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City tour with visiting St. Isaac's Cathedral.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral and the fourth largest domed cathedral in Europe after St. Paul's in London, St. Peter's in Rome, and Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. St. Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.

The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. The golden dome of the cathedral can be seen far beyond the city, with a magnificent panorama of the city taking your breath, when seen from its colonnade.

The cathedral complements the Senate and St. Isaac’s Square to make it a single architectural ensemble created by the best architects of St. Petersburg for over 300 years. Be sure to save some strength to mount over 300 steps to reach the 270-foot/90m high observation platform of its Colonnade. Viewing St. Petersburg at dusk is one of the great pleasures a traveler can enjoy. 

Saint Isaac's cupola painting at the LHCP-2015 web-site

At LHCP-2015 we used the image of Saint Isaac's cupola painting. Here is the short information about the painting.
An indelible impression is made on those who have been fortunate to see the huge painting by Karl Briullov inside the cupola; it covers almost 800 sq. m and depicts the Virgin Mary surrounded by saints and angels. In 1931 the Soviets hung a 93 metre long Foucault pendulum from the underside of the dome center, supposedly to demonstrate the earth's rotation. However, after perestroika this was removed and hanging from the center of the dome now is the restored silver bronze dove, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit and peace. Lower down the walls are murals of the Apostles and evangelists painted by Briullov and Piotr Basin.