My Visual Travel Experience: St Petersburg

In 2010, I visited Russia for 11 days, and spent 6 days in Moscow and 5 days in St Petersburg. Moscow was grand in many ways, with its imposing structures like the Kremlin, but St Petersburg was downright stunningly beautiful, with its splendid architecture, palaces, churches and museums, and left me quite delighted. I had heard about Hermitage Museum being perhaps the world's best art museum after The Louvre in Paris - the museum lived up to its billing, but St Petersburg also had many other pleasant surprise in store.

With a population of just over 5 million, St Petersburg is Russia’s second largest city after Moscow. Established by Peter the Great in 1703, it is a relatively new city and was designed to be the capital of Russia, a role that it played from 1712 till the capital shifted back to Moscow in 1918, following the Russian Revolution. 

After Peter the Great’s reign (1682 to 1725), other Russian rulers from the Romanov family who reigned from St Petersburg were Catherine I (1725 to 1727), Peter II (1727 to 1730), Anna (1730 to 1740), Ivan VI (1740 to 1741), Elisabeth (1741 to 1762), Peter III (1762), Catherine the Great (1762 to 1796) [she was Peter III’s wife; she got him killed and took over the throne], Paul I (1796 to 1801) [Catherine the Great’s mentally imbalanced son], Alexander I (1801 to 1825) [credited with the victory over Napoleon], Nicholas I (1825 to 1855), Alexander II (1855 to 1881), Alexander III (1881 to 1894) and Nicholas II (1894 to 1917) [the last Tsar, brought down in the Russian revolution].

St Isaac’s Cathedral, designed in 1818 and opened in 1858, is one of the city’s main landmarks, with its large golden dome visible from all over the city. The interior of the dome is richly painted and shows The Holy Spirit at the center. Paintings inside St Isaac’s Cathedral include the impressive work above the high altar depicting Christ surrounded by angels.

St Isaac's Cathedral

Painting of Christ surrounded by Angels, St Isaac's Cathedral

Interior of the Dome, St Isaac's Cathedral

Church on Spilled Blood was constructed by Tsar Alexander III at the spot where his father, Tsar Alexander II, was killed in 1881. The exterior of the church is extremely colourful, and contains turrets in different colours. Inside, one sees some delightful mosaic work depicting scenes from the life of Christ, and the murals occupy almost every square foot of available space inside. Particularly impressive is the large mosaic work of Christ in the interior of the church’s dome. 

Church on Spilled Blood

Mural of Christ on the Donkey, Church on Spilled Blood

The Fortress of Peter and Paul was built by Peter the Great when he made his new capital, and is famous for the Cathedral of Peter and Paul, the final resting place of members of the Russian royal family. Buried here are Tsars and Tsarinas like Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander II and Alexander III. In 1998, the bodies of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his entire family killed in the Russian Revolution in 1918, were also shifted here.

Cathedral of Peter and Paul,
Fortress of Peter and Paul

Peter Gate,
Fortress of Peter and Paul

Sculpture of Peter the Great,
Fortress of Peter and Pal

Hermitage Museum started off as the art collection of Catherine the Great in the 1780s, and over the centuries, grew into a fabulous collection. It today ranks among the top few museums of the world, comparable to Paris’ Louvre. The museum has work from classical masters like Da Vinci and Michelangelo; an impressive impressionist art collection; and collections from Egypt, India, Japan, Assyria, Turkey, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Hermitage Museum

Michelangelo's Crouching Boy, Hermitage Museum

Rubens' Roman Charity, Hermitage Museum

Canova's Three Graces, Hermitage Museum

Van Gogh's Thatched Cottages, Hermitage Museum

Monet's Lady in a Garden, Hermitage Museum

Matisse's Dance, Hermitage Museum

Potter's Wolf Hound, Hermitage Museum

The Russian Museum, with its impressive collection of art  by Russian masters, is housed inside a beautiful building.

Bust of Peter the Great,
Russian Museum

Vasnetsaov's Russian Knight at the Crossway,
Russian Museum

Ivanov's Head of the Slave,
Russian Museum

Kazan Cathedral is modeled along the lines of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was completed in 1811.

Kazan Cathedral

Nevskiy Prospekt is a well known street that runs through the heart of St Petersburg, and is often called Russia’s most famous street. It is lined with beautiful buildings, churches, hotels, restaurants and markets. 

Pushkin's Wax Statue, Literary Cafe,
Nevskiy Prospekt

The Naval Museum is surrounded by the two beautiful Rostral Columns, which served the role of lighthouses. It has a statue of Peter the Great, in front of the original boat where he learned sailing. The museum has many exhibits showcasing the country's naval achievements.

Statue of Peter the Great,
Naval Museum

Rostral Tower,
Naval Museum

The statue of The Bronze Horseman is a tribute to Peter the Great from Catherine the Great.

The Bronze Horseman

Yusupov Palace is the grand palace owned by the wealthy Yusupov family. It is also famous for being the place where godman Rasputin was killed. His closeness to and influence over Tsar Nicholas II made him unpopular with the aristocrats and led to his murder conspiracy. It took poison, two gunshots, bludgeoning on the head, and finally a tumble into the river to finally kill the godman, the eventual death being by drowning. 

Blue Bedroom,
Yusupov Palace

Red Drawing Room,
Yusupov Palace

Theatre Stage,
Yusupov Palace

Alexander Nevsky Monastery is a popular landmark. Alexander Nevsky defeated the Swedes in battle in the 12th century and is revered as a saint. His remains lie inside the monastery's Church of the Trinity. Peter the Great was the only other Russian ruler to defeat the then mighty Swedes. Many well known Russian personalities are buried at the monastery's cemetery.

Church of the Trinity,
Alexander Nevsky Monastery

Tchaikovsky's Tomb, Alexander Nevsky Monastery

Peterhof Palace was built by Peter the Great but underwent a lot of expansion and beautification under Catherine the Great. Situated 30 km outside the city center, the baroque palace is at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, and is famous for its gardens and fountains.

Hercules Fountain,
Peterhof Palace

All in all, St Petersburg is a grand, regal, very well planned city, and it owes this to the fact that it was built practically from scratch to be the capital of the grand Russian Empire, a role it served for over 2 centuries.