Northern Lands; Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia

by Oliver Optic

BILLY BOBSTAY AND FRIENDS.

The omnibuses had been dismissed for the day, for the afternoon was to be used in visiting two of the principal churches, which were within walking distance of the hotel, and on the way to the English Quay, where the party were to embark at six o'clock for Cronstadt. The students separated into small squads, the more studious and thoughtful ones clinging to the guides and others who knew something about the city, in order to obtain proper explanations of what they saw. All of them walked through the bazaar, and most of them looked into the little chapel near it, and studied the signals on the watch-tower above the Town Hall. Some amused themselves by trying to read the signs; but they could make nothing of them, though there was occasionally one in French. All the educated Russians speak French fluently, and in the larger stores there is generally one or more who converse in this language. A short walk on the Nevski Prospect brought the tourists to the Kazan Cathedral.

This church was founded in 1802, and consecrated in 1811, and cost about three million dollars. The cross above the dome is two hundred and thirty feet from the ground. In the semicircle formed by the colonnade in front are statues of Kutuzoff and Barclay de Tolly, two generals who distinguished themselves in the Moscow campaign against Napoleon. The interior of the church contains fifty-six columns of Finland granite, each being a single stone, thirty-five feet high, which support the dome and roof. The screen, or partition,—in Russian, ikonostas,—that separates the altar from the body of the church, is of silver, the material for which was captured from friend and foe by the Cossacks in the Moscow campaign, and became an offering to the Madonna of this church. In the centre of the middle doors of the screen is inscribed, in precious stones, the name of God. In a conspicuous place in the partition is placed the miraculous picture of the Virgin, found unharmed in the ashes of the convent in which it was kept, after the burning of Kazan carried to Moscow by Ivan the Terrible, and removed to St. Petersburg in 1821. It is loaded with gold and precious stones to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars, enough to build half a dozen churches in the country in America. This is the church of the imperial family, which the emperor attends on special occasions. After his escape from the assassin at the gate of the Summer Garden, he came twice to give thanks; and when the Princess Dagmar was escorted through the streets, as the betrothed of the present Grand Duke Alexander, the procession paused in the street while the royal party entered the church to return thanks for her safe arrival. Opposite the ikonostas is a chair for the Czar, who is the head of the church and the only one to whom the privilege of being seated is allowed. The walls and columns of the interior are hung with flags, banners, keys, and other military trophies. In a glass case is the baton of Davoust, one of Napoleon's generals. A great many keys of towns and fortresses are exhibited, and the church has somewhat the appearance of an arsenal.

From this church the students walked to St. Isaac's, in the square of the same name, a large, open space, flanked by some of the finest public buildings and monuments in the city. On this spot Peter the Great built a wooden church, in 1710, which gave place to another, built by Catharine I. The present edifice was commenced in 1819, and consecrated in 1858. The ground is swampy, and the piles which were driven to support the foundation cost a million dollars—enough to build a dozen substantial churches in any city in America. It is in the form of the Greek cross, with four grand fronts, which are similar to that of the Pantheon at Paris, with columns sixty feet high and seven in diameter, of highly-polished Finland granite, of a reddish hue. The dome is nearly like that of the Capitol at Washington, and is gilded, so that it is a "shining mark" for a great distance. On the four corners are smaller bell-towers, each containing several bells, though such a thing as a chime is unknown in Russia. Externally, this church is one of the grandest and most beautiful in the world.

The walls of the interior are covered with marble, and are adorned with pictures of the saints, decked with gold and precious stones, before which are the circular stands for the offerings of candles. Near the door is an official, who is authorized to sell these candles to worshippers. As in all the Russian churches, the ikonostas, or altar-screen, is the most prominent object, which is almost covered with the gilded plates which form the raiment of the holy persons, with spaces cut out to exhibit the faces, hands, and feet of the painting. Before the principal saints elaborate lamps are suspended, which are lighted during service. In the screen are three doors, the double ones, in the middle, being "the royal gates," so called because the emperor passes through them at his coronation. On each side of them is a pillar of lapis lazuli, set on iron columns, the two costing sixty thousand dollars. The doors are of bronze, of very elaborate construction. The space behind the screen, which occupies about one eighth of the interior of the church, is the altar, in which stands a small round temple, with eight columns of malachite, eight feet high, the material for which cost a hundred thousand dollars. This temple is really the altar, the shrine of the church, in which are placed a richly-bound volume, called the "Gospels," a gold cross used in the service, the vessel for the sacred elements, and the silk in which they are placed when consecrated. Behind the altar, on the window, is an immense painting of Christ.

Services are held three times every day in most of the churches; and when the students entered the edifice, the preparations were in progress, and they remained to witness the worship. All who entered crossed themselves, and many purchased candles and made offerings of them to the saints, St. Isaac of Dalmatia being the principal one, and women and children kissed the hands of the Virgin, and other holy persons represented by pictures. The church gives a literal interpretation of the commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," and no part of the person—only the raiment—of the saints can be sculptured for purposes of worship. The service consisted of intoned readings by the priests and deacons, the former being within the royal doors a portion of the time, and is interspersed with singing, generally in recitative style, by the choir, at the end of the platform in front of the screen. The singers seem to break in upon the priests' prayers at times, often with a short phrase or single word. No female voices are allowed in the choir, and no organ or other musical instrument is permitted.

During the service the worshippers in front frequently cross themselves, the more devoted kneeling and bowing till their foreheads touch the pavement. Only a few, however, bend thus lowly, and it is noticeable that these are of the lower order. Well-dressed ladies and gentlemen are not seen to do anything more than cross themselves, though all appear to be devout and solemnly engaged in the exercises. Outside of the doors there are always a number of beggars, who stand with hand extended, as the people come out of the church. Besides the chance alms-giving of the worshippers, wrung from them by importunity, one is occasionally seen evidently roused by the service to a keener sense of duty, who makes a systematic business of it, bestowing upon each of the beggars a smaller or larger sum, according to his means. After the service some of the students were permitted to enter the altar, which is the Holy of Holies, as in King Solomon's Temple. Paul Kendall and his wife were about to follow them, when the uniformed official interposed, and shook his head earnestly. Paul did not understand him, and one of the guides was called.

"No female is allowed to enter the sanctuary," the man explained.

"Woman's rights haven't been attended to here," replied Paul, as he retired with Grace.

But there was nothing particular to be seen in the altar space, except the consecrated articles used in the service. Lincoln was on the point of passing between the altar itself and the royal doors, when the church official stopped him, saying that none but the priest and the emperor were allowed to pass in that direction.