14.06.2011 – 14.06.2011  15 °C

Another leisurely start today, as Kate and my only plan for the day was to see the Church of the Spilled Blood and do some souvenir shopping!

The Church of the Spilled Blood is a St Basils look-a-like but is actually the church that was dedicated to Tsar Alexander II who was assassinated in the 19th century. The church is impressive as St Basil’s on the outside but quite different on the inside. For starters it was built only a hundred plus years ago as compared to St B which was started in the 16th century. St B is a rabbit warren of small tiny cathedrals all joined together by little corridors whereas CoSB is one big church. Every wall and roof within CoSB is covered in mosaics dedicated to Christ and stories from the bible.. So impressive! It has been lovingly restored since the early 70s as the church was used as to house food stuffs and theatre props for almost 50 years prior!

I have to say that the Russian Orthodox churches that I have seen so far have just blown me away with their brilliance. It will be interesting to compare them to some of the great Catholic cathedrals of the world!

Kate and I then spent the remaining couple of hours searching for “just the right” souvenir for our respective relatives. Kate left me just after lunch for the airport and I’ve spent the remainder of the day catching up on my blog and fixing up accomm etc for my next trip.