow have attracted both support and scepticism.

This event discussed whether big really is best or if smaller projects provide better value for money.

The Panel:

Bridget Rosewell OBE, Commissioner at the National Infrastructure Commission

Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader at Arup and former Deputy Mayor for Transport in London

Dr Ed Hoffman, Strategic Adviser at PMI and former Chief Knowledge Officer at NASA.

The event was chaired by Julian McCrae, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government

We would like to thank the Project Management Institute for supporting this event.

Photos by Candice McKenzie

@ifgevents #IFGInfrastructure

Barakhan madrasah, built in 1523 when Tashkent was culturally flourishing.

A madrasah was an Islamic school where students could learn about the Quran and other Islamic texts and law, as well as secular subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other subjects.

The madrasah is one of the few, authentically preserved historical monuments of the fragmented old town of Tashkent. Much of Tashkent's old town has been bulldozed for modern buildings, big roads and megaprojects.

The complex surrounding the madrasah houses a large, 8th century Quran, one of the oldest preserved Quran's in the world. It was brought to Samarkand by Amir Timur after his brutal conquests in Iran and Iraq (late 14th century).

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Abandoned vending machines next to the Pripyat’ riverside café, a popular stop for visitors on the macabre tourist trial in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Pripyat’ (Ukrainian: Прип’ять) is a ghost city which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, just 3 kilometres away. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the city was founded on 4 February 1970, as the ninth nuclear city or “atomgrad” in the USSR. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster.

The Soviet authorities wanted to attract the best workers to the strategically and economically critical megaproject, so Pripyat’ had a notably high standard of living compared with most Soviet cities, with generously sized apartments, well-stocked supermarkets and hotels, and even its own amusement park.

Broken glass on the floor of the Pripyat’ riverside café, a popular stop for visitors on the macabre tourist trial in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Pripyat’ (Ukrainian: Прип’ять) is a ghost city which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, just 3 kilometres away. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the city was founded on 4 February 1970, as the ninth nuclear city or “atomgrad” in the USSR. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster.

The Soviet authorities wanted to attract the best workers to the strategically and economically critical megaproject, so Pripyat’ had a notably high standard of living compared with most Soviet cities, with generously sized apartments, well-stocked supermarkets and hotels, and even its own amusement park.

As the solar megaprojects stake claim to pieces of our public land and develop them into parking lots of mirrors, another piece of our wilderness ethic is eroded.

The crusty, dry creosote shrublands dissappear. The diminuitive annuals that carpet the desert floor are memories. The lizards, tortoises, eagles are now homeless.

Please consider investing in distributed generation. Solar that utilizes existing infrastructure will be many times more efficient and green than any factory of mirrors we place in the desert.

Sonoran Desert

Spring 2010

Lech Naumovich Photography

Blog

SunRun - a truly green, conscious alternative

The East Side Access megaproject is connecting the LIRR to a new passenger concourse underneath Grand Central Terminal. This photo shows an update on the status of construction on the Manhattan side of the project, as of June 2013.

Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

Een blik op de Raadhuisstraat naar de Westermarkt. De linkerhelft van de straat heeft nieuwe bekabeling gekregen en een eerste laag vers asfalt. Binnenkort zal het beperkte verkeer over deze zijde worden geleid, waarna de rechterhelft onder handen wordt genomen. De tram zal hier echter pas begin 2027 weer rijden- als er niets tegenzit bij de werkzaamheden aan de bruggen...

Een fotoreportage over dit megaproject zie je in DIT album:

www.flickr.com/photos/meijkie/albums/72177720320235966

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

Infrared, using a converted Olympus E-PL1

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Royal Bank Plaza: 200 Bay Street

Era: Post-War

Style: Post-Modern

The Royal Bank Plaza was completed in 1976 by Webb Zerafa Menkes & Housden Architects of Toronto. It encompasses the eastern portion of the block defined by Bay, Wellington, Front and York streets, and is bounded by the Royal York Hotel and TD-Waterhouse Tower. The Royal Bank Plaza is significant in that it marks many firsts in Toronto’s office tower development. The project was the first major bank tower to be constructed on Front Street and away from the King Street corridor. This brought Front Street into the post-war era. Further it was the first major project in the financial district to break from the ‘modernist box’, and opt for two towers atop a significant podium, rather than the predominant ‘tower in the plaza’ formation. The project also brought the PATH system south; connecting the Toronto Dominion Centre with the Royal York Hotel and Union Station. Originally the Podium between the towers contained a grand multi story volume accessible to the public. This has been subsequently filled in with office floors.

Aesthetically, Royal Bank Plaza is one of the most easily recognized and striking buildings on the Toronto skyline. Consisting of a glass envelope of faceted mirrored panels, it is illuminated with refracted images of the city around it. Unique to the project is the innovative use of gold in the glazing, which acts to reduced the heating load. The metal also renders reflected light in a bright golden hue even in the greyest of winter days. An elevated public plaza at the building’s western side between the Royal Bank Tower and the Royal York Hotel allows generous views of Union Station to the south and the TD Centre to the north. However, this plus 15 system never functioned as intended and access is now limited to business hours. Furthermore, it acts as an impediment to north south pedestrian flows as well as being a substantial visual barrier between the TD Centre plaza and Union Station.

The Royal Bank Plaza is a signature building in the Toronto skyline. It sits on an extremely prominent site, at the foot of Bay Street and in direct view of Union Station. It breaks from classic modernism, reconceptualized the form of an office complex in the financial district, and was the first of the post war megaprojects to be designed solely by a Canadian firm.

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Since opening in 2010, Burj Khalifa has seen a steady rise in annual visitors. While the latest numbers from 2012 and 2013 may be a bit dated, they tally an impressive 3.53 million visitors in just two years, making it the most visited tourist attraction in Dubai at that time. More recently, Uber compiled a list of the fifteen most popular destinations of 2018, and Burj Khalifa was sixth on the list behind New York’s Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, Toronto’s CN Tower, and Paris’s Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. Considering this impressive standing, its hard to imagine the numbers have decreased at all.

On the other hand, while the overall Downtown Dubai megaproject has proved to be a profitable venture, Burj Khalifa itself has made little profit or broken even over the years. After the tower opened in spectacular fashion, 825 out of an available 900 apartment units were still empty. It took several years of overseas investment in the units to eventually reach the latest report of 80% occupancy in October 2012. The tower has, however, made significant strides toward efficiency with the aforementioned air conditioning and landscape irrigation integration, as well as using its own height to its advantage by letting gravity do most of the work for the plumbing systems. Additionally, it takes a team of thirty-six workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior consisting of 24,348 windows, while an unmanned machine cleans the top twenty-seven tiers and glass-clad portion of the skyscraper’s spire.

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

The UK needs to make a series of major strategic infrastructure decisions over the next few years, including airport capacity, climate change and energy security. Well-judged projects contribute to a successful economy – bad decisions can result in expensive mistakes.

Recent ‘megaprojects’ including High Speed 2, Hinkley Point C and the third runway at Heathrow have attracted both support and scepticism.

This event discussed whether big really is best or if smaller projects provide better value for money.

The Panel:

Bridget Rosewell OBE, Commissioner at the National Infrastructure Commission

Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader at Arup and former Deputy Mayor for Transport in London

Dr Ed Hoffman, Strategic Adviser at PMI and former Chief Knowledge Officer at NASA.

The event was chaired by Julian McCrae, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government

We would like to thank the Project Management Institute for supporting this event.

Photos by Candice McKenzie

@ifgevents #IFGInfrastructure

As part of the East Side Access megaproject, the MTA is building a new concourse for the Long Island Rail Road under Grand Central Terminal. This photo shows progress as of October 2013.

Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral

Liverpool (/ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city in Merseyside, England. A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537[2] and the Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.[2]

Liverpool is in the south west of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. The town historically lay within the ancient Lancashire division of West Derby known as a "hundred".[5][6]

The urbanisation and expansion of the city were largely brought about by its advantageous location during the industrial revolution status that led to its growth as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, was drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of 'Liverpool' to 'Liverpuddle') and colloquially as "Scousers", a reference to "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[7]

Tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[8] Labelled the "World Capital City of Pop" by Guinness World Records, the popularity of The Beatles, and other groups from the Merseybeat era and later, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination.

Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCOin 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Cityincludes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street.[9] Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton. Matches between the two are known as the Merseyside derby. The world-famous Grand National also takes places annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.

Early history

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).

In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[10][11]Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which Liverpool Beach in the South Shetland Islands is named after the city.[12]

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchesterbecame the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irishmigrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in use today. The Deutsche Kirche Liverpool, Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Gustav Adolf Church and Princes Road Synagoguewere all established in the 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing German, Greek, Nordic and Jewish communities respectively. One of Liverpool's oldest surviving churches, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, served the Polish community in its final years as a place of worship.

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy itself."

20th Century

Given the crucial place of both cotton and slavery in the city's economy, during the American Civil War Liverpool was, in the words of historian Sven Beckert, "the most pro-Confederate place in the world outside the Confederacy.

20th century

The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas were also redeveloped for new homes. The Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.

During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s – the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced severe aerial bombing during the war.

Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as Toxteth. However, a significant West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.

In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. By the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,[14] standing at 17% by January 1982 – although this was just over half of the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic downturn 50 years previously.[15]

In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

21st Century

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth IIin 2002, the conservation charity Plantlifeorganised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.

Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.

In 2007, the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.

Spearheaded by the multi-billion-poundLiverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include new buildings in the Commercial District, the King's Dock area, the Mann Island area, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle area, the RopeWalks area and the Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest megaprojects in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition from the likes of UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.

On 9 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameronlaunched the International Festival for Businessin Liverpool, the world's largest business event in 2014,[16] and the largest in the UK since the Festival of Britain in 1951.[17]

Second city of Empire

For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[18]and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[19]Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[20]

The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.

As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[21] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal, scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century.[22][editorializing]

Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an individual – John Lennon.[23]

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.

During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's,[24] and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[25]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool

La catedral de San Isaac, oficialmente catedral de San Isaac de Dalmacia (en ruso: собор преподо́бного Исаа́кия Далма́тского)? es una catedral ortodoxa rusa erigida en el siglo XIX en la ciudad de San Petersburgo, la más suntuosa y grandiosa de las iglesias de la ciudad y uno de los monumentos neoclásicos más interesantes de la arquitectura rusa del siglo XIX. Fue diseñada por el arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand y fue construida desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La catedral se encuentra en la plaza del mismo nombre y la de los Decembristas, y tiene una de las cúpulas más grandes del mundo, siendo la segunda iglesia ortodoxa oriental más alta, después de la catedral del Cristo Salvador de Moscú. Desde 1931 se ha convertido en un museo. Es visitada actualmente por aproximadamente un millón de turistas cada año.

Anteriormente, en la zona del Almirantazgo existió una pequeña iglesia de madera dedicada a Isaac (monje), a la que sustituyó otra de piedra, que quedó inservible a mediados del siglo XVIII.

Por último, a comienzos del siglo XIX, se decide levantar la nueva catedral. Participan en el concurso destacados arquitectos de aquella época. Sale vencedor el joven arquitecto francés Auguste Montferrand. Los andamiajes para la catedral de San Isaac fueron realizados por el ingeniero español Agustín de Betancourt. Las obras se prolongaron desde 1818 hasta 1858.

La construcción comenzó en 1818. Antes de demoler el edificio anterior, se consolidó el suelo debido a que la ciudad está construida sobre un terreno muy pantanoso. La operación fue muy larga y compleja: a los 11.000 pilotes de pino alquitranados de la cimentación anterior, se añadieron 13.000 más, con un diámetro de 25 cm cada uno. Las losas de granito se colocaron directamente sobre los pilotes y fueron cubiertas con losas de piedra caliza.

Las cimentaciones tienen un grosor de 14,5 m (7,5 m de altura de los pilotes y otros 7 m de espesor de las losas de piedra). Fueron necesarios 10 años de sentar las bases y 125.000 trabajadores participaron en su instalación. Dado que tenían que conservar los muros de la vieja iglesia, se observaron algunos asentamientos irregulares después de la colocación de los cimientos. Después de que apareciesen algunas grietas en las paredes se tuvieron que suspender los trabajos y demoler las partes restantes del edificio anterior. El director de las obras fue el arquitecto suizo Domenico Adamini (1792-1860).

En la decoración de la catedral de San Isaac se emplearon 43 tipos de minerales. El zócalo fue revestido de granito, el interior de la catedral, paredes y suelos de mármoles rusos, italianos y franceses, las columnas del retablo fueron revestidas de malaquita y lapislázuli. Para sobredorar la cúpula de 21,8 m de diámetro, se emplearon cerca de 100 kilos de oro. Adornan la catedral casi 400 obras entre esculturas, pinturas y mosaicos. Tiene capacidad para 14 mil personas.

Desde 1931 la catedral es un museo.

Se puede subir hasta el tambor de la cúpula, desde donde se puede contemplar una vista de San Petersburgo.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_San_Isaac

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a cathedral that currently functions as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and has remained a museum ever since. In 2017, the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but the church has not exercised this offer.

The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier structure by Vincenzo Brenna, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. A specially appointed commission examined several designs, including that of the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand (1786–1858), who had studied in the atelier of Napoleon's designer, Charles Percier. Montferrand's design was criticised by some members of the commission for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm of its four identical pedimented octastyle porticos. It was also suggested that despite gigantic dimensions, the edifice would look squat and not very impressive. The members of the commission, which consisted of well-known Russian architects, were also particularly concerned by necessity to build a new huge building on the old unsecure foundation. The emperor, who favoured the ponderous Empire style of architecture, had to step in and solve the dispute in Montferrand's favour.

The cathedral took 40 years to construct, under Montferrand's direction, from 1818 to 1858. The building of the cathedral took so long, that it left an idiom to Finnish language: rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa (To build like the church of Isaac) when speaking of long-term construction projects.

To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fenland of Saint Petersburg. Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico. The construction costs of the cathedral totalled an incredible sum of 1 000 000 gold rubles. Under the Soviet government, the building was stripped of religious trappings. In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, the dove sculpture was removed, and replaced by a Foucault pendulum. On April 12, 1931, the first public demonstration of the Foucault pendulum was held to visualize Copernicus’s theory. In 1937, the museum was transformed into the museum of the cathedral, and former collections were transferred to the Museum of the History of Religion (located in the Kazan Cathedral).

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft. On its top, in the skylight, a geodesical intersection point was placed, to determine the positions of German artillery batteries.

With the fall of communism, the museum was removed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

On January 10, 2017 Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, announced that the cathedral would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The key protocols of the transfer were defined by the order issued by St. Petersburg’s Committee on Property Relations on December 30, 2016. The document expired on December 30, 2018. The new order can be issued upon request from the Russian Orthodox Church, but no such request has yet been submitted.

The transfer of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in use the ROC agreed in January 2017, but the decision has caused discontent of the townspeople, who defended the status of the museum. The decision of the city authorities was disputed in the courts. Currently, the status of the building is museum. Today, church services are held here only ecclesiastical occasions.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It is similar to Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda, with a full dome on a high drum substituted for the Villa's low central saucer dome. The design of the cathedral in general and the dome in particular later influenced the design of the United States Capitol dome, Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki.

The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826).

The cathedral's bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit. Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Karl Bryullov and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

William Handyside and other engineers used a number of technological innovations in the construction of the building. The portico columns were raised with the use of large wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by a large number of workers into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of sixty workers. The dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, facing each other across the interior of the rotunda, were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The meticulous and painstakingly detailed work on constructing the St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to complete, and left an expression in the Finnish language, rakentaa kuin Iisakin kirkkoa ("to build like St. Isaac's Church"), for lengthy and never-ending megaprojects.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isaac%27s_Cathedral