St. Isaac's & the Peter & Paul Fortress

This is the interior of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
St. Isaac was Peter the Great's patron saint.

This was the architect - Auguste de Montferrand.
Notice all the different types of stone used for this bust.

The mosaics here were incredible.
I don't know the name of this one but I love it.
Hard to believe it wasn't painted.

Do you see the dove in the top tower?

Below is the altar area.

Another mosaic.
You can tell it's a mosaic from this angle.

Interesting door.

Next is the Peter & Paul Cathedral on what is called the Peter & Paul fortress.
This was never really used as a fortress like Peter intended but was used for important political prisoners - including his own son!

A lot of royals are buried here in these tombs.

These below were made of jasper and rhodonite (the pink stone).

This is where the royalty would stand during services.
In the Russian Orthodox church, they apparently don't sit.
I'm not sure about the other religions there.

Below is Peter the Great's tomb on the far right with his bust at the top.

Interesting interpretation of Christ

Here is the room where the remains of the Romanovs are buried.
More on that later but what a fascinating story!