Friday 31 August – Cathedrals, kebabs and culture

What a wonderful day!  We headed off in the general direction of The Hermitage, but were sidetracked to view the Admiralty building, constructed in 1706 on plans drawn up by Peter the Great himself.  It contains an internal canal and originally included a shipyard that built the backbone of the original Russian navy.  It is set in beautiful parkland which also houses the Bronze Horse, sitting on the Thunder Stone – a larger-than-life portrayal of a mounted Peter, built by Catherine the Great, a great admirer of her predecessor.  The Thunder Stone is purportedly the largest stone ever moved by humans and weighed 1500 tonnes prior to being carved down for its present purpose.

We then crossed the road to St Isaac’s Cathedral, built in the mid-19^th century.  It is absolutely stunning!  Covered entirely in frescoes and with a main door of oak and bronze, with three dimensional friezes and weighing some twenty tonnes, it is the largest Orthodox basilica in the world and the fourth largest cathedral in the world.  Breathtaking!

After a delicious Georgian lunch of dumplings and kebabs, we finally made it to The Hermitage Museum.  The building, the “Winter Palace” was originally built as the winter residence of the royal family in the mid-18^th century.  When Catherine assumed the throne and returned to St Petersburg, in 1762, she expanded the palace and installed her huge art collection.  It now houses over 3 million works of art and world cultural artefacts. It contains paintings, graphic works, sculptures, works of applied art, archaeological artefacts and numismatic objects.

We wandered, spellbound, through the great halls and chambers, viewing works by such masters as Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Caravaggio, Monet, Da Vinci, Bosch, Pissarro – Rubens alone has an entire gallery to himself, displaying scores of works of art, some four metres high.  The galleries also contain statuary and relics from antiquity through to modern times.  We decided that you would need a couple of days to do the museum’s entire collection justice.  Alas, we did not have that time.

We moved on to the Kazan Cathedral (enjoying some street music on the way).  Built in the first decade of the 19^th century it is unashamedly modelled on St Peters Basilica in Rome, however its interior has none of the grandeur or opulence of the original.  So we continued on to the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood.  Built in the early years of the 20^th century on the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in 1881, its interior is entirely covered in mosaics, some 7,500 square metres, and is said to contain the largest collection of mosaics in the world.  It has an interesting history; after the revolution it was ransacked and looted, and was closed by the Soviet government in 1932,  During World War II it was used as a morgue for those who died in combat, or from starvation.  After the war it was used as a storehouse for vegetables.  In the late 1990s it was restored but has never been reconsecrated and is now a museum.

So after an exhausting but exhilarating day we dragged ourselves back to our apartment for a well-earned rest.

Thursday 30 August – Splendour, majesty and composers decomposing.

St Petersburg is considered the cultural capital of Russia. It was originally named by Peter the Great when he established the city in 1703, in honour of his patron saint, Peter the apostle.  In 1712 he declared it the capital of the Russian Empire (previously Moscow).  During World War One it was renamed Petrograd in 1914 (because St Petersburg sounded too German), then in 1924, three days after Lenin’s death, it was named Leningrad. In 1991 the historical name of St Petersburg was given back to the city.

We all headed off this morning for our first real look at his wonderful city, crossing over a canal and making our way to Nevsky Prospekt, past the amazing colonnaded Kazan Cathedral, then across the enormous square to view the Hermitage, situated in the Palace Square. The centre is dominated by the Alexander Column at 47.5 m high. The most beautiful of the buildings is the Winter Palace containing 1,500 rooms which we will explore in the next day or two. Then over the river to the Peter and Paul Fortress located on Zayachiy Island, built to protect the city from enemies but never used for that purpose. We entered the dominant Peter and Paul Cathedral - truly magnificent inside and containing the tombs of the Royal Family. Every day at noon the cannons are fired from the walls which caught us unaware and frightened the daylights out of us. Exiting the fortress we walked past the statue of Peter the Great and made our way to the memorial site of the Execution of the Romanov Royal Family as they fled the palace on 16 July 1918.

Eventually we stopped for lunch, and a well-earned rest, at 2.30pm. After lunch Jen and Steve went their own way, Sue and Elizabeth dragged themselves back to the apartment for a nana-nap and John went off on his own to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, a short trolley-bus ride from town, to view the graves of famous Russian artists, authors and composers.  Those who found their final resting place here include (in the order of the photographs below) Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Borodin and Mussorgsky.  Then back on the trolley-bus, followed by a fairly short walk down beside the canal to our street, pausing only to seek shelter from a sudden, torrential downpour.

We had a communal dinner in the apartment and a few spirited games of cards before bed.

Wednesday 29 August – Moving on from Moscow

We reluctantly left Moscow this morning and boarded the high-speed train for St Petersburg.  This train is not only fast (700km plus in under four hours) but it is very comfortable and the service is outstanding.  We travelled 2^nd class, however we were able to order a meal from the bistro car from our seat and have it delivered to us, and we were also able to arrange for taxis to meet us at St Petersburg station – the drivers met us as we alighted from the train!  We then were taken to our accommodation for the next four nights; a huge four-bedroom apartment at the top of an old residential complex not far from the centre of town (with the world’s smallest lift – it could take only one person at a time plus their luggage). 

After settling in, and bearing in mind that it was now raining lightly, we headed off for a preliminary exploration of the town, seeing a car that had obviously been left out in the rain for too long and an outside glimpse of the Church of the Saviour of Spilled Blood, then headed back by way of the local mini-mart to pick up some provisions, including the doings for a paella for tonight’s dinner.

All in all, a welcome easy day where we saw further evidence of Russian efficiency and service.

Tuesday 28 August – Cathedrals, composers and cruises

After another hearty breakfast we headed off along the Moscow Riverside, crossed the pedestrian bridge and arrived at the magnificent Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.  This monolith has a short but interesting history; it was first built over forty years in the 19^th century and was the site of the 1882 premiere of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.  It was destroyed in 1931 on the orders of Joseph Stalin and its reconstruction was not completed until 2000.  It is a truly magnificent edifice and could be said to be the physical face of the claim, first made after the fall of Constantinople in 1543, that Moscow was the “New Rome”.  When we entered a mass was in progress, including a full choir, with the haunting music and chants drifting across the vast interior.  Every surface is covered with colourful frescoes, the floor is of ornately patterned marble, the central dome seems suspended in the sky. It is simply overpowering in its beauty.  John was refused entry because he was wearing shorts (although we noted that several young women were admitted wearing shorts – reverse sexism?), however he was able to hire a pair of trousers for a dollar at a nearby stall.

From there we went for a stroll along the wide streets, past beautiful gardens and eventually jumped on the metro to another part of town to see the statue of one of Russia’s greatest composers and pianists, Sergei Rachmaninov (who, incidentally, died the same year John was born).  After seeking directions from a few locals, include one very polite and helpful English-speaking woman who declared Australia at the top of her bucket-list before sending us off in the opposite direction to where we needed to go, we eventually found it.  Then back on the metro to our hotel for a well-earned afternoon rest.

As twilight approached we all headed off along the riverside to board a cruise boat for a 1½ cruise of the Moscow River, under the bridges, past the Cathedral, the Kremlin and St Basils, before turning around under the shadow of an enormous, all-white hotel.  Then a leisurely walk back to our hotel, stopping on the way for a tasty snack of spiced chicken and salad in a pocket.

Moscow is a beautiful city, far beyond our expectations.  The people are friendly and helpful, the streets are wide and clean, and it appears to be a prosperous city – we saw only one old lady begging outside the cathedral in iur four days here.  The Metro system is sensational and we would love to spend more time here.  But now we are off to board the train for St Petersburg!

Monday 27 August

Today was another gloriously warm day in Moscow. Our aim was Red Square but en route we stopped at a very ornate church that lured us in with its haunting music.

Arriving at the Kremlin first we joined the long queue allowing us entrance to Cathedral Square. We wandered through the 5 Cathedrals & admired the many treasures some dating back to the 13 century. We also viewed the Tsars Canon & Bell and the Bell Tower.

Leaving the Kremlin we stopped to watch the Changing of the Guard and view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We stopped at the nearby enormous GUM shopping centre for lunch then continued on to St Basil’s Cathedral. The sight of St Basil’s sent shivers down us. It is magnificent & so different to any building we’ve ever seen. We spent time inside admiring the beautiful frescoes.

Tearing ourselves away from the cathedral we headed for the Metro to check out a few of the ornate train stations. They did not disappoint. Each station was unique. Revolution Square station was lined with bronze statues & we were able to rub the nose of the dog statue to bring us luck. Other stations had intricate mosaics and ornate ceilings. All magnificent.

We walked home  crossing the bridge and met up again for drinks at 6pm. After drinks we headed to a local restaurant that we had previously been to for another delicious meal.

Another day much enjoyed. A few big items ticked off the bucket list.