My visit to Saint Petersburg (Санкт Петербург, previously Leningrad) coincided
with the would-be quatercentenary of the Romanov dynasty. I was struck by the baroque magnificence of the city, which, I think, would be one of the
top destinations in Europe, were it easier to enter Russia. There are pockets of almost forgotten elegance that seem more Parisian than
modern tourist-swamped Paris.
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The Winter Palace, largely by the Italian Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, was the seat of government in Imperial Russia. As such
it was the scene of the Bloody Sunday massacre in 1905 and the fall of the Provisional Government of 1917.
As a museum, the Hermitage ranks alongside the British Museum and the Louvre in being so
vast that it's quite impossible to see everything on display in a single visit. |
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The Botik is an English boat said to have been given to Ivan The Terrible as a gift by
Elizabeth I (of England). When later found by Peter The Great, it inspired him to transform Russia into a European
naval power, and thus to found the city of Saint Petersburg in 1703, starting with the Peter And Paul Fortress. |
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The Church On The Spilled Blood was constructed on the site of the assassination of Alexander II in 1881. |
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Like the Winter Palace, Smolny Convent was designed by Rastrelli. |
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Taking the train from Vitebsky Terminal, one can reach the suburban town called Tsarskoye Selo (also called Pushkin and Detskoye Selo),
where the tsars resided when not in the city. The enormous Catherine Palace (by Rastrelli) contains a whole series of gilded halls, plus
the Amber Room, which is panelled entirely in amber gemstones (no photography permitted). |
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Helsinki is only three hours' journey from St. Petersburg.
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