The Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood derives its catchy title from the fact that it is built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated by a hand grenade in 1881. In fact, inside the cathedral, you can see the very cobbles where his blood was spattered! The Church (commissioned as a tribute to his father, by Alexander III) is one of the most conspicuous buildings in St. Petersburg as it was not designed in the baroque style of the day, but built in the classic Russian style of St. Basil's in Moscow. After the 1917 revolution it was closed for business and during WWII used as veggie market - earning it the nickname 'Church of Our Saviour on the Potatoes'.
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