La chiesa dell’Apostolo Pietro a Marzialnye Vody

The church of the Apostle Peter in Mar zialnye Vody The church of St Peter the Apostle in Marzialnye Vody (Marcial Waters) was built in 1719-1722 on the shores of Lake Onega, in Karelia, were Peter used to take care of his health, not far from the wharfs were his fleet was built to fight against the Swedes during the Great Northern War. This church has very unorthodox features. Its interior is designed to be similar a ship’s one. In this article we analyse the church, emphasising on the merging of sacred and profane elements, which was a very common trait of the Tsar’s policy. In the end, this church will be defined as a sort of test ing laboratory for the construction of the new-born city of Saint Petersburg, where the same themes emerge in a bigger and more complex scale.