Katajanokka

This guide to Katajanokka in Helsinki opens with a strange question: how do you consecrate a church built out of a war. It follows the bricks of the Bomarsund fortress, flattened by British and French warships during the Crimean War, as they crossed the Baltic to become this cathedral's tower under architect Aleksei Gornostajev. You'll hear about Tsar Alexander the Second's request for its dedication and the iconostasis painted by Pavel Siltsov inside. Look up at the gilded domes as you listen for how many crown the building.