Orthodox Church of St Michael the Archangel in Ujazdów, 1915–1916

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The German photographer was clearly impressed by the beauty of the ‘Russian Church’ towering over the Łazienki Park, and its ‘gilded, pear-shaped dome’ as a Scotsman wrote of the beautiful church of St Michael the Archangel in Ujazdów. The church was modelled on the famous Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood in St Petersburg, which in turn was a transposition of the Church of St Basil the Blessed – also known as the Pokrovsky Cathedral – in Moscow, to St Petersburg. Built between 1892 and 1894 it was an important element of the Russian symbolism that was interwoven into the city. Abandoned after the German occupation of the city, it fell into disrepair. It was demolished during the interwar period.