St Sampsoniy Cathedral in St. Petersburg

St Sampsoniy Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in St. Petersburg. The original wooden church was built in 1710 to commemorate Russian victory in the Battle of Poltava of June 27th 1709. In 1909 Russia was getting ready for the celebration of the 200thg anniversary of the battle of Poltava. The church was considerably renovated and elevated to cathedral status. The same year a monument to Peter I has been inaugurated in front of the church. The monument was removed by the Soviets and restored in 2003 as part of the city's tercentenary celebrations.The parish was disbanded by the Soviets in the 1930s, and the church building was converted into a warehouse and then into ready-made clothes shop. It was restored in the late 1970s and reopened in 2000 as a museum attached to St. Isaac's Cathedral.