The Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Kronstadt
Cathedral, Church, Movie Theater, Museum

Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt | © Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov / Wikimedia Commons
Located in the small island town of Kronstadt, 30 kilometers away from St. Petersburg, Kronstadt Naval Cathedral was built in 1913 as the main church of the Russian Navy. Designed by a renowned master of Neo-Byzantine architecture Vasily Kosyakov, the cathedral accommodated 5000 worshipers. With bedazzling interiors created by Kosyakov’s younger brother George, Kronstadt Naval Cathedral employed over 5000 light bulbs, was equipped with its own vacuum cleaning system and independent central heating. Sadly it was closed by Soviet authorities after only 16 years of operation. It became a movie theater and then a museum. In the 1990s it was given back to the Russian Orthodox Church and underwent extensive restorations.