St Petersburg, briefly known as Leningrad, was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. It is associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and is considered the Northern capital. We were fortunate to have a Saturday free in this city, and doubly fortunate that work hired a driver and guide for us for the day!
The guide spoke fluent English, and walked us through some of the major historical and cultural highlights in the city before we were driven to Peterhof Palace, about an hour out of St Petersburg. She was really able to bring the history and culture of St Petersburg and Russia to life.
Surprise bonus! This is a beer we had in Belgium that, at the time, were unable to find at home. We found it in this pub in St Petersburg!
Neil thought the kids would get a kick out of this. Bathroom at work.View from our hotel room.This one’s for the kids.As is this.Russian classic.Across the Neva River, looking at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral, inside the Peter and Paul Fortress. It’s the first and oldest landmark in St. Petersburg, built under Peter the Great, in the 1700s. Rostral Column at the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. They were originally to be beacons and were topped with Greek braziers. Now, they have gas torches that are lit on special occasions.Saint Isaac’s Cathedral that currently functions mostly as a museum. It’s the fourth church built on this site.During World War II, the dome was painted in gray to hide it from enemy aircraft.The bronze Monument to Nicholas I at Isaakievskaya Ploshchad (St. Isaac’s Square), created in 1859.Peter the Great commissioned his summer residence, Peterhof Palace (Peter’s Courtyard), in the 1700s. It was modelled after the French court at Versailles and other royal sites so that visitors would admire Russia and take it seriously.The Upper Gardens have an area of 15 hectares and are built according to the designs of Peter. The gardens used to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and medicinal plants.Square Ponds Fountains. The ponds in the Upper Gardens were used as water reservoirs for the fountains in the Lower Gardens. Fish used to be bred in these ponds.There are 64 different fountains on the grounds of the Peterhof Palace, and they all operate without the use of pumps. Water comes from natural springs, is collected in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens, and height differences between the Upper and Lower Gardens creates the pressure required to drive all the fountains! Samson Tearing Apart the Jaws of the Lion was created to symbolize Russia’s victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War (Peter the Great was often compared to Samson and the lion is on Sweden’s coat of arms). The water in this fountain is supplied by a special 4 km aqueduct!Chessboard Hill Cascade. The marble figures are ten gods made in Peter the Great’s time by Italian masters. These are the original figures – in 1941, they were buried for protection during the wars and retrieved in 1953.Golden Hill Cascade. The guide timed it so we would be here when they turned on the fountain once a day.Fir Tree Trick Fountain built in 1784, and restored in 1958 after being destroyed in the way. There are 3 small metal trees made of interconnected tubes with branches covered with wire “needles”. The sprays are triggered when people get close.Sun Fountain. At the base are 16 dolphins whose mouths shoot jets of water.Don’t need to read Russian to understand this!This is Fountain Alley, connecting the Grand Palace to the sea (the Gulf of Finland).The Gulf of Finland. In the past, guests to Peterhof would arrive in ships and be transferred in small boats through the Sea Canal to the Grand Palace.
The Lion Cascade. Built in 1799, restored in 2000, it looks like a Greek temple. There are bronze lions guarding the sides of the fountain.Marly Palace, named after the similar residence of French King Louis XIV. It was used as a guest house. The viaduct and ponds around this palace are still used today to breed fish.Cathedral of St Nicholas, completed in 1762, is dedicated to Saint Nicolas, patron of sailors.The cathedral’s four story bell tower was completed in 1758.Tick infestation?Steps away is the Church of St Isidor, built for the Brotherhood of St Isidor. It’s a new church – built in early 1900s but has the traditional 5-dome design.The Flying Dutchman, a replica of the Dutch ship Amsterdam.Too bad it’s just a fitness centre and restaurant inside.Built in the 1700s, Peter and Paul Fortress is the birthplace of St Petersburg, but it never served as a fortress. It was the burial ground of the Russian Imperial family and a prison for political criminals until the 1920s.Built in the 1700s as instructed by Peter the Great, the Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signals was intended for storing old artillery equipment.Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood, built at the start of the 20th century on the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II (hence its name). The church is a Russian Orthodox church built in the style of medieval Russian architecture and its domes are decorated with jeweller’s enamel.St Petersburg was built on the delta of the Neva River and there are more than 70 rivers and canals winding through the city. The Winter Canal is one of the shortest canals (220 m) in St Petersburg. Construction of the canal began in 1719. The farthest bridge in the background is the Hermitage bridge, with the Hermitage Theatre on one side and the Winter Palace on the other.Atlantes Portico of the New Hermitage. In European sculpture, an atlas (plural atlantes) is a support column in the form of a man. The 10 atlantes were carved out of granite by a sculptor and his 150 assistants.Palace Square is the site of numerous historical events of Russian history including the Bloody Sunday massacre and parts of the October Revolution of 1917. The General Staff Building, commissioned by Catherine the Great, is the long bow-shaped building.Fancy horse-drawn carriage rides for the tourists at the Palace Square. After that, we boarded a boat tour from one of the smaller canals, where we could see many of the same sites from the water. The Winter Palace was the primary residence of the Russian Emperors between 1732 and 1917. It has the Neva River on on side and the Palace Square on the other. It’s reputed to have thousands of doors, windows and room.The Neva River – one of the largest rivers in Europe but also shortest at only 74 km. Blagoveshchenskiy Bridge was the first permanent bridge across the river built in 1850. At that time, it was also the longest bridge in Europe. The bridge is a bascule bridge, aka a drawbridge or lifting bridge).Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral from the water.
Petrovsky Stadium is on the Petrovsky Island.There are numerous shipyards on the Neva River.The shipyards build and repair submarines, oil tankers, Imperial Russian battleships, Soviet nuclear-powered icebreakers, merchant ships and Russian floating nuclear power stations.Sailboats too!At the mouth of the Neva.Gazprom Arena, aka The Spaceship.Sailboats for Neil as an excellent finale to our boat tour 😉And that’s it for breezing through St Petersburg in a day. Next day, Jul 19, we boarded our flight home.
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1 comments on “St Petersburg”
Looked fun! The boats and trucks and toilet were sooooooo cool! I love the foiling boat.
Looked fun! The boats and trucks and toilet were sooooooo cool! I love the foiling boat.