Исаакиевский собор – Saint Isaac's Cathedral

3 AM - slowly adjusting to the new time zone. 

Something you don't experience when learning English is people thwarting your efforts to speak their language by responding in English.  The most humiliating experience so far has been the "I give you candle" from the old lady of the candles in Saint Isaac's Cathedral (la vecchia delle candele per gli amici). 

But anyhow, here's the cathedral, apparently the fourth biggest church after San Pietro, Saint Paul's in London, and Santa Maria del Fiore. Inside it doesn't feel huge at all, I guess for the Greek-cross plan and the harmonious proportions. I took a few pictures of the outside when I left (in the noon-time light)

  

 

I don't have much experience of Orthodox churches, but I definitely didn't expect anything like this. The cupola, the frescoes, the marble columns - they make look it like an Italian cathedral with an iconostasis. I need to see more, fully to appreciate this church.

The iconostasis (the wall of icons beyond which there's the altar). Traditionally it has Christ on the right and the Virgin on the left, plus other various saints. There icons are mosaics. The stained glass window (vetrata) is beyond the iconostasis and represented the resurrected Christ. Sorry I'm so bad at describing these, just trying to give some information!