The Trinity Cathedral’s fire

1. The Trinity Cathedral, sometimes called the Troitsky Cathedral, in St Petersburg is a late example of the Empire style, built between 1828 and 1835 to a design by Vasily Stasov. The central 80-meter-high dome of the Trinity Cathedral and 4 smaller ones surrounding it - painted a striking light blue and in some cases spangled with gold stars. This cathedral is located due south of the Admiralty on Izmaylovskiy Prospect. The Trinity Cathedral, which can accommodate up to 3,000 visitors, has only recently begun to be restored to its pre-Revolutionary splendour after years of neglect. In 1990, the Cathedral became a part of the Saint Petersburg World Heritage Site.

2. On Friday, August 25, 2006 the main dome of the Cathedral - one of the largest wooden domes in Europe collapsed after a fire as did one of the smaller cupolas. Besides the fire severely damaged the interior of the cathedral. The fire was reported to begin in the early evening, just after 5 pm, and burn through scaffolding outside the soaring central dome. Hundreds of people have gathered round the cathedral – one of the major city landmarks.

3. Firefighters battled to save the other 3 cupolas as emergency workers and clerics removed treasured icons and other religious articles. These valuable items were being evacuated and left outside the main entrance under police guard. The firefighters hadn’t long enough ladders to reach the top of the dome. They had been aiming their water guns at the middle section. An Emergency Situations Ministry Mi-8 helicopter was called in. It brought in to fight the blaze dumped water on the historic structure.

4. About 4 hours after firefighting the blaze broke out.No one was hurt in the incident. Around 30 firefighting units worked at the site.

5. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. But acting St. Petersburg emergency department chief Leonid Belyayev said the blaze apparently started on scaffolding on the outside of the church. Governor Valentina Matviyenko had pledged to restore the cathedral within the shortest time possible, pledging to allocate 30 million rubles ($1.12 million) the same year on preparations to rebuild a cathedral.