Smolny Cathedral

This sky-blue and white cathedral is the centrepiece of a convent complex designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the mid-eighteenth century, blending exuberant Baroque forms with the silhouette of a traditional Russian five-domed church. Commissioned by Empress Elizabeth, its bell tower was never completed, yet the surviving ensemble is considered one of Rastrelli's finest works. The airy white interior, finished long afterward, now serves as a concert hall and exhibition space.