SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008 - ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008 - SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - When we began planning this trip one specific port that I researched was Saint Petersburg, Russia.  I spent hours reading posts from other "users" on a website called 'Cruise Critic', making notes of details they considered important and, noting how many recommended the hiring of a private guide for a specific group rather than booking with the ship's tour.  Sylvia and I talked about it quite a lot and decided to make a case for our group of six for booking a private guide.  As we began discussing it with the other two couples we were planning to travel with, we laid out the case and convinced them that, even though it might be more expensive than using the ship's tour, there was a possibility we could get a better price and a better tour.

So, we chose this tour group.

A per person price was quoted for the six of us and we agreed.  Once our group was reduced to 4 we decided to divide that group price by 4 and "suck it up".  At that time, the Russian government allowed us to enter the country for a tour, if booked with a guide prior to arrival, without requiring us to obtain a Visa.  However, since I was the person booking the tour, I had to submit all the legal info for each person, including all the info on the passport.  We were required to bring 2 copies of our passports, one for each day, to carry with us.  And, as we departed the ship, our guide Anastasia had to meet us and proceed through the Entry Desk with us.  At that time we brought our passports and they were surrendered to the Russian authorities for the day.  At the end of the day we passed through the same area and collected our passports.  The rules were that we were to be "in the presence" of Anastasia the complete time we were in Russia.  Anastasia provided us with bottled water, and anticipating that most of the food served in Russian restaurants might be meats with cabbage, and because one in our group was a very "selective" eater and another was a vegetarian, we decided to order sandwiches from room service before we departed the ship and bring them along.  This made it easy for us to not need to deal with food that might not be to our liking.  There's one big advantage of our doing this that I will tell you about in a future post.


After taking care of the government requirements, we proceeded to follow Anastasia to our vehicle, a nice 10-passenger van with a driver.  The driver and Anastasia rode in the front area and we had the entire remainder of the van for the four of us.  Even though our driver did not speak English he was very pleasant and accommodating.  We traveled through a rather non-descriptive industrial area to our first stop.  It was in a major area of Saint Petersburg called Senate Square.  Dominating the square was this large statute of Peter the Great on a horse.  The statue itself is 20 feet tall; the pedestal is 25 feet tall for a total of the entire piece being 45 feet tall.

We left the van and walked around the square admiring the statute from all angles.  The Bronze Horseman (as the statue is known) is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square of Saint Petersburg.  Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet.  The name comes from an 1833 poem of the same name by Aleksander Pushkin, which is widely considered one of the most significant works of Russian literature.  The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg.

The statue's pedestal is the enormous "Thunder Stone", the largest stone ever moved by humans without using animals.  The stone originally weighed about 1,500 tons, but was carved down during transportation to its current size.

   It truly is a magnificent piece of art!

Besides the Bronze Horseman statue, the other most important item in the Senate Square is St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.  It was originally built as a cathedral but was turned into a museum by the Soviet government in 1931 and had remained a museum until 2017 when the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but this was not fully accomplished due to the protests of Saint Petersburg citizens opposing the offer.

The cathedral was ordered by Tsar Alexander I to replace an earlier structure and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place.  This present building took 40 years to construct from 1818 to 1858.  To secure the construction, the cathedral's foundation was strengthened by driving 25,000 piles into the fen-land of Saint Petersburg.  Innovative methods were created to erect the giant columns of the portico.  The construction costs of the cathedral totaled an incredible sum of 1,000,000 gold rubles.

During World War II, the dome was painted over in gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy aircraft.  With the fall of communism, the museum designation was adjusted and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel.  The main body of the cathedral is used for services on feast days only.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. The exterior is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block.

The cathedral's main dome rises 333 feet; its exterior is gilded.  The dome is decorated with 12 statues of angels.  The cathedral's bronze doors are covered in reliefs.  The cathedral will accommodate 12,000 people.

Inside, we found the following pieces of art:

Interior of the great dome honoring the Holy Spirit.

Isaac's Gate, bronze door

There are other buildings in Senate Square which were once important government buildings when the federal government was located in Saint Petersburg.

Back in the van we continued on south toward Pushkin,  Tsarskoe Selo, and Catherine Palace.

As we turned into the Pushkin Park, a small band greeted us.

The statue is of Aleksander Pushkin mentioned earlier.

And, a close-up.

The tower for the chapel for Catherine Palace is shown below.

And, now the chapel.

And, four of the people riding in the van.  L to R:  Josh & Claudette; Sylvia & Jim

And, the three beautiful ones together:  L to R:  Sylvia, Anastasia, Claudette

This is Pavlovsk  Palace that Catherine built for her son, Grand Duke Paul.

These two restoration-in-progress pictures show work continuing on Catherine Palace.

And, more properties on the grounds.

 This raised road with arches is one of my favorite items on the property.

And, the lake.  Note the building on an island in the center distance.

And, finally you see Catherine Palace (just a winter home)

Formal gardens

Of course there are gates.  Who would forget them?

  We visit a few rooms inside.

I think this was called the Amber Room

And this one is the gold room.

 We entered a couple of rooms still being restored.

 More gold...

 Finally, another color...green

 And, we exited through the gallery where there were artists' works depicting the building.

We were exhausted!


Back in the van, we departed for the 45 minute ride to Peterhof Palace.  During this time we passed out the sandwiches and enjoyed our lunch.

As we traveled, Anastasia told us the history of this property and mentioned that we would be visiting only the grounds and gardens of this estate.  What a magnificent place.


We arrived at the Peterhof Palace and gardens.  The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XVI of France.  Originally intending it in 1702 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717. inspiring the nickname used by tourists of "The Russian Versailles".

The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Seas to the rising Tsardom of Russia.  Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital Saint Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast.  This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland.  Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.  Beginning in 1714, Peter the Great built a series of palaces for this area.  Later he expanded his plans to include a royal chateau of palaces and gardens on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace.

The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain is modeled on one constructed for Louis XVI at his Chateau de Marly.  At the center of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone.  The 64 fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it.  Their waters flow into a semicircular pool.  In the pool, from the lion's mouth shoots a 65 ft. vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof.

 Looking through the water shooting 65 ft. from the mouth of the lion, through the Lower Gardens,  toward the Sea Channel, and beyond to the Baltic Sea.

Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps.  Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in the reservoirs in the Upper Gardens.  The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens including the Grand Cascade.  The Samson Fountain is supplied by a special aqueduct over 2 miles in length, drawing water and pressure from a high-elevation source.

 

The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century.  Although many trees are overgrown, in the recent years the formal clipping along the many alleys has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden.  The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.  One of the most notable designs is entitled 'The Sun'.  A disk radiating water jets from its edge creates an image of the sun's rays, and the whole structure rotates about a vertical axis so that the direction in which the "sun" faces is constantly changing.

Showing again the Sea Channel as it stretches to the end at the Baltic Sea. 

 We walked to the end.  (shown here)

 And, looked backward at the Peterhof Palace.

All too soon our time ended at this magical place and as we walked through the garden toward the  entrance the magic lingered on for a few more minutes...

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There was a hydrofoil that traveled to/from Saint Petersburg and Peterhof.  Josh & Claudette inquired about their taking it back to the city leaving us and Anastasia to come back in the van.  Anastasia told us that it was not allowed.  We could not split up so we all returned to the city in the van.

Our driver with the van met us at the entrance and we were happy for some time of rest as we traveled back toward the city and then toward our ship.  On the way, we stopped at this church known as The Church of the Resurrection.

 Our final stop for the day was back where we had begun at the dock where the Constellation was tied up.  We reached the parking lot, Anastasia walked with us through the clearing area.  All our bags were searched and then our passports were returned for the overnight.  (We'll start the process again tomorrow).