This enormous church stood in the center of Tsarskoe Selo surrounded by a park. It was built in 1835-40 by architect, Konstantin Ton, and is a much reduced, loose copy of his Temple of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Many of the same artists who worked on the great Temple also created decoration for the Catherine Cathedral.

To the horror of the people of Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) and those in charge of the preservation of historic and artistic monuments, the church was destroyed on orders of the Bolshevik Government in the 1930's. In its place a monument to Lenin was erected.

This barbarious act was made worse by the fact that many of the paintings and furnishings of the church - including exquisite works by the artist, Bruni, where blown up when the church was dynamited. Kuchumov, the former curator of the Alexander Palace Museum persoanlly saved a painting of the Last Supper by Bruni at the last minute by offering a bottle of vodka to one of the demolition crew in exchange for it.

Bob Atchison

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