June 23, 2012
Amazing Russia 0
The two most popular cities in any short visit to Russia are St. Petersburg and Moscow. No visit to this historical country is complete without seeing the amazing and culturally rich sights of these two cities.
St. Petersburg
St Petersburg is a relatively young city, by both Russian and European standards, and was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. Despite its short life so far, Petersburg has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Great’s “Venice of the North” to the modern events of the 1991 coup d’etat, the city has always bustled with life and intrigue, revolution and mystery.
The city’s other names were Petrograd and Leningrad. St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years and ceased being the capital only in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is Russia’s second largest and Europe’s fourth largest city (by city limit) after Moscow, London and Paris. 4.6 million people live in the city, and over 6 million people live in the city’s vicinity. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is often described as the most Western European styled city of Russia.
Its geopolitical, intellectual, economical, cultural and historical advantages are unique. St. Petersburg is the symbol of the European part of Russia and one of the most venerable capitals of the world.
St. Petersburg, a cultural center of the global significance, has accumulated and enormous cultural potential over the period of three centuries. For all this time the city has been a true pearl of world culture. Artists and architects made a permanent mark in the cultural history of Russia with their world-renowned architectural ensembles of St. Petersburg. There are over 250 museums, 18 literature museums, 44 art museums, 5 national museum-preserves, 39 history museums, 24 local history and ethnographic museums.
ST. PETERSBURG ATTRACTIONS:
Peterhoff Grand Palace & Park
The Grand Cascade Fountain at Peterhof
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
Winter Palace
Winter Palace
Today the Winter Palace, together with four more buildings arranged side by side along the river embankment, houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world.
Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The fortress’s role as a prison dates back to 1718, when Peter the Great’s son, Alexei, was tortured to death within its walls. The “Secret House”, built to contain Empress Anna’s opponents, was subsequently used by Nicholas I to hold the Decembrists; later generations of revolutionaries were incarcerated in the Trubetskoy Bastion. The fortress was known as the “Russian Bastille”, its grim reputation surpassed only by that of the Shlisselburg fortress on Lake Ladoga, until the Soviet era made other prisons synonymous with even greater terror.
The St.Peter-and-St.Paul Cathedral
Peter and Paul Cathedral
St.Peter-and-St.Paul Cathedral, which was constructed in 1733 in early baroque style and became burial ground for almost all the members of the Romanov family starting with Peter the Great. Gilded spire of the cathedral crowned with the angel holding the cross is the city’s well-known landmark.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood
The church is also variously known as the Church of Our Savior on Blood and the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, its official name. The “blood” of the common name refers to that of Tsar Alexander II, who was killed on that site on March 13, 1881, as well as that of the crucified Jesus.
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal. The section of street where the assassination took place was enclosed within the walls of the church, and part of the canal filled to allow the street to pass around the building.
Savior on the Spilled Blood is an architectural landmark of central St Petersburg, and a unique monument to Alexander II the Liberator.
The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day – including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel – but the church’s chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known. An elaborate shrine was constructed on the exact place of Alexander’s death, garnished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones.
Beautiful Mosaics inside the Church of the Spilled Blood
Moscow
There is hardly one person in the world who has never heard about Moscow. A great city, the capital of independent Russia, during more than 860 years of its existence (the city was founded in 1147 by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy), grew from a small town on the banks of the calm Moskva river into a giant city with a population of more than 10 million people and an area of more than 900 square km.
Red Square
Now Moscow has become even more interesting for tourists: only now, only in this city you can see with your own eyes how the history of a great country is being created.
And, certainly, the doors of all hotels, restaurants and cafes, night and sport clubs, numerous museums, galleries and theatres are open for you, and their staff is happy to welcome you.
MOSCOW ATTRACTIONS:
Red Square
Since Perestroika, however, the emphasis has moved away from official pomp, and Red Square has been used increasingly for rock concerts, big classical music performances and a whole range of large-scale events from fashion shows to festivals of circus art. Moscow met the millennium here with a huge firework display and street party.
Today it’s hard to think of a place that is more beloved of Muscovites and visitors to the city. The varied beauty of the architecture and the magical atmosphere belie the square’s often brutal and bloody history, but the combination makes Red Square a truly fascinating place that you’ll want to come back to again and again.
Moscow Kremlin
Sobornaya Square
The Grand Kremlin Palace
St. Basil’s Cathedral
St. Basil Cathedral
The Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century to commemorate a military victory.Victory came on the feast day of the Intercession of the Virgin, so the Tsar chose to name his new church the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat, after the moat that ran beside the Kremlin.
The inside of St. Basil’s is a maze of narrow, dimly lit corridors connecting the different chapels. Each of the painted domes differs in design and colour.
The Cathedral is now a museum. During restoration work in the seventies a wooden spiral staircase was discovered within one of the walls. Visitors now take this route into the central church, with its extraordinary, soaring tented roof and a fine 16th Century iconostasis. You can also walk along the narrow, winding gallery, covered in beautiful patterned paintwork.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
The Mayakovskaya Metro Station
The Mayakovskaya Metro Station
The Mayakovskaya Metro Station
Sapsan, The High Speed Train of Russia
“Sapsan” is Russian for the peregrine falcon, the fastest bird in the falcon family, so it was an appropriate name for this new train, which can reach speeds of up to 250 km/h. The train was conceived in preparation for the 2018 World Cup. In the past, the only way to reach Moscow from St. Petersburg was by domestic airline or overnight train, however just recently there is a new addition to Russia’s rail system. The ride between the cities is a little under 4 hours for what used to be an overnight trip. See the video below to appreciate latest modern transport.
MBM Classic Travel is offering the Amazing Russia one week package departing August 20, 2012. It includes using the new high speed train Sapsan to reach Moscow. For details pls email travel inquiry@mbmclassictravel.com or call +63 2 904 0187
