MAY 11, 2008 - SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (2ND DAY)

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008 - SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (2ND DAY) - We began our day just like we began the previous one, Anastasia met us as we exited the ship and proceeded with us through the clearing with Russian authorities.  We surrendered our passports to the authorities, kept a copy of it that we had brought from home, then were cleared and proceeded to walk to the location where the van was parked with our driver inside.  We drove away from the docking area and toward the crossing of the Neva River in Saint Petersburg.  Prior to reaching the bridge that crossed the river, I looked toward the right, across the river and took this picture showing in the distance the 404 ft. tall gold-painted spire of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Looking again slightly behind us I could now see these buildings which were later identified as the Winter Palace that makes up many of the buildings that comprise The Hermitage.

And now, I could see this bridge that we would use to cross the Neva River.

After crossing the river, we pulled into a parking lot and stopped near this white building identified as the Stock Exchange building.  Opposite the exchange building on the Neva River was designed a semicircular overlook with circular ramps descending to a jetty projecting into the river.

Note the end of roof of above white building showing detail of work.

The formal approach is framed by two rostral columns centered on the portico of the Stock Exchange.  The Doric columns sit on a granite pinth and are constructed of brick coated with a deep terra cotta red stucco and decorated with bronze anchors and four pairs of bronze ship prows (rostral).  Seated marble figures decorate the base of each column, each representing the major rivers of Russia.  The Rostral Columns were originally intended to serve as beacons and originally were topped by a light in the form of a Greek brazier and lit by oil.  The braziers have been removed and the tops of the columns refitted with gas torches that continue to be lit on ceremonial occasions. The entire area seemed to be alive with a carnival flavor, people strolling everywhere many of them with a gypsy look.   

Before departing, I snapped a closer picture of this 404 foot gold-painted spire of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral

The Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral is a Russian orthodox cathedral located inside the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg.  It is the first and oldest landmark in the city, built between 1712 and 1833 on Hare Island along the Neva river.  Both the cathedral and the fortress were originally built under Peter the Great.  The cathedral's bell tower is the world's tallest orthodox bell tower.  

 The cathedral houses the remains of almost all the Russian emperors and empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family, who were finally laid to rest in July 1998.  Among the emperors and empresses buried here was Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia for 34 years.

 Alexander II on left;

  his wife, Maria Alexandrovna on the right

 tomb of Nicholas II and his family

 tomb of Peter the Great

We departed from this area and drove back to the main part of Saint Petersburg (that we could see looking across the Neva River) to the Winter Palace which is the site of The State Hermitage Museum.  This museum of art and culture is the second-largest art museum in the world.  It was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from a Berlin merchant.  The museum has been open to the public since 1852.  Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items including the largest collection of paintings in the world.  The entrance for individual visitors is located in the Winter Palace accessible from the Courtyard.

I can't begin to identify any of the pieces of art.  What follows are only examples of what we saw...or didn't.  We paid an extra fee to go to the Gold Room which included a guide from the museum for the four of us.  The guide felt that her English was not good enough so she invited Anastasia to come along and translate for her descriptions in Russian to English.  That went okay until the museum guide started correcting, in English,  what Anastasia said as the translation.  Anastasia later said she thought the guide felt she was a much higher status guide than one who worked for her own company.  Anyway, after we returned from the hour or so in the Gold Room and continued on to view the regular museum pieces, Anastasia said to me that I looked like I was "spacing out".  I said yes I was.  She then told me to go ahead to Room 123 and take a little time to myself.  That they would be there in about 1 hour.  I did that; took a little "cat nap" and was alert for the remainder of the time there.

 Anastasia & Sylvia are the two on the right side of this picture; Anastasia in red shoes; Sylvia in red top.

 And this, folks, is Anastasia.

We departed from our 4+ hours at The Hermitage through the doors that opened onto the Palace Square.  There, we saw a continuation of the various palaces that joined the Winter Palace to provide the ample space defined as The Hermitage.

And, across the courtyard stood the Alexander Column.  The  Alexander Column is the focal point of Palace Square.  The monument was raised after the Russian victory in the war with Napoleon's France.  The column is named for Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who reigned from 1801-25.

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 The Alexander Column is topped with a statue of angel holding a cross.  The face of the angel bears great similarity to the face of Emperor Alexander I.

 On the left, is Josh in the jungle-type hat.

  It is a large square.

The horses in the sculpture are similar to the ones from Roman times, found today in Venice, Italy.  In 1797, they were stolen by Napoleon from the facade of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice and carried to Paris for display on the Arc de Triumph.  After Waterloo in 1815, they were returned to Venice.  Through the years, replicas have been made to top various buildings and monuments.  Today, a replica is used on the Arc de Triumph in Paris and on the facade of St. Mark's Basilica (Doge's Palace) in Venice (the originals are on display inside protected from damage caused by pollution).

Soon, our van arrived (thanks to our driver & a call from Anastasia) and we loaded for the journey to  The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg.  Other names for this church include the Church on Spilled Blood, the Temple of the Savior on Spilled Blood, and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.

Erected on the site where political nihilists fatally wounded Emperor Alexander II in March 1881, the church was constructed between 1883 and 1908 funded by the imperial family.

 Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, two years after the assassination of his father, Alexander II.  The church was dedicated to be a memorial to his father.  Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles.  The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907.  As earlier stated, "funding was provided by the Imperial family" but also,  with the support of many private donors.

The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal.  On March 13, 1881, as Alexander II's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded.  The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit.  A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar.  The tsar bleeding heavily, was take back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later.

A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken.  In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church.  An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium was constructed at the end of the church, opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination.  It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones, making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.

Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg's other structures.  The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical,l, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism.  It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavi churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

The church contains over 8,000 square yards of mosaics--according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.  The interior was designated by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day.  The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics, the  main pictures being biblical scenes or figures 

 Note the detail of the richly decorated facade and onion domes.

 And, mosaics in the interior.

  We stepped outside to see the Griboedov Canal well populated with racing watercraft.

 And, then we admired the gates and fencing before loading onto the van.

Our next stop was one of the many "most beautiful metro stations in Saint Petersburg".  

 We were told that the metro of Saint Petersburg is renowned for the beauty and the architectural ingenuity of its stations.  The first line was constructed in 1955, and all eight stations on that line hold the status of places of cultural significance with five of those being the deepest subway station platforms in the world.  The typical platform is 187 feet deep, with the very deepest being at 282 feet.  The one we visited was very, very deep and very beautiful.  Anastasia said, "the royals built monuments for themselves; the Soviets built monuments such as metro stations for the people.  (Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos of this beautiful platform.)

Our next, and final, stop was at Yusupov Palace on the Mioka River.  (If you remember  in one of the first paragraphs of this adventure in Saint Petersburg, I told you " ...one big advantage of our eating lunch in the van while we travel...)  This is that advantage:  we had time to visit another stop, Yusupov Palace.

The Yusupov Palace was once the primary residence in Saint Petersburg of the House of Yusupov,  The building was the site of Grigori Rasputin's murder in the early morning of December 17, 1916.

The palace was first built around 1776 by the a French architect.  Over the years a number of architects worked on the palace including a famous Italian sculptor producing a variety of architectural styles.  The Building was reconstructed in the 1830s after the princely Yusupov family acquired the property and it then acquired its present-day appearance.  The Yusupovs were immensely wealthy and known for their philanthropy and art collections.  The luxurious interiors of the palace were not inferior to those of contemporary royal palaces.  More than 40,000 works of art, including works by Rembrandt, jewelry and sculptures decorated the palace.  Following the Russian Revolution, the palace was nationalized and its works of art were largely relocated to The Hermitage and other museums.  I don't remember seeing anything worthwhile photographing before we entered the palace.  Here is a beautiful floor.  ...and it continues....

(As a side note, notice the woman here, with red hair, wearing the dark top.  She is typical of the stationary "guides" we saw in every room of any of the public & private buildings that we visited in Russia.  It appears that her duties revolve around keeping the tourists from touching or damaging items, and making certain that any camera used has the proper emblem attached to it, showing that the tax was paid to use it, while in Russia.  I paid the tax purchasing that emblem at our first stop on the first day of our visit.  It is still attached to that camera which I am no longer using).

The palatial theater

 That's Anastasia again... 

This scene was set up in the basement, depicting the setting and the eventual murder of Rasputin.

The royal family of Nicholas II

 The meal that was prepared and served.

 Rasputin

 "Alexie"  (only son of Nicholas II)

 Rasputin at table of food

We ended our long day back where we started, retrieved our passports with the help of our wonderful guide, Anastasia, and handed her a fat tip for her and our driver.  It was a wonderful, approximately 20 hours that they spent with us.  We couldn't ask for a better crew.