Vladimirskaya Church

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Vladimirskaya Church (Russian: Владимирская церковь) is a Russian Orthodox church, dedicated to Our Lady of Vladimir and located at 20 Vladimirsky Prospect, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The current five-domed church was built next to Vladimirsky Market between 1761 and 1769. The church's design, frequently ascribed to Pietro Antonio Trezzini, straddles the line between Baroque and Neoclassicism. The building has two stories, with the lower church dedicated to Saint John Damascene. The detached belfry is a fine work of mature Neoclassicism, built to Quarenghi's design in 1791. The portico, chapel, fence, and outbuildings were added in the 19th century.

The interior of the church features an elaborate Baroque iconostasis, transferred from the Anichkov Palace chapel in 1808. When the 900th anniversary of the Christianisation of Russia was celebrated in 1888, the church underwent restoration. The most famous of its parishioners was Fyodor Dostoevsky. The church was closed in 1932, restored to the church in 1989 and named a cathedral in 2000. It gives its name to the Vladimirsky Prospekt and Vladimirskaya Square.

[edit] Further reading

• Viroslavsky N.M. Описание церкви во имя Божией Матери Владимирской иконы (что в придворных слободах). SPb, 1876.