The official name of this temple is the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, but it is better known as the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood because it was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on March 13, 1881. His son and successor, Alexander III, decided to have this magnificent church built in his honor, in Russian Orthodox style. Inside, you can still see a canopy that indicates the point where the bomb exploded, mortally wounding the emperor. That was the eighth attempt on his life!
Work on the church began in 1883, and continued for 24 years, above all on the extraordinary decoration of the interior, consisting of almost 7,000 square meters of mosaics by 32 of the finest artists of the time.
The design of the church was inspired by the magnificent Basilica of St. Basil in Moscow, and the building - which at its highest point reaches up almost 81 meters - is made even more extraordinary by the five copper-plated domes with their splendid multi-colored enamel decorations. Twenty granite slabs on the facade feature gilded lettering, recalling the main events that occurred during the reign of the tsar who was murdered here. You can also admire splendid mosaics and 144 mosaic coats of arms representing territories that were part of the empire under Alexander II.
After the Russian Revolution in 1917, much of this extraordinary church was looted, and the interior was severely damaged. Even more serious damage occurred during the Second World War and in the post-war period, but fortunately the building was not struck during the bombing raids, and proposals to demolish it were rejected. Incredibly, some twenty years after the end of the war, an unexploded bomb was discovered on one of the domes; this prompted the restoration work that lasted 27 long years.
Let me leave you with an interesting fact: The attack on Alexander II was carried out by two terrorists from a populist anarchist group. One dropped a bomb that forced the tsar out of his carriage, and the other killed him by detonating a second explosive device.
