St. Isaac's Cathedral

This is St. Isaac's Cathedral, the largest church in St. Petersburg. It is one of the largest domed buildings in the world. It took 40 years to build. The architect was a French guy, but Nicholas I wanted it even more grand than the French guy had planned.

The church did not have services for 62 years under Soviet rule. It started having services on special occasions in 1992.

I didn't really get a good picture of it far away, but this is one I found online. None of my pics did it justice.

So, the trees and grass aren't that green right now, but you get the idea of how pretty this church is. :)

In the pinnacle of the dome is a dove. However, during the Soviet Union, this dove was removed and was replaced with a Foucault pendulum. Also, the church became a museum of atheism during this time.