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.