2019 Poland, Baltic States and Russia: Day 20 - Tour Day 9 – Monday 22 July 2019

Sunrise: 4:16am Sunset: 9:52pm

Forecast : 13 to 25 and sunny

Absolutely beautiful day weather wise today.

St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It was the imperial capital for 2 centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, subject of the city's iconic “Bronze Horseman” statue. It remains Russia's cultural center, with venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the State Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from Orthodox icon paintings to Kandinsky works.

St Petersburg became Petrograd in 1914, then Leningrad in 1924 and in 1991 it became St Petersburg again.

We got away on time for the included city tour and drove around viewing various palaces and churches. Got off the bus at the church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood to take photos.

From there we then crossed over the river and had a "comfort break" at a souvenir shop where we could use the facilities and buy a drink plus souvenirs if you wanted to buy.

From there we continued on to the Peter & Paul Fortress. We arrived there just as it opened at 10am.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. In the early 1920s, it was still used as a prison and execution ground by the Bolshevik government.

We visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral and Grand Ducal Burial Chapel.

Peter and Paul Cathedral is the symbolic center of Russia because it is the burial place of many of the imperial family. For two hundred years all Russian rulers from Peter I to Nicolas II (except Peter II and Ivan VI) and their families were buried here. The locations of the graves are marked by sarcophagi made of white Carrara marble. The lids of the tombs are decorated with large bronze cross coated in pure gold, tombs of the rulers have four bronze emblems of the Russian Empire at four corners. Sarcophagi of Emperor Alexander II

and his wife Maria Alexandrovna

were replaced by those made of green Altai jasper and pink Urals rhodonite in 1906. The remains of the last Russian Emperor Nicolas II and members of his family, who were shot under the town of Ekaterinburg by local Bolsheviks on 17 July 1918, were buried in the Catherine’s Chapel of Peter and Paul Cathedral on 17 July 1998.

Julia, our local guide, who is with us for the next couple of days, is very good.

After that visit, the few people who were not doing the optional out to the palace, were dropped off the bus with Anna at 10:45 and the rest of us continued out to the country side.

We picked up our 2nd guide, Dasha, at 11:30. At the Pavlovsk Palace, they only allow 25 people at a time into each room, so we will be split into 2 groups for the visit.

11:40 and on the outskirts of the city and there are huge grassy parks and huge supermarkets. I think we passed under the spaghetti junction highway that we drove in on yesterday. The road we are on leads to the airport. There looks like new apartment blocks are being built out this way.

We arrived in the town of Pushkin around 11:50 and it is a pretty town. Lots of green parks around. We drove past the Catherine Palace Gardens and finally arrived at the Pavlovsk Palace at 12:10. It’s actually outside the city limits of Pushkin.

Povlovsk Palace

is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by the order of Catherine the Great for her son, Grand Duke Paul, in Pavlovsk, within Saint Petersburg.

It was built by Charles Cameron between 1782 and 1786. When Paul I ascended the throne, the simplicity of the Palace no longer satisfied him and he commissioned Vincenzo Brenna to enlarge the complex. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna. They had 10 children together.

A portrait of the family. One daughter had died and that is the bust in the centre background.

The building works continued on up until 1820.

Soon after the October Revolution (1917) it was converted into an art and history museum and it became one of the most visited museum complexes.

It suffered tremendous damage during the 1941-1945 war. The Nazis plundered the palace and before retreating, they burnt the palace down. Restoration and reconstruction work was begun immediately after the war. Many decades seemed to be needed to restore the complex. This giganic work is now close to its completion. Nowadays thousands of Russian and foreign visitors come to see Pavlovsk reborn and beautiful as ever.

There was a flower appreciation exhibition at the palace.

Our tour lasted about 1.5 hrs and we were on the bus back to Saint Petersburg by 2pm. We arrived at the hotel just after 3pm.

I finally got off my backside and went for a walk to the Anichkov Bridge. I was hoping to get further but the walk from the hotel took me ½ an hour and I didn’t leave until 5 and was meeting Nicole at 6:45 for a drink in the bar, so took photos of the statues on the bridge and then walked back to the hotel.

The Anichkov Bridge is the oldest and most famous bridge across the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg. The current bridge, built in 1841-42 and reconstructed in 1906-08, combines a simple form with some spectacular decorations. It is one of the architectural highlights of Nevsky Prospekt, and essential viewing for any visitor to St. Petersburg, both for the spectacular views of the surrounding palaces from the vantage point of its humped back, and for the famous sculptures - the Horse Tamers - that crown its four corners.

One of the 4 statues

After meeting Nicole for a drink, we then went over the road to the shopping mall and bought some things from the supermarket there. Back to the hotel. Had a nightcap and I’m now catching up on the journal.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the old part of Saint Petersburg is built on a marsh and over the years, the buildings are slowly sinking.