So, this church was built between the tsardoms of Alexander II and Alexander III and is just…read morevisually delicious. (Did I just use the word delicious???)
The thing that I think is so cool about it is that although it does differ greatly from the sleek lines of Helsinki's architecture, this is actually PRETTY TONED DOWN for a Russian Orthodox church. The same can be said for the interior, which - although Orthodox - is much more sparsely decorated than orthodox churches in Eastern Europe.
Again. I think what make this place so great is that it's a product of the fusion of two VERY DIFFERENT cultural identities and visually, it just explodes all over this cathedral.