Church of the Assumption

When Tsarevich Nikolai (later Nicholas II, the last Romanov tsar) was attacked by a Japanese fanatic while on a tour of Asia in 1891, he sustained a serious blow to the head but miraculously survived. The customs officers of St Petersburg’s docklands gathered money and constructed a bell tower in thanks for the survival of the heir to the throne. The church was sanctified in 1899, and the imperial family would annually come here to attend a service of thanksgiving for Nicholas’ deliverance. The church was shut from 1935 to 1991. Restoration is ongoing since then, with fantastic results. The impressive portico and shimmering golden domes are particularly (and incongruously) beautiful in this, one of St Petersburg’s most industrial suburbs.