A first visit to St. Petersburg should of course include a visit to the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, Kunstkamera, a walk along Nevsky, a trip to the Mariinsky Theatre and the Philharmonic, and a climb to the top of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Despite the fairly large size of the city on the Neva, its major architectural monuments and main attractions are compactly situated in the centre, and can be explored in 3-4 days if necessary. You can discover the real St. Petersburg for yourself in a number of different ways: through walks around the city, by taking a bus excursion (there are many, so you can choose the variant that suits you best), through an individual car journey with your own driver and guide or by riding around the centre in a horse-drawn carriage.
1806-1823
Architect A. Zakharov
The Admiralty is one of St. Petersburg’s dominant architectural structures. Its tower and spire are easily visible from the city’s three straight central radials. Sunbeams appear to radiate from the Admiralty, shining on the isosceles triangle formed by Nevsky Prospect, Gorokhovaya Ulitsa and Voznesensky Prospect. The first Admiralty was built according to plans designed by Peter I himself as Russia’s main shipbuilding wharf on the Baltic Sea. Today the Admiralty building houses the Dzerzhinsky Higher Naval Academy, so it is unfortunately off limits to tourists. However, the building and its naval sculptures can be admired from the outside whilst taking a stroll around the Alexandrovsky Gardens. The golden ship on the Admiralty spire is a symbol of the city. Although from the ground, it may appear small, it actually weighs 65 kilos and is plated with two kilos of solid gold. According to legend, the ship depicts the Russian navy’s first ship, built by Peter I.
If Palace Square is the focal point of St. Petersburg, then the heart of the square itself is the Alexander Column. The monument to the war of 1812, erected in 1830-1834 by the architect Auguste Montferrand, is 47 metres high – the tallest monument of its kind in the world. The huge column, weighing 600 tonnes, is crowned by the figure of an angel, whose face was made by the sculptor to resemble that of Alexander I, the Russian Emperor who defeated Napoleon in the war. The column is surrounded by several buildings in different styles which form the sides of the square, and whose ideal proportions are a joy to look at. The most splendid building on Palace Square is the Winter Palace, opposite which is the grandiose arched General Staff Building with its triumphal arch, while on the eastern side of the square lies the large Guards Corps building. During Soviet times Palace Square was the scene of demonstrations and parades on revolutionary holidays. Now there are often concerts, festivals and large-scale popular celebrations held here.
1754-1762
Architect B. Rastrelli
The Winter Palace is probably St. Petersburg’s most celebrated building. It is the former residence of the imperial family. While the Russian tsars had several summer palaces, the Winter Palace was the major winter residence for rulers and their families starting from Peter III right up until Nicholas II. The palace is the main building on Palace Square, a majestic and ornate architectural monument of Russian baroque style. It was built in the form of an enormous square with an inner courtyard and windows overlooking the Neva, the Admiralty and Palace Square. The palace is remarkable for the magnificent decoration of its facades and opulence of its interiors, which include more than 1000 rooms. During the revolutionary events of 1917, the Winter Palace became the main focus of storming by the Bolsheviks – it was here that the Provisional Government was arrested. Today the Winter Palace belongs to the State Hermitage.
1704
In the centre of Petersburg on a small island between the Fontanka River, Lebyazhaya Canal and the Neva, a neat park was laid out in the European style. This was the city’s first park and included a plentiful collection of marble statues and busts. Peter I wanted his park “to be better than the French king’s at Versailles.” The result of this decree was the first collection of secular sculptures in Russia, the work of the best Italian masters from the late 17th-early18th centuries. Along with the sculptures, the park also contained the first summer imperial residence, known as the Summer Palace of Peter I. Built to a plan by Domenico Trezzini in 1714, the palace is one of the earliest architectural monuments in St. Petersburg. The Summer Palace is also decorated by its famed railings which run along the side facing onto the Neva – these railings are another of the city’s symbols.
Today the Summer Gardens are part of the State Russian Museum. Their reconstruction is planned for 2008.
Further information
Opening hours (from 1 October to 31 March) – 10.00-20.00
Address: Kutuzov Embankment, 2
Tel.: (812) 314-03-74
www.rusmuseum.ru
Open: Sun-Mon: 11.00-18.00, closed the last Monday of the month
Tel.: 314-04-56
1917-1923
The Field of Mars is a large square in the centre of St. Petersburg. Its name comes from that of the Roman god of war, just like the similar squares in Rome and Paris. Under Peter I there was an island with a meadow here, where military parades and firework displays were often held. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the square was given the name Field of Mars. At the beginning of the 20th century, the victims of the revolution and civil war were buried here. In 1919, in the centre of the field, a monument to ‘Champions of the Revolution’ was erected here, and in 1957 an eternal flame – the first in the country – was lit in the memorial complex. It is believed that the flame at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Kremlin walls in Moscow was lit from this flame.
1768-1782
Architect E. Falconet
The Bronze Horseman is a symbolic monument of Imperial St. Petersburg. It was created by the decree of Empress Catherine II in honour of Peter the Great – the founder of the city on the Neva, the tsar who had fought for an outlet to the sea for Russia. The monument was not called the Bronze Horseman originally, but got its name from Pushkin’s eponymous poem. The monument depicts Peter I astride a rearing horse. It was the first monument in the city and the first in Russia dedicated to a Russian tsar. Incidentally, the enormous intact boulder underneath the horseman has its own name, ‘thunder-rock.’ According to legend, it was this rock that Peter would climb up onto during the Great Northern War in order to better see the position of his troops. Bringing the 1600-tonne pedestal to Petersburg from the village of Lakhta on the shore of the Gulf of Finland where it was found took a whole year and a half. The gigantic boulder was dragged by barge to the construction site, and was then dragged along dry land with the aid of furrows and brass spheres. The inscription on the base reads, “To Peter I from Catherine II,” emphasising the thoughts of the ambitious empress – to create a line of succession from the deeds of Peter and her own work.
Nevsky is one of St. Petersburg’s best known spots, a lively prospect, the focus of the city’s business and tourist life. Years ago it was called the Nevsky Perspective. Those planning to head there for a stroll should remember that Nevsky Prospect is very long and is divided into two parts – Nevsky proper and Old Nevsky. From the point of view of an excursion on foot, the first part is interesting – it begins at Palace Square and finishes at Ploshchad Vosstaniya. Along the way it crosses three rivers: the Moika, the Griboedov Canal and the Fontanka. You will also see the General Staff Arch, the famous Kazan Cathedral, the House of Books located in the art deco Singer building, a breathtaking view along the Griboedov canal of the Saviour-on-the-Spilled-Blood Cathedral, followed by the Duma tower, Gostiny Dvor (the city’s largest department store), the Public Library, Passage shopping centre and the Catherine Gardens. Opposite the park stands a beautiful early art deco building, lavishly decorated both inside and out – this is the Yeliseevsky delicatessen, whose ground floor houses a shop while the first floor houses the Theatre of Comedy. Continuing, on the right is the Anichkov palace, and leading over the Fontanka – the Anichkov bridge, which is easily recognisable thanks to its sculptural composition by Peter Klodt ‘The Horse Tamers.’ (Copies of the sculptures can be seen in Naples and Berlin). And of course, Nevsky also boasts numerous fashionable coffee shops and restaurants.
1703
Architect Lambert
The Peter and Paul Fortress is where St. Petersburg all began. The first construction work of the city began on Hare Island at the mouth of the Neva. The new fortress was designed to protect the land taken from the Swedes during the Great Northern War. However, it was never used as a fort, and in 1718 it was turned into a prison for political prisoners. One of the most famous inmates of the cells of Petropavlovka (as the fortress’s name is shortened to by locals) was Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Peter and Paul Cathedral in the very centre of the fortress is the resting place of the imperial Romanov family, where the remains of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II are buried. Today the Peter and Paul Fortress houses a museum on the history of St. Petersburg, including exhibitions in the bastion dungeon, the ‘Museum of Cosmonauts and Rocket Science’, ‘The Mint’ and others. Every day at the Naryshkin bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, a cannon is fired at midday.
Further information
Open: every day 11.00-18.00
Address: Peter and Paul Fortress, 3
Tel.: (812) 238-45-11
www.spbmuseum.ru
Museum of Cosmonauts and Rocket Science
Open: Thurs-Fri: 11.00-18.00, Tues: 11.00-17.00
Address: Peter and Paul Fortress,3, Ioanovsky ravelin,
Tel.: (812) 230-03-32
Opposite the Catherine Gardens, next to Sadovaya Ulitsa there is a small pedestrian zone – Malaya Sadovaya. This is one of the prettiest and most picturesque parts in the centre of the city. Here, on one building sits the copper cat Vasilisa, and on the opposite side sits the cat Yelisei. It is said that if you throw some money and it lands next to one of the animals, your wish will come true. There is also a statue of a photographer with a small pug dog and umbrella on Malaya Sadovaya, it is a tradition to be photographed with him. This is one of four well-known pedestrian streets in the centre of the city. The others are Malaya Konyushennaya which leads off Nevsky Prospect opposite Kazan Cathedral, the 6th-7th Lines of Vasilievsky Island (next to Vasileostrovskaya metro) and Bolshaya Moskovskaya Ulitsa (near Vladimirskaya metro). The latter features an amusing monument, ‘To the Kind Dog’, which stands in a square on ulitsa Pravdy. A contemporary sculpture park is now taking shape there.
Ploshchad Dekabristov was given its current name in the Soviet era in honour of the Decembrist Uprising which took place here in 1825. The defiant regiments refused to swear allegiance to the new tsar, Nicholas I, and lined up in the square. The uprising was harshly repressed. Until 1925 the square was known as Senate Square, due to the Senate building located here. The square’s main attraction is the Bronze Horseman, while the square itself opens widely onto the Neva – previously there was a bridge here across to the other bank of the Neva. From the embankment the view of the Spit of Vasilevsky Island and University Embankment complete this superb ensemble. The architectural profile of Ploshchad Dekabristov is characterised by several buildings: St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Admiralty, the Senate and Synod buildings, the Horseguards’ Manege (1804-1807, architect Quarenghi). Now the Manege houses the Central Exhibition Hall where major expositions are shown.
1805-1810
Architect Thomas de Thomon
Probably one of the most celebrated and charming Petersburg architectural ensembles is the Spit of Vasilevsky Island with its ‘classical temple’ – the Stock Exchange building in the middle, framed by the Rostral Columns on either side. During celebrations the rostral columns, decorated with sculptures symbolising Russia’s four great rivers – the Volga, Dnieper, Volkhov and Neva – belch fire like giant torches, a truly awesome sight. At the landing berths of the Spit are perfectly even stone spheres which, legend has it, the stonemason Samson Sukhanov shaped by eye without using any measuring instruments. Newly-weds come directly from their marriage ceremony here to break champagne glasses on the spheres ‘for happiness.’
From the Spit there is a superb view of all the Northern Capital’s major sights: The Peter and Paul Fortress on one side and the Hermitage on the other. A little right of the Hermitage are the Admiralty, Ploshchad Dekabristov and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Right next to the spit are the Twelve Colleges building (the university), the Kunstkamera and the main building of the Academy of Science. The best view of the Spit itself can be seen from Troitsky bridge. Not for nothing did Alexander Dumas write about the Spit of Vasilevsky Island: “I do not know whether there can be any view in the world that could compare with the panorama unfolding before my eyes.” |
