After another drive around various sights, we stopped at Christ the Savior Cathedral. Originally built to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon, it was completely destroyed after the revolution. It was only recently rebuilt, starting in 1990.
Behind the cathedral is a bridge, from which we could see the magnificent monument to Peter the Great. Here you can make out his figure on a large boat, which rests on other boats. Before Peter there was no navy (no army for that matter), and the naval arts were unknown. Not only did he create a formidable naval force during his reign, but the city of St. Petersburg, Russia's only European port.
Our guide told us that many people dislike the monument, and say that the figure is actually Christopher Columbus.
Photos were not permitted in the cathedral, but these from the web give an idea of the interior, not a large central seating area as in western Christian churches, but a central nave with many smaller domed chapels or altar areas on all four sides.
This particular cathedral features rare marbles and even semiprecious stones in the walls and floor, and the names of those fallen in the Napoleonic war.
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