<P> A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken . In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church . An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination . It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones, making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine . </P> <P> Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures . The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism . It intentionally resembles the 17th - century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow . </P> <P> The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics--according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world . This record may be surpassed by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which houses 7700 square meters of mosaics . The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day--including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel--but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little - known (born in St. Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic - German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million rubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million . The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics--the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures--but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture . </P> <P> In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior . The Soviet government closed the church in 1932 . During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary morgue for those who died in combat and from starvation and illness . The church suffered significant damage . After the war, it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Saviour on Potatoes . </P>

Church of the spilled blood st petersburg russia