Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is an Orthodox church in Peterhof, belonging to the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1892, the head of the court clergy, Protopresbyter Ioann Yanyshev, expressed an opinion about building a new church in Peterhof, since, despite the many churches, there was no church in the city that could accommodate a large number of parishioners.

The petition reached Emperor Alexander III, who personally determined the location near the Tsaritsyn (Olgin) pond. In the spring of 1893, the design of the temple, completed by N.V., was approved. Sultanov. A year later, preparations for the construction of the church began: a foundation pit was dug, temporary sheds and a draftsman’s house were built. The foundation stone for the temple took place in the summer of 1895.

The work was supervised by architect V.A. Kosyakov. The building itself was built in 4 years, followed by 3 years of plastering, ventilation and heating work. For the last 2 years, the painting of the temple and the installation of the iconostasis have been carried out. There was a park around the cathedral. At the same time, the buildings of a parochial school, a power plant and a boiler house appeared. The consecration ceremony of the cathedral took place in June 1905.

It was conducted by Protopresbyter John Yanyshev in the presence of the imperial family. The church was included in the court department. The stone chapel of St. Joseph the Songwriter, located on Torgovaya Square, built in 1868 by architect N.L., was added to the cathedral. Benoit (destroyed in 1957). In 1938 the temple was abolished.

During the war, the cathedral was seriously damaged. Its northern part was destroyed, as a fascist spotter was stationed here, who monitored the movement of Soviet ships. There were attempts to bring him down. In the post-war years, the temple housed a container warehouse. Since 1972, the temple was registered, and in 1974 - under state protection as a cultural and historical monument.

At the same time, scaffolding was installed for design work. The work was supervised by the architect-restorer E.P. Sevastyanov. By 1980, domes appeared on the cathedral, and by 1987 all work on the restoration of the facades was completed. It was planned to build a concert hall or museum in the cathedral. In 1989, the cathedral was returned to the Church.

Since 1990, restoration of the interiors and iconostasis has been carried out. In July 1994, the temple was consecrated by Patriarch Alexy II. The Peter and Paul Cathedral was built in the forms of Russian architecture of the 16th-17th centuries.

Accommodates 800 people. Externally, the temple building has the shape of a pyramid. Topped with 5 tent-shaped domes. Its height is about 70 meters. The walls are lined with dark red and light yellow bricks and glazed tiles and decorated with tiles and columns. The apses are decorated with blind columnar arches. On the facades there were icons of saints - patrons of the imperial family. The cathedral is surrounded by a covered gallery, in which there are special rooms for the blessing of eggs, Easter and Easter cakes.

At each of the 4 entrances there were planned canopies for outerwear. On the side facades there are stairs to the choir. Adjacent to the central entrance is a chapel, a hipped belfry and 2 porches. Windows made to illuminate the interior of the tents are used today for tourism purposes, as they offer a magnificent view of St. Petersburg, Kronstadt, Babigon, etc.

The main majolica iconostasis was modeled after the iconostasis of the Orthodox Greek Church of St. George in Venice.

The iconostases of the chapels and chapels were made of white Carrara marble. The images for the iconostasis on bronze boards were painted by V.P. Guryanov. In the north-eastern part of the cathedral there was a confessional;
in the northwestern one there is a “chapel for the dead.” In the chapel of the cathedral there were only 2 burials: Major General D.F. Trepov (1855-1906), over whose grave there was a marble tombstone, and his wife S.S. Trepova, who died in 1915. At the end of the 1930s, their graves were opened by the authorities, and the remains were taken to an unknown location (a saber was taken from Trepov’s coffin).