China: Harbin – Saint Sophia Cathedral

Saint Sophia Cathedral is one of the main attractions in Harbin and the spiritual anchor of the formerly Russian city. The massive cathedral was built in 1932 with massive, deep-green onion dome and ornate red-brick architecture. Standing at 53.35m (175 feet), Saint Sophia is the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the Far East and a masterpiece of Russian Revival and Byzantine architecture. Interestingly, it was model after a Ukrainian church (that no longer exists). The structure is built on a Greek cross floor plan – the center of the church is dominated by a massive deep-green onion dome that stands above four smaller wings. After Russian population mostly left in the mid of 20th century, the cathedral stood nearly abandoned, until the next century when Chine pumped a lot of money into restoration and rejuvenation as part of making Harbin a major tourist attraction and the Chinese obsession with Russian culture.