Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1884 — t A Remarkable Structure. [ARTICLE]

t A Remarkable Structure.

The new Cathedral of St. Savior, at Moscow, is a remarkable structure. It was built to commemorate the departure of the French army from Moscow. Three months after the retreat of the French a decree ordering the building of a memorial temple was issued by Alexander I. Plans were promptly prepared, but little progrfess was made for ten years, although the architect and building committee during that period succeeded in expending 4,000,000 rubles, for which they were banished and then- estates confiscated. The Emperor Nicholas adopted new plans and selected the present site, which cost upward of £IBO,OOO. At the outset a nunnery and 70,000 cubic feet of earth had to be removed. On the 27tli of July, 1838, the foundation stone was laid, and for twenty years the building slowly proceeded. In 1858 the scaffolding, which cost £40,000, was removed. Yet a quarter of a century more was required to complete the fittings and decoration. The style is ancient Russian. The five copper cupolas, for the gilding of which was required 900 pounds of gold, cost £170,000. The domes are surmounted by crosses, the center one being 30 feet high and 340 feet from the ground. The largest bell weighs 26 tons. The whole edifice is faced with marble, the doors are of bronze, ornamented with Biblical subjects and lined w ith oak. The principal entrance is 30 feet high and 18 feet broad. Two of the doors weigh 13 tons, and the total cost of all the doors was £62,000. The building is erected in the form of a Greek cross. The walls are adorned with frescoes illustrating the chief events in the history of the Russian Church. The total cost of the marble in the building exceeded £300,000. The galleries contain 36 windows, and the cupolas 16, all double, with frames of bronze. Round the cupola is one row of 640 candelabra, which cost £27,000, and a second row of 600, costing £12,000. There are four lusters, weighing four tons each. The total number of candles to be lighted throughout the building is upward of 3,000. The cost of materials and workmanship, aside from the altar space, was £3.6,000. Throughout the building are many of the most remarkable paintings produced by Russian artists. The Whole cost of the structure is placed at two and a quarter millions of pounds sterling, andit is said to be capable of containing.!o,ooo worshipers. To ronto Globe.