Chesmenskaia Tserkov' (Chesma Church)

Description:

• This Gothic, candy-cane cathedral is worth a visit only if you're already in the neighborhood around Victory Park (Park Pobedy), since it's well south of the city center. Architecture buffs will be fascinated by the cathedral's pink-and-white vertical stripes and unusual column construction. The monastery across the street is now an aviation construction institute, where students perform lab work in the former monks' cells. The church was abandoned in Soviet times, and children climbed through broken stained glass to romp through its chapels. It's now a functioning church once again.

• © Frommer's 2013