Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood

OK, back, briefly, to the Russian trip. Here are a series of pictures of the beautiful Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, which can be clearly seen as you walk down Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. The rather ominous name relates to the fact that it was on this spot that the reform-minded tsar Alexander II (he was the one who freed the serfs in 1861) was assassinated in 1881. The decision was made to build the church right on top of the spot, hence the name. Interestingly, while it took over two decades to construct the church, it was later closed (after the revolution) and it took three decades to restore it - which led to the joke that it is the only church that took longer to restore than to build. As with most Russian Orthodox churches it is very ornate - it's not the most beautiful church I saw in Russia, but it is definitely worth a visit.