Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-01-18
Church Of st. Izaak in
St. Petersburg.

1
lin all Northern Europe, indeed
lis the Cathedral of St. Izaak
Commenced in tho year 1926, IL
the place of a former structure
erected by Catharine II. and Paul
lit received its final conservation
only few years ago. Thirty-twc
years OF uninterrupted labor, back.
led by the unlimited resources of
the Empire were required to com
:. plete this gigantic work. Its cost
lis estimated at 800, 100000 roubles
orS66, 500, 900, but a larges slice out
of this sum las in our own Govern.
ment contracts) may be put under
the head of '.pickings and steal
lings." To make a firm founda,
tiQn in the swampy soil, piles to the
value of q million of dollars were
driven. Upon them rose a base
ment of granite, supporting a
mighty granite structure, in the
form of a Greek cross, crowned by
a huge dome of gilded iron. The
design is simple and majestic, and
the various parts are no nicely
balanced and harmonized that at
first sight, the Cathedral appears
smaller than is really the case.
1t grows upon the eye with each
| visit, but can only be seen in its
full magnitude at considerable
distance.
The four sides are fronts of ex-
actly similar design and dimen-
sions-a a Grecian pediment, res
ting on sixteen monolith columns
of red Finnish granite, 60 feet
in height and seven feet in diam
eter, with Corinthian capitals in
bronze. These tremendous shafts
emulate the marvels of Dendera,
and Karnak. In fact, the great
hall of columns in the latter tenn
pie does not represent as much art,
labor and wealth. The dome,
which is a little less than that of
St. Pauls in London, rests upon
a circular colonade of similar mo-
noliths, of smaller dimensions.
The body of the edifice is of grey
granite, and upon each of the four
corners are groups of kneeling an
gels, with candelebra, in bronze.
Crowning this sublime pile is the
golden hemisphere of the dome,
which SO flashes in the sunlight
that the eye can scarcely bear its
splendor. Far out on the Gulf
of Finland, it glitters over the
evening horizon like rising star.
The interior is divided into five
vaulted halls, the central one, un-
der the dome, soaring to a height
of 292 feet. The massive piers
which support them, the walls,
the ceiling, and the recesses for
shrines, are lined with the most
precious marbles, whose exquisite
beauty of coloring reconciles the
eye to their transformations mag
nifcence. The richest and love-
liest tints are here combined-pink,
lilac, pale-green, purple, dark blue,
brown, orange and violet-and
with so much skill that the lavish
display of gold loses half its disa-
greeable glare. The ikonoetdst, or
screen before the Holy of Holes,
is a giant wall of wealth. Eight
pillars of malachite, fifty feet high,
bear aloit its golden cornice and
divide Its surface of gilded silver
into compartments, whereon are
painted the favorite saints of Rus
sia. The altar canopy is support
ed by two pillars of lapis lazuli,
bluer than the ice of Polar seas.
But wealth uncombined with taste,
can only impress a vulgar mind;
you are overwhelmed by the glare,
not touched by the beauty. Alad-
din's Palace may be built of clay
while the geni is Ictinus or Palla-
dio.