The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, inspired by St Peter’s in Rome, boasts an impressive (76m) dome and a long semicircular colonnade on Nevsky Prospekt. Paul I had it built between 1801 and 1811 by Andrei Voronikhin to house the precious icon of the Virgin of Kazan, protector of the Romanovs since Michael’s victory over the Poles in 1612. Note the beautiful bronze doorway, a perfect copy of the Gates of Paradise at the Baptistry in Florence.