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SAINT PETERSBURG -The Venice of the North

The City of St. Petersburg has a long and intriguing history. Few cities can offer so many moods as St. Petersburg -City of the Tsars, created by Peter the Great in 1703 to be his “window to Europe”. Though the city is still young its history is overwhelming. Every building here is a page in history.  People acknowledged by the whole world lived and worked in this city, the scientists Mendeleyev and Pavlov, the composers Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, the writers Dostoyevsky and Nabokov, the ballerina Pavlova, the opera singer Chaliapin, these are just a few of the sparkling drops in the sea of high St Petersburg culture.


St. Petersburg combines its fascinating Russian heritage with a distinctly European outlook. St. Petersburg has an air of grace and elegance. There is nothing small here; the squares are huge, the streets very wide and long, there are countless palaces, one more grandiose than the other, either Baroque or Neo-classical in style. In addition to the Neva, other rivers and canals criss-cross the city. And the bridges! There must be hundreds of them. Our eyes are treated to a real feast. You must come and see it for yourself!

THE HERMITAGE

The State Hermitage is one of the biggest art and culture museums. Founded in 1764, the Hermitage comprises eight departments.  The museum collection is located in 6 palaces and there are over 350 halls, 15 thousand paintings, 12 thousand sculptures, 600 thousand drawings, 600 thousand monuments of archaeology, one million coins and medals, and 4224 thousand items of applied arts. Catherine II initiated the collection of the Hermitage, and at the end of the 19th century the museum was opened to public.  There are paintings by Leonard da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussain, Manet, Renoir, Rodin and the Impressionists, and works of sculpture and applied art just to mention a few.

YUSUPOV PALACE

Since 1830 the Yusupov Palace belonged to Princes Yusupovs´ noble family. The building was constructed to the design of J-B Vallen-Delamonte. The Palace retains its genuine 18th century Empire style interiors. The original palace was redesigned several times, preserving till now the elements of the architecture of the 19th century. The last owners of the palace were Prince Yusupov and his wife Irina, a niece of Nicholas II. The palace is also noted as the setting of the murder of Grigory Rasputin, a peasant and self-proclaimed holy man who had won the trust of the Tsar´s family through his alleged supernatural powers. His authority over the decisions of the family and the Russian ruler himself allowed him to become manipulative and a very real threat to their power.

PETERHOF

Located on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, some 30 kilometres from St. Petersburg, this imperial summer residence of Russian tsars is an historical and architectural monument of the 18th and 19th centuries. Construction began here in 1714, during the reign of Peter the Great. Peterhof is the kingdom of fountains, the magical play of water that brings you back to epoch of Peters the Great. It is also famous for the brilliant interiors of Empress Elisabeth. The original palace was built in 1714 – 1725, but later that century the palace was extended and the task was given to the court architect Francesco Bartholomeo Rastrelli. During the Second World War the palace was seriously damaged but most of the rooms have been restored to their former glory.

PUSHKIN – CATHERINE PALACE

Tsarskoye Selo (known as Pushkin), located 25 kilometres south of St. Petersburg, is one of city’s numerous Imperial estates. The estate has a large landscape park and the centre of the architectural ensemble is the Grand Catherine Palace, which was built for Catherine the First, the second wife of Peter the Great. The palace was rebuilt in 1752 - 1757 by Bartholomeo Rastrelli, who turned it into a masterpiece of Russian baroque. The palace is known for its unique amber room, recently restored to its old glory and for the luxurious Grand Hal, a long, gold, mirrored ballroom.

One of the Tsarskoye Selo estate attractions is the Alexander Palace, built between 1792-1796 by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi. It became the favourite residence of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family. It was from here that Nicholas´s family was taken to Siberia to be executed in Ekaterinburg in 1918. Another of Tsarskoye Selo´s major attractions is the Lyceum, founded at the beginning of the 19th century and well preserved. The Lyceum, a boarding school, was created specifically to educate members of the Russian ruling elite and it was here that the most celebrated of all Russian poets, Alexader Pushkin, lived and studied.

PETER AND PAUL FORTRESS

Peter the Great founded the city of St. Petersburg in 1703. The very first building to be constructed was the Peter and Paul Fortress to defend the new city and it became Russia´s political prison from the middle of the 18th century. The Peter and Paul Cathedral, built between 1712-1733 of stone replacing the wooden church of St. Peter and St. Paul, became the burial-vault of the Russian Tsars. Today the fortress is one of St. Petersburg's major tourist attractions. It is also home to the headquarters of the St. Petersburg City History Museum, which displays collections throughout the fortress complex.

MENSHIKOV PALACE

Alexander Menshikov (1673-1729) was a good friend and companion of Peter the Great. He came from a humble background, but was quickly promoted by Peter to become a duke and the Governor General of St Petersburg. Under his supervision the Peter and Paul Fortress and the fort of Kronshlot (now Kronshtadt) were built. After Peter´s death in 1725, Menshikov did his best to ensure that the throne would pass safely to Peter´s wife Catherine I. For two years Menshikov effectively ruled the country. In 1727, a few weeks before his daughter´s marriage to the heir to the throne, Menshikov was accused of treason and stealing government money and was exiled with his whole family to Siberia. Menshikov Palace is not only the oldest, but also one of the largest stone buildings in St Petersburg. It was here that the famous Peter´s “assemblies” took place. It was the setting for celebrating Russian military victories and foreign ambassadors and overseas guests were received there too.

ST. ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL

St. Isaac's Cathedral was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858 by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly coloured stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions.