Russian Orthodox Cathedral Our Lady of Kazán
Byzantine-style cathedral of gilded onion domes rising over the harbor, built with Cuban brick and Russian craftsmanship.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral Our Lady of Kazan in Havana follows engineer Pedro Rodriguez Sanchez, who had never built anything like the onion-bulb cupolas and Byzantine towers on his blueprint. Fidel Castro pushed the cathedral forward as a monument to Cuban-Russian friendship, but the actual building fell to Havana city engineers used to colonial stone, not hurricane-proofing a design meant for snow country. Ground broke in November 2004, and Metropolitan Kirill, later Patriarch of Moscow, laid the foundation stone in 2006. Look up at the great gold dome over the bay, cast far from the bricks holding it up.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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