St. Catherine's Church

About

St. Catherine's Church, Pärnu (Estonian: Katariina kirik) is a Russian Orthodox church in Pärnu, Estonia. The church was built in 1764-1768 and named after the empress, Catherine the Great, who presented the church to the city after a visit in 1764.

It is built in a baroque style by architect P. Jegorov, and has been a source of inspiration for subsequent orthodox church architecture in the Baltic states. It displays a large central dome with a lantern, flanked by four smaller turrets and a western tower with a needle-pointed spire.

The façade is rather lavishly decorated, divided by pediments and cornices. Inside, the iconostasis, also by Jegorov, is noteworthy.