St. Petersburg: Part Two

19 Jan

So. Many. Photos. While this is definitely a good thing, it also means that it is going to take some time to sort through it all. I have decided to share photos and stories from our vacation in pieces. Hope you enjoy!

We toured the city on 26 December. Led by an English-speaking guide that Heather and Kevin booked through easyRussia, we covered A LOT of ground in St. Petersburg. This is a photo-heavy post (see gallery at the end), so rather than explaining too much detail/history I recommend that you use the links to learn more about the places we saw!

Our flat was pretty close to the Kazan Cathedral, which stands out due to its impressive colonnade. Built in the early 1800’s, it was modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. We did not enter the cathedral, though, simply passed it while walking.

Kazan Cathedral

We then moved on to another cathedral, the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. Our guide rushed us here so that we would arrive in time to see part of the service. It is fairly small inside, but like all of the Russian Orthodox cathedrals that I have been in, it is covered top-to-bottom in ornate decorations and iconography.

St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral

As we walked back to the main street of St. Petersburg, we passed Moika Palace, the location where Rasputin’s assassination began with cyanide poisoning. We opted out of the tour of the cellar room due to timing and expense. While most palaces were converted to mundane use after the revolution, this one was given to the Education Commissariat and was preserved as a museum. It is currently the Palace of Culture of Educators, hosting events and theater productions. One of my favorite quotes from wikipedia about it is this: “The courtyard where Rasputin attempted to flee from his killers is now occupied by a kindergarten playground adjacent to the palace.”

We also past Nabokov House and quite a few palaces that were converted post-revolution. We saw St. Isaac’s Square which includes St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Hotel Astoria, and Mariinsky Palace, which now houses the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly.

Mariinsky Palace off St. Isaac’s Square

We stopped for lunch at Stolle. They are a “pie” shop, with both savory and sweet pies. They are AMAZING! We were very excited to find they have locations in Moscow as well, so we will definitely check them out again.

We walked along the main street for a bit and then hopped on the metro to see the Peter and Paul Fortress. We didn’t go into any of the museums or sites, but it was impressive to see. I am also glad we were able to see it in winter because they frozen river covered in snow was impressive. We also walked to the cabin of Peter the Great, which was a tiny little cabin that is preserved inside of another small building. It was such a contrast to all of the palaces we passed throughout the day.

At the Peter and Paul Fortress

We passed many other sites along the way since the whole city is covered in historical locations and monuments. It was about six hours of tour, most of which were walking, so we were exhausted by the time we made it back to the flat. We managed to drag ourselves back out for dinner, though, and enjoyed a nice dinner at an Armenian restaurant called Kilikia.

As I mentioned before, the photos are a mix of all of our photos, so big thanks to Ben, Heather, and Kevin for their contributions. See below for the gallery!