Earlier in our reports we told of a church that doubled as a lighthouse. In St Petersburg we visited many many magnificent churches. Most were closed during the Soviet era and it is interesting to learn of the use they were put to at this time. Some of these are..
* St Catherine of Alexandrine Church - a small church near where we stayed which was used as a vegetable store
* The famous Kazan Cathredral had the courtyards converted to vegetable fields
* The Vladimirskaya Church was used as an underwear factory
* The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood with its colourful onion domes was used as a warehouse
* The Temple of the Assumption was turned into an indoor skating rink - restored as a church, it now sells fresh cakes and choral music.
* The Church of Mother of God the Merciful was converted into a training base for submariners. The Russian Byzantine exterior is intact but the interior has a 26 metre tube for diving exercises.
The churches we have visited are full of worshippers although many operate only as museums and do not have services.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I can understand all the alternate uses except the submariners trainer centre. That is just bizzare!
Di, is that any weirder than a church being used as an UNDERWEAR factory???
Post a Comment