Nikolo-Bogoyavlenskiy Morskoy Sobor

This guide to the Nikolo-Bogoyavlenskiy Morskoy Sobor in Saint Petersburg follows the naval cathedral through the winter of 1941, when workers wrapped its five gilded domes in dull canvas to hide them from German gunners during the siege of Leningrad. You'll hear how the church had already survived a Soviet campaign that stripped thirteen bells from its tower in the 1930s while its doors stayed open, and how congregations kept praying here through shelling and starvation. Look for the memorial plaques near the entrance as you listen, naming sailors from very different centuries of Russian naval history.