On this day: St Isaac’s Cathedral Was Inaugurated

Tuesday, 19th August 2014 by

On August 19, 1768, St Isaac's Cathedral in St Petersburg was inaugurated. An estimated ten thousand tree trunks were embedded in the swampy ground to provide a stable base for the immense structure. Unfortunately the primitive spray-painting method used to gild the dome was incredibly toxic and resulted in the deaths of dozens of workers.

St Isaac's