Day 2: St Petersburg - canals and churches

After lunch I walked to the other side of the Hermitage which faces the river Neva. Across the river I could see the St Peter and Paul fortress which dates from the founding of St Petersburg in 1703.

I decided to walk across the bridge  to have a look at the Rostral Columns. They were designed as lighthouses with gas lit torches at the top.  

Ship's prows jut out from each side.

I crossed back over the river to have a look at this building which is The Admiralty The admiralty was built between 1704 and 1711 just after the city was founded by Peter the Great. It was originally the shipyard where Russia's first battleships were produced.

It was rebuilt 100 years later with a more decorative facade to emphasise the power of the Russian fleet.

I then walked through the Admiralty gardens to get my first glimpse of St Isaac's Cathedral. The original church commissioned by Peter the Great was destroyed in floods soon after its construction in 1710. The present one, designed by the French architect Auguste de Montferrand opened in 1858.

Statues of the apostles can clearly be seen against the skyline.

The gilded dome caused much suffering during its construction as  a large number of workers died from inhaling mercury fumes used in the gilding process. The Cathedral is the largest in Russia. During the Soviet period it was used as a museum of atheism.

You can walk up to the dome to view the city.

The walkway leading down from the dome.

On each of the four corners are sculpted angels holding up gas torches. I assume someone would have to have gone out onto the roof to light them.

In the distance you can see the shipbuilding yards.

Looking down on St Isaac's Square.

There are three huge doors made from bronze over oak which are decorated with biblical scenes.

The 48 red granite columns in the cathedral  were imported at great expense from Finland.

I walked back alongside the canal towards Nevskiy Prospekt. This bridge was one of the earliest pedestrian suspension bridges in the city. The cast iron lions hold up the bridge's supports.

The chains emerge from the mouths of the lions.

The canal led me to the spectacular Church on Spilled Blood. The unusual name comes from the position of the church sited where the assassination of Alexander II took place.

The church is a museum rather than a church as a memorial to Alexander II and no weddings, funerals or church services have taken place here.

Although I had to queue for tickets and try and cope with people pushing in, it was well worth the effort.

The floor to ceiling mosaics were very impressive.

I left the church and went into the gardens next door for a sit down in the shade.

From the gardens I returned to the hotel for a short rest before meeting the tour group that evening. There were 16 of us altogether including our tour leader, Svetlana, from Siberia. As usual there was a mixture of ages and nationalities. Most of us were travelling on our own with just one Canadian couple and an Australian brother and sister. Other nationalities included American, Austrian, Irish and just myself from the UK and a lady from New Zealand who lived in Dubai. We all went out for a meal together which always helps with introductions and getting to know one's fellow travel companions for the next couple of weeks. During the meal a few of us decided we would like to go on the midnight canal cruise to see the opening of the bridges. From the end of May to Mid July the sun doesn't fully set and the phenomenon is known in St Petersburg as the White Nights. There are many festivals and events during this time so there were many cruises on the canals at nighttime.

Between May and November the city's many drawbridges are raised for a few hours from Midnight to allow the large tonnage vessel coming from the Volga and heading for the Baltic to pass through. The bridges are raised at night so as not to disrupt daytime traffic. During the winter the Neva River is frozen and there is no river traffic. We tried to get on an English speaking cruise but that one was full so we got onto a Russian one. One advantage being it was half the price of the English speaking one, however, the disadvantage, of course, was that we had no idea where we were going or which bridges and buildings we were supposed to be looking at.

                       



                            The Hermitage

St Isaac's Cathedral

With crowds of people on both sides of the river, at 1.30am the Palace Bridge opened to a musical fanfare.

Once open, a huge number of boats, yachts, ski jets etc passed through the bridge creating lots of waves

It was after 2am by the time we got back to the hotel. It had been a very long day but filled with amazing sights.