SMOLNY MONASTERY AND CATHEDRAL (Sobor Smolnovo-Monastyria), Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The magnificent Smolny complex was created by architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli for the 
Empress Elizabeth, who had founded the Smolny convent.  Begun in 1748, the cathedral is 
considered Rastrelli's masterpiece, perfectly fusing together Baroque forms with 
traditional Russian elements such as the five onion domes.  Rastrelli was the favored 
court architect of Elizabeth, who had lavishly exuberant taste and loved the color blue 
highlighted with generous amounts of gilt.  When Catherine the Great succeeded to the 
throne, she found all this extravagance garish, sacked the Italian architect, and 
steered Russia towards more restrained Classicism.


Size:  11319 bytes.


Created by Lee Sojot.
