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.
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