Saint Isaac's CathedralSuspected

Dated: Dated 1818–58
Declared purpose: Cathedral
Today: Survives, museum with services
Build time: About 40 years (1818–58)
Region: Russia
Architect of record: Auguste de Montferrand, architect: about 32 when credited (1818, born 1786). Build time on record: about 40 years (1818–58).All architects of record →
On the list as: Suspected

Why it's on the list

Single-piece granite columns quarried, shipped and raised with capstans and manpower.

Hidden history

Found, Not Built

A gilded dome over porticoes of single-piece granite columns, by Auguste de Montferrand. The record gives about 40 years of work.

Why researchers flag it
Single-piece granite columns quarried, shipped and raised with capstans and manpower.
Monolith columns
Each portico column is a single piece of granite, cut in a Finnish quarry and shipped to the city. Researchers ask how monoliths this size were quarried and raised with capstans and manpower.
A young architect
Montferrand was about 32 when the project began, and the cathedral was his life's work.
A museum since 1931
It was turned into a museum by the Soviet government.