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| The Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood reopened in August 1997 after 27 years of restorations. The cathedral was built in the heart of St. Petersburg at the turn of the century as a tribute to Tsar Alexander II. The church's altar stands on the spot the Tsar was assassinated in 1881 by an anarchist group, the People's Will. During the 1930s, the cathedral was used as a food warehouse. In World War II, it acted as a morgue. After the war, the Mussorgsky Theater of Opera and Ballet used the space for prop storage. When the theater vacated the building in 1970, Soviet authorities considered demolishing it. |