About the location (from Wiki):
Kazan Cathedral or Kazanskiy Kafedralniy Sobor, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, is a cathedral temple of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, probably the most venerated icon in Russia. Note that the double name in the Russian transcription Kafedralniy Sobor. The both terms are associative, yet each carry their own meaning. The construction was started in 1801 and continued for ten years (supervised by Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov). Upon its completion the new temple replaced the Church of Nativity of the Theotokos which was disassembled when the Kazan Cathedral was baptized.

In 1876, the first political demonstration in Russia took place in front of the church. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the cathedral was closed. In 1932, it was reopened as the pro-Marxist “Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism.” Services were resumed in 1992; and four years later the cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now it is the mother cathedral of the metropolis of St. Petersburg. The cathedral’s interior, with its numerous columns, echoes a ponderous outward colonnade and reminds one of a sumptuous palatial hall (69 metres in length, 62 metres in height). The interior features numerous sculptures and icons executed by the best Russian artists of the day. A wrought iron grille, separating the cathedral from a small square behind, is sometimes cited as one of the finest ever created.

Movies shot at this location:
Pilli Pilli Vache from Arjun