White Nights in Peter's Town



Panoramic View of St. Petersburg looking up the Neva River-Peter & Paul Fortress(L) and The Hermitage(R)               Source Wikimedia (Panther)

Saint Petersburg is a place that stirs up images in many minds. It is the city of Tsars and Tsarinas, of legendary art work and ballet, of Lenin and Stalin and Rasputin, also of Crime and Punishment. It has had several names since its founding in 1703 ("What are they calling it now?"). St. Petersburg (named after Peter the Great's patron Saint) became Petrograd in 1914 to remove the German influence from the name, then Leningrad in 1924 after the revolutionary's death, and full circle back to the original, as decided by referendum after the fall of the USSR in 1991. I didn't really know much more of the city, but I have since learned a few things.

1. It is not all that old. Founded in 1703, the city is hundreds of years younger than Moscow, and even decades younger than Boston, New York, or Philadelphia.
2. Peter founded the city because he couldn't defeat the Ottoman Empire for naval access through the Black Sea, and he wanted to establish a Baltic port for protection from those neighboring bullies, the Swedes (seems a bit odd now).
3. It is the most "European" city in Russia. Peter traveled throughout Europe, and he and Catherine The Great (a German) modeled the city on ideas from royal palaces in France, Spain, Italy, among others.

The city is a on group of islets alongside the meandering Neva River as it winds its way to the Baltic. On the lefthand side of the photo above is Peter & Paul Fortress, the first Russian settlement. The tall golden spire of the cathedral surrounded by the wall was a very captivating sight. Most of the other attractions of the city center are on the right side, including the six historic buildings that comprise The Hermitage Museum.

Peter & Paul Fortress

Russia was the only place on our trip that required a visa. I won't bore you with the details, but obtaining a Russian tourist visa from the US is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. (In fairness, it probably is not more challenging than a Russian getting a US tourist visa.) There is a loophole for cruise passengers: if you go on an organized shore excursion, the tour will cover the visa for you (no wandering around on your own though!). What our cruise-line didn't make clear however, is that it does not have to be an official Holland-America booked tour. There are Russian-based tourist agencies that are less expensive, more flexible that you can arrange on-line before leaving home who will also cover the vias. I went to TripAdvisor, learned of Alla Tours, and the four of us booked a guide, driver, and car for two days.This worked out very well. Polina Glebko was our guide, as we explored the greater St. Petersburg area over two days inout air-conditioned Mercedes van. Polina is 23, a native, fluent in English, and fun. 

The tour began with a drive into the city for a first glimpse at the city landmarks, such as the Bronze Horseman statue of Peter I, aka the Great, commissioned by Catherine II, also the Great.

It is known that shortly after becoming the sole ruler (he shared it with his brother until age 25), Peter travelled incognito, albeit with a large Russian contingent called the Grand Embassy. He is said to have studied European ways and trades, even working in the Dutch shipyards, before returning to Russia to squelch a coup against him which included his eldest son. Polina says that when he returned, he was a few inches shorter, did not have his same talents, and did not speak Russian, strongly implying he might have been replaced by an imposter. (The Western MSM seems to have suppressed this.) Intriguing!
Behind the statue and across Decembrist's Square is the massive St. Isaac's Cathedral, opened in 1858 and converted to a Museum of Atheism during Soviet days, and is now a museum of religious art.

The driver took us to a dock to board our canal cruise. Many of these Baltic cities have extensive canal networks, and are inevitably dubbed "The Venice of .....(Russia, Sweden, Denmark; fill in the blank).

The next stop was Yusupov Palace, the private home of a weathy noble family. It is a handsome structure with a jewel-like theater and Moorish rooms, but by its international claim to fame is that it is where Grigori Rasputin was poisoned, shot, clubbed in the head, tied in a bag, and thrown in the river December 16-17, 1916. (Phew!! The dude just didn't want to die.) Far from the "Mad Monk" of Western lore, Rasputin was a alternative medical provider and all-around good guy, as we learned from Polina. She said the BBC recently was doing an investigation into the real story of his assassination, but the British government banned it until 2030, strongly suggesting nefarious involvement of the Brits. I report, you decide. (Wikipedia has an interesting discussion of this controversy.)

Not quite life-like display of Rasputin's last meal in the Yusupov Palace

Next, a hydrofoil then whisked us 20 miles out on the Gulf of Finland to Peterhof, Peter's summer palace. He wanted to emulate Versailles, and this palace complex is also famous for the extensive gardens and fountains.

Approaching Peterhof from the dock

A Tourist Warning

Panorama of Peterhof

After a brief lunch and a stroll of the grounds, we headed off for an hour's drive to Tsarskoe Selo (literally "Tsar's Village"), home to the country retreat started by Catherine I (wife of Peter I), and completed by Tsarina Elizabeth.. The town was renamed Pushkin in 1937 to honor Russia's most famous poet. 

Poet Alexander Pushkin in Pushkin

Playing with my new editing software, a "stitched" composite (sort of fish-eye effect)

Elizabeth reined from 1741-1762 and left a major imprint on the city with Baroque building or remodeling at Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof, and the Winter Palace (now part of the Hermitage). She favored a shade of powder blue in much of her decor.

The palace is opulent and very nicely maintained, brightly painted with walls and ceilings intricately decorated.

The most famous salon is called the Amber Room, originally a gift from the King of Prussia to Peter the Great. The chamber is fully paneled with carved amber slabs, gold leaf, and mirrors. It was dismantled and looted by the Nazis in WWII, but has recently been reconstructed (with the help of German financing). It is the pinnacle of the world of Baltic amber.

Courtesy of insideamakersmind.blogspot.com

The visit to Catherine's Palace ended our guided tour on Day 1, but we had also booked an evening trip to the Hermitage. We knew it is a massive, world-renown museum, often crowded, and worth more than one look. Our Day 2 tour included another visit. The Hermitage is the kind of place about which you will hear incomprehensible things like "If you spend one minute in front of every item, it will take you 60 years to see the entire collection". The collection is huge, with all periods of Western art represented. As an art museum, I would place it below the Louvre, the Prado in Madrid, or the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, places where it seems there is a true masterpiece around every corner ("Oh, this is where that is!" kind of thing.) But you are also in a palace as grand as any anywhere, and the combination of the building and the collection is unique.

You can take your pick from the Royal halls and throne room,

 

  

 the Italian tables with mosaics so fine they look painted, and the intricate English Peacock Clock,

 

 

 

the Rembrandts,

Abraham's Sacrifice

Danaë

or Da Vincis,

Benois Madonna

Madonna Litti

or Michelangelo.

Our tour was flexible enough to visit the Grand Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg. It was built in the 1880's and is the second largest synagogue in Europe. Tom was able to find some hints about a relative who once served as a physician for the Tsar.

Exterior of Synagogue

Interior

We retraced our steps from Day 1 to go inside St.Isaac's Cathedral, now the religious art museum as mentioned above.

 

The highlight, church-wise, was the Church on Spilled Blood, the onion-domed mosaic work of art. Built on the site of the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in tribute by his son Alexander III. It is stunning inside and out, and the photos don't do it justice. These are all mosaics, not paintings.

Church On Spilled Blood

Our final stop was the oldest part of the city, Peter and Paul Fortress. You drive by the Rostral Columns on Vasilevskiy Island, originally designed as lighthouses.

Rostral Columns

The cathedral is in the center of the Fortress, and contains the tombs of the Tsars since Peter I, but not Nicholas II and family, as he abdicated.

Royal Crypts

I wanted one brief detour before returning to our ship, for a photo with Polina in front of a controversial statue of the man himself, Peter I. Created by Mikhail Chemiakin and unveiled in 1991, he says it reveals the tsar's "alter ego". The Petrophiles  complain of his tiny head and long, spindly fingers. As I said, I report, you decide.

Tom, Fayne, Melinda, Peter I, Polina, & John

Thus completed a brisk visit to a legendary city for an unforgettable of Fourth of July, 2013.