Alexander Nevsky Lavra

View of the monastery in the early 19th century

Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter the Great in 1710 at the southern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in St Petersburg to house the relics of Alexander Nevsky, patron saint of the newly-founded Russian capital. In 1797, it was raised to the rank of lavra, previously bestowed only upon Kiev Monastery of the Caves and the Trinity Monastery of St Sergius.

The monastery premises contain two baroque churches, designed by father and son Trezzini and built in 1717–22 and 1742–50, respectively; a majestic Neoclassical cathedral, built in 1778–90 to a design by Ivan Starov and consecrated to the Holy Trinity; and numerous structures of lesser importance. It also contains the Lazarev and Tikhvin Cemeteries, where ornate tombs of Leonhard Euler, Mikhail Lomonosov, Alexander Suvorov, Nikolay Karamzin, Modest Mussorgsky, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and other famous Russians are preserved.