Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

The first mention of the monastery complex is July 1710, when Peter the Great ordered the construction of a monastery to Saint Alexander Nevsky on a plot of land close to the present , believing this to be the site of Alexander Nevsky's 1240 victory over the Swedes at the Battle of the Neva. Work was stopped, and in 1744 orders were given to raze the building, Ivan Rossi overseeing its demolition down to its foundations between 1753 and 1755. Interest in completing the monastery complex waned, until Empress Catherine the Great acceded to the throne in 1762. In 1763 a competition to select the design of the cathedral was held, but none of the entrants was chosen. Finally eleven years later, in 1774, a design by Ivan Starov was selected, a single-domed cathedral in the neoclassic style. The first bell tower was completed in 1782 and the main structure was finished by 1786. The cathedral was consecrated by Metropolitan Gabriel on 30 August 1790, the feast day of St Alexander Nevsky, in a ceremony attended by Empress Catherine. Empress Catherine celebrated the consecration by donating expensive utensils and Flemish tapestries to the cathedral. The Alexander Nevsky chapel under the south tower was consecrated on 9 October 1790, though it was later removed in 1838. In 1791 part of the Feodorovsky building nearest to the cathedral was converted into a hall for the Knights of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. In 1797 a relief was placed over the cathedral entrance. ==Design and interior ==

As completed the cathedral is surmounted by a single dome on a high drum, with two double-tiered bell towers on either side of the loggia of the central entrance. The main entrance consists of a portico of six Doric columns, with the facades consisting of shallow panels and pilasters. The north and south entrances are surmounted by bas-relief panels sculpted by Fedot Shubin, depicting events from the Old and New Testaments. The cathedral occupies a cruciform floor plan, with three naves. The main nave is supported by Corinthian columns, while the drum of the dome contains 16 windows. The iconostasis is made of marble, with images by Johann Jacob Mettenleiter and Ivan Akimov and bronze detailing by . The cathedral interior was richly decorated with paintings, bas-reliefs and statues. Sculptor Fedot Shubin produced twenty bas-reliefs and statues of saints, while the altarpiece was by Anton Raphael Mengs. The original paintings were by Fyodor Danilov, though in 1806 Antonio della Giacomo replaced them using the sketches of Giacomo Quarenghi. The sculpting was entrusted to F. Lamoni and Giovanni Maria Fontana. A portrait of Catherine II by Dmitry Levitzky hung above the royal pew; on the opposite side hung a portrait of Peter the Great. In 1794 Catherine II donated several valuable paintings by Peter Paul Rubens (Resurrection of Christ), Anthony van Dyck (Blessing of the Saviour), Jacob Jordaens (Lamentation), Jacopo Bassano, Guercino, Bernardo Strozzi and others from the Hermitage. She also later presented the church with a massive silver chandelier weighing about 13 pounds. Various relics and ornamental artefacts were collected in the cathedral, including the silver tomb of Alexander Nevsky, a piece of the Lord's Robe, and the image of the Theotokos of Vladimir. The cathedral underwent several restorations during its existence, though its interiors remained largely as they were originally. The arches were repainted in 1862 by P. S. Titov, according to the sketches of Academician Fedor Solntsev. In 1847 a heating system was installed to allow the cathedral to operate in the winter. In 1862, a malachite canopy made in 1827–1828 in the Paris workshop of Pierre-Philippe Thomire was transferred to the cathedral from the Tauride Palace. Fifteen years later, a massive silver tomb was made under the shroud. In 1904, the main altar was lined with silver reliefs. ==Soviet period==

After the revolution, many of the valuables were removed from the cathedral and placed in museums, part of the state's general confiscation of Russian Orthodox Church property. In 1955 the Holy Trinity Cathedral was returned to the Orthodox Church. Between 13 and 28 July 2017 some 500,000 people visited the cathedral to worship at the relics of Saint Nicholas, which were on loan from their permanent home in Bari. ==References==