St. Pete’s Part 2

Palaces of course aren’t the only thing to see in Saint Petersburg. In fact they are only a part of it. For starters there are a lot of very interesting churches in the city that are as different as those found in Europe as they are from most churches found in the rest of Russia. There is also a lot of water, Saint Petersburg sits on the Neva River and the delta to the North Sea, and it is also full of canals and waterways that crisscross the old part of the city. Beyond this there are also a host of memorials, statues, squares, forts, and other attractions that could keep a visitor busy for weeks - though as usual we crammed a lot into just a few days. A fact that the wife brings up time and time again when she tells anyone about our trips they always end with how tired she was by the end. But I think she loves it, she just likes to have something to complain about.

The church that is most recognizable is Church of the Savior on Blood. This church is an Orthodox church with domed towers. It was almost destroyed by the Soviets because it was considered just a poor replica of St. Basil’s in red square. Having been to both I have to say this is not the case. Church of the Savior on Blood is much newer than St. Basil’s and while it shares similar domes they are very different. St. Basil’s has much smaller chambers in the interior and is decorated mostly with painted walls and a few would carvings. Church of the Savior on Blood is decorated with much more grandeur; it has tall ceilings, much more intricate paintings, many gold adornments, many stone carvings, tile murals, and an inlaid stone floor. It is a completely different experience to visit than St. Basil’s for sure. We also visited a couple of neighbor hood churches that were interesting and walked by Kazan Cathedral. However Kazan is being restored and from what I read is more interesting on the exterior than the interior. It is located on a main street though and you would hard pressed not to walk by it a dozen times. But I would have to say one of the best visits was to Saint-Isaac's Cathedral.

Saint Isaac’s is more typical European in the style being build of stone. It is shaped as like a cross, each side’s has tremendous columns supporting a stone roof with spectacular bronze relief inserts. When you enter there are extremely tall ceilings, amazing paintings on all the walls, ceilings, and arches, the bronze doors to the building are 20+ feet tall (with smaller doors cut in them) with intricate carvings, there is a lot of gold everywhere, and the shrines, chapels, and sanctuary are all works of amazing craftsmanship. However we had to buy two tickets each when we visited Saint Isaac’s. This is because you can also climb up to the dome and get a great view of the city. It is about 140 steps to the top and well worth the work. There is a 360 degree view that is very impressive as the Cathedral is the tallest building for blocks around. It was so busy at the top though it was hard to get a photo of one of us with a view in the back ground.

Of course what city in Russia would be with out its WWII memorial and Saint Petersburg does not disappoint in the respect either. There is an eternal flame in one park, statues in other, but as you head into town from the airport there is a very large dedicated memorial. Saint Petersburg was under siege for 3 years by the Nazi’s and more Russian civilians died than all the American troops in the whole war. This memorial is only a block or so from where we stayed. It is a set of more than a dozen 10 foot tall bronze statues of Russian defenders, a tall monolith like tower, and another eternal flame in the center of a large 15 foot tall stone ring. It is pretty impressive.

Saint Petersburg was a long time ago a Swedish settlement. After several battles the Russian’s took the outpost. Because it was a contested area for so long the first structures to be built in the city were of course forts. The most famous of these is Peter and Paul’s. This was really the only day we had bad weather and it rained a bit. However when were at the fort it was just drizzly. The fort was built in the early 1700s and the city originally grew around it. Later grand plans for the city were released and the main part of the city was built across the river from the fort. The fort itself has several attractions within its wall. A wax museum, a church with many emperors and other royals entombed, a large parade court, a panoramic view of the city from a walk way on top of the main walls, a museum, a strange bronze statue of Peter the Great, a museum of images from space, a museum of torture, a historical museum about life in Saint Petersburg though out the years, and of course some military displays. Like most places in the area it is also undergoing some major reconstruction work. The day we were there we got lucky and there was a display of marching, gun twirling, and other such parade work by the local cadets. It was quite fun to watch. Little did I know at the time their comrades were marching into Georgia.

One site I was bummed that was closed is called the Marble Palace. And the building is made out of marble and is famed to have a hall that consists of 32 different shades of marble. But it of course was closed for restoration. We also walked through many parks, it seems around every corner there is another park and Saint Petersburg is a very nice green space. We also went to several fun restaurants. One was a Russian style beer hall that had old soviet propaganda on the walls and a traditional Russian menu. The day we visited the Fort we also stopped an interesting Russian potatoes bar, where you order a baked potato with various toppings. However the toppings do not consist of bacon, cheese, sour cream and the like. No instead they consist of various Russian concoctions I couldn’t even begin to tell you what was in them. It was pretty tasty stuff though. Of course as RG has been out of the US for so long we also went to a Pizza Hut one night and got Italian another but we still avoided McDonalds like the plague. I also found out while dining at her aunts that I don’t hate eggplant, so I will have to explore that a little more. So all in all I had a great time.

Again I haven’t been able to cover everything I wanted to about the trip so I think there will be one more post. I should have dived topics a little better I think.