9G 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ST. ISAAC S CATHEDRAL, PKTROGRAD 



The first shrine of All the Russias was begun in 1819. Inside and out, the gigantic 

 proportions, the profusion of marbles, the brilliance of the gilding, the elaborate mural 

 paintings, and the gleam of the polished pavement, produce a dazzling impression of beauty 

 and magnificence. After Pompey's pillar and the column of Alexander in Petrograd, the 

 48 columns of the four porticos of St. Isaac's, 56 feet high and 6 l / 2 feet in diameter, are said 

 to be the largest single stones which the hand of man has cut, rounded, and polished. 



