|
If I were to give you thorough information about all the museums in St. Petersburg (there are over 150) it would take you months to read through! Instead, below please find a brief overview of main attractions. If you want to know more, please visit their websites – links are attached where available. Note that some of the websites are only in Russian, while some museums don’t yet have their own websites.
HERMITAGE
www.hermitage.ru
The director of the Hermitage Museum once said, “I can’t say that the Hermitage is the number one museum in the world, but it’s certainly not the second.”
The Hermitage collection covers an enormous range of historical periods, styles and schools — and to visit every one of its rooms would require the intrepid visitor to walk a half-marathon (20 km/ 13 miles). The collection numbers over three million items dating from antiquity to present times. It is said that if you spent only thirty seconds at each piece, it would take nine years to see everything in the museum – and that is without sleeping!
The Hermitage was originally built for Catherine the Great to house her private collections (in French, “ermitage” means “secluded spot”). She wrote in her diaries about her initial collection: “All this is admired by mice and myself.” Certainly, with thousands of visitors to the museum annually, this is not the case anymore – though it is a rare St. Petersburg native that ever comes close to covering the entire collection.
The Hermitage Museum comprises of six buildings, including the Winter Palace – former residence of the Romanov dynasty. Russian Czars always built everything at a grand scale, and this Palace is no exception: 1, 057 rooms and 117 staircases for a total of half a million square feet.
The Treasury Gallery
Besides art, sculpture, and other collections, the Hermitage owns several thousand gold and silver articles from all over the world. This collection is divided into two sections, and is a favorite of visitors.
The first section, called the Gold Room, consists of approximately 1, 500 works made from gold and dating from the 7th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. The majority of gold artifacts were found in tombs of the Scythian nobility. Also of note is an impressive Greek collection, including bracelets, rings, diadems and necklaces.
The second gallery is called the Diamond Room. This collection includes watches and finger-rings, bracelets and brooches, bowls and dishes, as well as earings, pendants and snuff-boxes by European and Russian masters of the 18th and 19th centuries. As the name implies, they are made of gold and silver and decorated with gems, diamonds, enamels, different precious and semiprecious stones.
One of the most famous parts of this exhibition is the collection of works by Carl Faberge – a ‘must see’ for any visitor to the museum.
RUSSIAN MUSEUM
www.rusmuseum.ru
It is one of the largest museums of Russian Art not only in Russia but in the world, and covers everything from folk art and 12th century icons to Avant-garde and the present day. The collection numbers over 400, 000 items and is housed inside the Mikhailovsky Palace. If even you are not so interested in Russian Art and such artists as Kandinsky, Malevich and Chagal can’t impress you, you have to come here anyway, simply to enjoy the sheer beauty of the Palace.
YUSUPOV PALACE
www.yusupov-palace.ru
If you ask me what is my favourite Palace in St. Petersburg (from among the existing 6, 500) I would have to answer the Yusupov Palace. The Yusupov family was not only very rich (they had 54 palaces through-out Russia – four of them in St. Petersburg alone) but also had very good taste — hence the unbelievable beauty of this place.
Historically, the Yusupov Palace is known mostly as the place where the infamous Grigory Rasputin was assassinated. On December 17, 1916, Rasputin was invited in the basement room and given cakes and wine laced with cyanide. What happened after, and how did this change the course or Russian history? Be patient and wait until my tour gives you the inside look!
PETER AND PAUL FORTRESS
www.spbmuseum.ru
The Peter and Paul fortress is St. Petersburg’s first Russian settlement. Though it was built as a military fortification, but it was never attacked by an enemy.
St. Peter and Paul Cathedral is the burial place of almost all members of Romanov family, including Peter I and the reburial place of the last Emperor (Nicholas II) and his family. Recently (in September 2006) another reburial ceremony took place here when Nicholas II’s mother, Danish princess Maria Dagmar, was reburied next to her husband (Alexander III) and son.
ST.ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL
www.cathedral.ru
The fourth highest domed Cathedral in the world (102 meters / 333 feet), the construction of this cathedral cost ten times more than the Winter Palace. Nearly 100 kilograms of pure gold were used to gild the dome alone, and the manner in which the solid marble columns were erected is considered a modern engineering marvel. The interior is faced with 14 different kinds of marble and other types of precious stones and minerals. A climb to the top of the dome offers one of the most beautiful panoramic views of the city.
THE CHURCH OF “OUR SAVIOR ON THE SPILT BLOOD”
www.cathedral.ru
It’s unusual to see a traditional Moscow-style church with colorful onion domes in the center of St. Petersburg– right next to the city’s classical-style architecture. Arguably, it is one of the most beautiful churches here. Russians also sometimes call it the “mosaic church” because it is decorated with 7, 000 square meters of mosaics inside and out.
But a tragic event is connected with this fairytale-like church: It serves as a memorial to one of Russia’s favorite Czars, Alexander II, who was murdered on this very spot in 1881.
ALEXANDER NEVSKY MONASTERY(LAVRA)
www.lavra.spb.ru
The Alexander Nevsky Lavra is one of Russia’s highest-ranking monasteries, and was founded by Peter the Great. There are 16 religious buildings here. Of particular interest is the Holy Trinity Cathedral with its beautiful iconostasis and the Tikhvinskoye Cemetery, where some of Russia’s greatest figures are buried, including composers Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka and the author Dostoevsky.
It is wonderful just to walk around the monastery ground. Don’t miss freshly-baked bread from the monastery’s bakery!
MENSHIKOV PALACE
www.hermitage.ru
The Menshikov Palace is now a branch of the Hermitage museum, built under the stewardship of Menshikov himself, who was then the first governor of St. Petersburg. It was the first stone residential structure in the city and the most luxurious palace of the early 18th century – one of the reasons that Peter the Great held receptions there. This palace is richly decorated with Dutch tiles and, curiously, mirrors which hang closer to the ceiling as it was considered bad manners to look at oneself in mirrors in those days.
PETER’S LOG HOUSE
It took only three days to be built (in 1703) out of pine logs painted to look like bricks. From here, Peter supervised the constraction of his fortress and much of the rest of the city. An interesting thing to note – Peter was six foot, seven inches tall, and the largest door here is only five feet, nine inches!
ARTILLERY MUSEUM
Though there are more than 600 pieces of artillery here, for me the most important is a small photograph of my grandfather, who was a Hero of World War II.
Among ‘boy’s stuff’ — famous Kalashnikov guns.Outside of this museum are big tanks, rocket-launchers, and a variety of other military equipment. Children – and adult children – are welcome to clamber and climb and take pictures on them.
NAVAL MUSEUM
www.museum.navy.ru
This museum is situated in the former stock-exchange building. The collection of this museum is more than 650, 000 items from the history of the Russian navy: Weapons, flags, shipyard blueprints – as well as the ‘Botik,’ Peter the Great’s first boat.
KUNSTCAMERA (CHAMBER OF CURIOSITIES)
www.kunstkamera.ru
Kunstkammer comes from the German – ‘Kunst’ meaning ‘art,’ and ‘kammer’ meaning ‘chamber.’ It was the first museum in Russia opened for public, by order of Peter the Great. In order to attract visitors, admission was free and a shot of vodka was given at the entrance. No wonder — if you would like to see so-called “monsters” preserved in jars of formaldehyde, human and animal anomalies like Siamese twins or a two-headed calf, a shot of vodka would come in handy!
PARKS AND PALACES IN THE SUBURBS
PETERHOF
www.peterhof.org
One of the most impressive summer residencies of Russian Czars, Peterhof is situated on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It is called the “Russian Versailles,” and with good reason: There are 150 fountains and a palace modeled on it’s French rival. The fountains, besides their awesome beauty, are also an engineering marvel for their time as they work on sheer water pressure via a complex network of ponds and tributaries — no pumps required. In the ponds of Peterhof it is possible to catch a fish, which will be prepared for you at one of the restaurants there.
ORANIENBAUM (LOMONOSOV)
Oranienbaum has at least one very important distinction: It was the only summer palace in St.Petersburg not to have been destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, and therefore you can even see the original parquet floor preserved from the 18th century. Originally it was built for Menshikov, but became famous during the reign of Catherine the Great, who made it one of her holiday spots. Don’t miss the Chinese Palace, with one of the most remarkable rooms in terms of artistic decoration with Bead Study and the mosaic floor.
CATHERINE PALACE IN THE TOWN OF PUSHKIN
www.tzar.ru
When the French Ambassador saw this palace for the first time in the 18th century, he exclaimed “The only thing needed is a case in which to put this jewel.” It is a beautiful baroque masterpiece stretching over 300 meters (980 feet). Of the most famous rooms is the Amber Room, mysteriously disappeared during World War II and yet to be recovered. It has been recently fully reconstructed, at incredible costs, but what happened to the original? I will tell you all stories and legends.
By the way this Palace, as well as many of the others, is still full of life. Wedding parties and various receptions and concerts take place here continuously. For about $150, 000 it’s possible to have your own, tsarist-style ball!
ALEXANDER PALACE
If you are interested in the life and incredible love story of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra, you have to visit this palace. After the birth of Alexey, their only son and the last heir to the throne (who suffered from hemophilia), the Royal family spent very little time at the Winter Palace, preferring instead this Palace in the countryside, more removed from the public eye. This favorite residence became their last one — it was from here that Czar Nicholas II and his family were taken into exile to Tobolsk and afterwards to Yekaterinburg, where they were killed in 1918.
PAVLOVSK
www.pavlovsk.org
If you grow tired of the gala parks of Peterhof and Pushkin and would like to find a more tranquil and less touristy place, Pavlovsk is the place to visit. Here you will find beautiful landscapes that create unique pictures of nature. The gardens spans 600 hectares (1, 500 acres) and include wonderful opportunities for horse-drawn carriage rides through romantic ruins, statues, and streams. The compositional centerpiece of this ensemble is the Great Palace of Czarevich Paul the first and his wife, Maria Fedorovna.
|
