ST PETERSBURG (Part 4)

CATHERINE PALACE

The Catherine Palace Museum covers a history of almost 300 years when the initial development of the palace and gardens began under Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great. However it was only during the reign of her daughter, Elizabeth I that the vision of her architect, Rastelli, began to be realised. Besides staterooms, drawing rooms and living quarters, Rastelli incorporated a chapel into his designs for the palace, (The chapel is in the far left corner of this picture under the gold minarets. 

The Grand Hall (above) is an enormous room with an area around 850 square metres permeates a sense of majesty and greatness. . Bright and airy, it seems even larger than it actually is because of the many mirrors, the abundance of gilding and the spectacular painted ceiling. heating stoves were concealed behind false windows and mirrored glass.

One of the main features of the Palace is the famous Amber Room. In 1716, the King of Prussia, Frederick William I gave to Peter the Great the Amber Study. This was delivered in a number of crates but was not really installed until 1746 when Elizabeth I began her construction of her Catherine's Palace.  There the Amber Room remained until 1941 when the panels were carefully removed and reinstalled in Konigsburg Castle until at least 1944 when they were removed and dispatched to places unknown. The original amber panels have never been found. In 1979 the Russian Government decided to recreate the glory of the Amber Room. This work took 24 years by master Russian craftsmen to recreate 'the eighth wonder of the world' and it received its first visitors on the 300th Anniversary of the foundation of St Petersburg. 

Under Catherine II the vast park of 100 hectares around the Palace was developed into gardens with a numerous pavilions, monuments, statues and lakes.

The Second World War was to wreak enormous havoc on Catherine's Palace. Immediately after Germany declared war against the USSR began an evacuation of museum artefacts. But no one really expected the Germans to seize the town. An attempt was made to deconstruct the Amber Room but the panels were too fragile so their preservation was devised by glueing with gauze and padding with batting sheets. On 17 September 1941 the units of te German police entered Pushkin. The occupation lasted until 24 January 1944 at which time Soviet troops liberated Leningrad after a decisive assault. In the once luxurious halls of Catherine's Palace breaches in the collapsed floors gaped under the open sky. Only 10 of 55 unique halls partially escaped fire. Nothing was saved from the Amber room. Fortunately 11 Nazi aircraft bombs set up in the basement were neutralised; but the devastation was enormous.

The Vandalism that is War

This encounter with Catherine's Palace was truly a visit to such magnificence as to leave one open-mouthed at its opulence; to be aghast at the vandalism of war; to be in awe of the brilliance of its restoration. It is not only a treasure for the Russian people as the country residences of its imperial rulers for many years but it is also inseparably linked to the name of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin who continued to visit here throughout his life and is the source of inspiration for many of his writings.

I am left alone at my ends,

The feasts, the mistresses the friends,

Had vanished with the slim illusions - 

My youth had faded right away,

With all its gifts of false allusions.

Like this, the candles, that through the night

Were burning for young feasters' sight,

In ending of the mad profusion,

Are paling in the light of day.

Alexander Pushkin

ST PETERBURG (Part 3)

COMMUTING AROUND ST PETERSBURG

Polina, our Alla Tours Guide, took us for an early morning ride on St Petersburg's metro rail system along with early morning commuters. Their underground metro system has been operating since 1955. It is one of the deepest metro systems in the world and is famous for its exquisite decorations and artworks along the platforms. We took an escalator on a steep ride that was 100 metres long into the depths of the system, boarded a train and hung from the ceiling straps with local residents to the next station where our minibus awaited.

Our tour also included a boat ride on the Neva River and canals to view St Petersburg from the water.

And a further ride of 45 minutes on a Hovercraft to Peter and Paul Fortress located on Hare Island in the Neva Delta as the nucleus of the future city of St Petersburg.

During Peter the Great's reign there were no bridges over the Neva. The Emperor wanted his people to share his love of sailing and so riverboats were the common form of transport, It was not until after his death that three floating bridges appeared and only in the mid 19th century replaced with permanent bridges made of metal. Each of St Petersburg's bridges has its own distinctive structure and appearance. They are humpbacked and elegant, large and small, subtle and imposing, with decorative wrought iron railings and lamps.

ST PETERSBURG (Part 2)

THE CHURCH ON THE SPILLED BLOOD (Church of the Resurrection)

The Church on the Spilled Blood is both an historical monument and a work of art. It was built on the location of the tragic attempt on the life of Alexander II in 1881 who had ruled Russia for 16 years. He was killed by a bomb thrown by a member of a revolutionary group which aimed to overthrow Russia's tsarist autocracy. The site of the murder is marked by a special chapel in the western part of the church beneath the bell. Here in an area slightly below floor level can be seen part of the carriageway and railings that were stained with the blood of the Tsar at the time of his assassination. Inside the church there is not a single painting. Instead, the walls are covered almost entirely with mosaics. The construction of the church and work on the decor took 24 years from 1883 to 1907. The outside of the church is also decorated largely with mosaics, while cupolas are covered with bright enamels and the hipped roofs with coloured tiles. It is a true cultural and artistic treasure.

ST PETERSBURG (Part 1)

Neva River

We arrive in St Petersburg for two days touring the city and its fabulous museums. The left sidebar gives a very brief description of the history of St Petersburg which of course was changed forever by the 1917 Russian revolution and by its invasion by the Nazis in the Second World War. Our tours for both days is organised, not as a ship's shore excursion, but by Alla Tours a private company which also provides the necessary visa for entry to Russia. Our guide is Polina who speaks excellent English and who welcomes us onto a mini-bus with 13 other passengers from Eurodam. We travel through the city to our first stop on the banks of the Neva River overlooking the St Petersburg skyline on a glorious, sunny morning. It is early and there is a long day ahead that won't finish until around 5.30pm.

This is the Rostral Column  (left). It is one of two on the square in front of the Stock Exchange. These 132 metre high red brick columns/lighthouses were built in 1727 as triumphal monuments dedicated to Russian naval victories. They are decorated with the prows of ships (rostra) in keeping with a Roman tradition of removing the prow of captured enemy ships. At the base of the column sit four allegorical figures representing the rivers of Volga, Dnieper, Neva, and Volkhov.

THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM
The Palace Square (below) did not gain its title until mid 18th Century when the Winter Palace, the home of the Russian Emperors from 1763 to 1917 was erected along the northern bank of the Neva River. Today, the Winter Palace is one of five buildings that make up the architectural ensemble of the State Hermitage Museum. Catherine II ordered the construction of a new building to house her rapidly expanding collection of artworks. And so the Small Hermitage (1764-1775) was built onto the Winter Palace.The Hermitage collection, which has been gathered over the course of more than two centuries, numbers about three million exhibits.

The Winter Palace
The Small Hermitage (far right)

The interiors of the Winter Palace, with rare exceptions, have not retained their original appearance. In 1837 they fell victim to a terrible fire. However the main sweeping white marble staircase still remains the same as it did in the 18th century when it was installed.

The Pavilion Hall houses one of the highlights of the Museum - the 18th Century Peacock Clock.This curious plaything, intended for decoration and amusement, is an intricate mechanism comprising the clockwork figures of a peacock, a cockerel, an owl and a squirrel. The dial itself is hidden in the cap of a mushroom. When the clock is wound up, the melodious tinkling of tiny bells can be heard after which the peacock spreads its tail feathers and the cockerel crows.