The Rurikid Alexander Newski, Prince of Novgorod (from 1249 Grand Prince of Kiev), brought the advance of the Swedes into Russian territory to a halt at the Battle of the Neva in 1240, and in 1242 in the Battle of Peipus also that of the Teutonic Order. He has been officially honored by the Russian Orthodox Church since 1547 as a saint. The Nevsky Prospekt, a 300-year-old grand boulevard of 4.5 kilometers, connects the Tsar's winter palace to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery at the other end. In the monastery, the bones of the Saint Prince Rurikid are buried.
Along the boulevard you will also find the Kazan Cathedral, erected more than 200 years ago. It was built with St. Peter's in Rome as a model. The cathedral was built over an older predecessor, the Church of the Virgin Mary. It is named after an icon of the Mother of Kazan who is venerated in the cathedral.
The church is considered a memorial church for the victorious defense against Napoleon's campaign of 1812. In it, Field Marshal Michail Kutusov is buried, who as the Russian commander-in-chief, directed the defense. The Field Marshal had prayed before the fighting in the just finished church and asked the Mother of God for help.
After the Communist October Revolution, the cathedral was plundered and devastated. In 1918 the Archpriest of the Church, the philosopher Ornatsky, suffered martyrdom together with his two sons. Ornatsky had celebrated a requiem for the victims of the Communists. Shortly after, he and his two sons were then arrested. He was allowed to say a prayer for those condemned to death on a cliff above the Finnish Gulf, then he, his sons and 30 other men were shot and their bodies thrown over the cliffs into the sea.
In 1922 all the valuables, liturgical implements, and icons were confiscated by the Soviet government, and the cathedral was transformed into a museum of atheism in 1932.
In November 1990, the Sacred Liturgy was celebrated for the first time in consultation with the Museum Directorate - the museum has renamed the Museum of Religious History after the end of the Soviets. In 1999 the evacuation of the museum and the return of the cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church was agreed. The transfer was completed in 2001. In 2002 the icon of the Mother of Kazan was returned to the church. Since 2017, the cathedral has once again been the seat of the metropolitan of Novgorod and Saint Petersburg.
After more than 90 years, the first cross-procession took place in 2013, which commemorates the transfer of the relics of the Rurikid Prince Nevsky to the monastery named after him at the end of the Nevsky Prospect. The video shows recordings of the fourth cross procession since its revival (September 2016).
