Golitsyn's Church

In prince Golitsyn's house at Fontanka, 20 was the Church, well-known to the whole city. The fanatical services, headed by the elderly monk Fyodor were executed here in secret to Golitsyn. And when the prince found out, that Fyodor is the tool of some secret political society, he was lured to the big ditch in front of the house and filled up with the ground alive.

Prince A.N.Golitsyn was the ober-procurator of Synod, the minister of the public education and the personal friend of Alexander I, who often came to this church to go to Mass. The house at Fontanka, built in the 80-s of the XVIII century, was bought by Golitsyn in 1812. The new master ordered to decorate the inner rooms again. The architecture of the home church, executed by A.Voronikhin was especially interesting. Iconostasis paintings were made by V.L.Borovikovsky. And the architect A.A.Vitberg made the inner interiors in the mysterious, mystical character: no daylight, the dark steps, the coffins replicas in the praying rooms, the lamps with the red glass, shaped like the bleeding hearts. The church was of the great art value. It was represented in the works of G.R.Derzhavin and in the paintings of A.V.Tyranov. Golitsyn's house is not only the architectural masterpiece, but historical and cultural monument.  In the upper floors of this house lived Turgenevs - brothers Alexander and Nickolai. In Turgenevs apartment the members of the literary circle "Arzamas" gathered. Pushkin was the member of this circle. According to the contemporaries evidence Pushkin written his brilliant impromptu about Mikhailovsky Palace here. It defines the historical place of the palace: "... the lonely monument to the tyrant, the palace, consigned to oblivion."