St Petersburg cathedrals
The SPbU Representative Office in Spain invites you to the online lecture "St Petersburg cathedrals" given by Anastasia Babaeva, professor at St Petersburg University, and Larisa Casino, St Petersburg tourist guide and interpreter.
Since its foundation, St Petersburg has been home to people of many different nationalities and religions, resulting in a rich tapestry of religious and architectural heritage, including Orthodox cathedrals, churches, synagogues, mosques and even Buddhist datsans scattered across the city on the Neva River.
Most of the cathedrals and churches are concentrated in the historical centre of the city — on the Admiralteyskaya and Petrogradskaya sides, on Ligovsky Prospekt and on Vasilievsky Island. St Sampson’s Cathedral, one of the oldest in the city, can be found in the Vyborg district, on the right bank of the Neva River.
A select few stand out from the rest, carrying important historical and cultural significance. St Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the largest domed structures in the world, over 100 metres high and able to accommodate 12,000 people. The Church of the Saviour in Blood was built to commemorate the death of Alexander II in 1881. Inside the church is a stunning collection of Russian mosaics. Kazan Cathedral is famous for its magnificent colonnade of 96 columns, which resembles an ancient Greek temple. The festive, soaring Smolny Convent is one of the most striking examples of the Russian Baroque.
Today, St Petersburg has more than 200 churches and cathedrals, the most famous of which have been turned into museums, while others remain places of worship.
In this lecture we will talk about the main religious buildings in the city, many of which are considered to be world-class examples of architecture. We will take a look at the differences between Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals, the holidays observed by different denominations and the overall religious life of modern St Petersburg.
Lecturers
Anastasia Babaeva graduated from St Petersburg University with a degree in English Language and Literature. She is a fellow of the EuroCulture International Master’s Programme in European Studies at the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain). Since 2017 she has been working in dubbing and film translation, and since 2021 she has been teaching Spanish at the Department of International Relations at St Petersburg University.
Larisa Casino has been working as a translator from Spanish to English since 2007. She is an active participant in various scientific, technological and cultural projects within the framework of cooperation between Russia and Latin America and Spain. She has been a certified guide and interpreter in St Petersburg since 2008.
The lecture will be held online in Spanish with simultaneous translation into Russian as part of the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of Russia’s oldest university, SPbU.