Saint Petersburg’s largest Russian Orthodox church is Saint Isaac’s Cathedral with a seating capacity of 14,000 people. Architect Auguste de Montferrand spent over four decades building this masterpiece then died when it was finished in 1858. The Neoclassical design features 112 red Karelian granite columns and angel statues beneath the ribbed gilded dome. The cathedral’s namesake is Isaac of Dalmatia. Saint Isaac the Confessor was a third century BC monk from Constantinople. Peter the Great declared Isaac to be the patron saint of the Romanov Dynasty that ruled Russia from 1613 until 1917 because he was born on the feast day of Saint Isaac.
