We made it! After a successful visa process, several months of fretting over the Crimea crisis, an 18-hour overnight train from the Arctic Circle, and a half a dozen document checks…we were in Russia!! It was pretty surreal for us!
Here are just a few of our favorite stops.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral – This was actually my favorite cathedral in St. Petersburg. The outside doesn’t look too impressive, but the inside is absolutely gorgeous and the views from the top of the cupola were worth the easy climb. Special ships and a railway had to be built to transport the granite from Finland to make the huge pillars, which still hold scars from WWII. Our hotel was really close to St. Isaac’s so we got to know it really well. We saw it from every angle, during the day, at night, in sunshine, in the rain. When I reflect on our time in St. Petersburg, St. Isaac’s is what I see.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
Inside St. Isaac’s
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church – This was also a fun church because during the time of communism (official religion: atheism) it was used as a swimming pool. It has since been converted back into a place of worship, but still retains a very aquatic look. There was actually German written everywhere and is more commonly called the German Church, as most of the members are German speakers.
St. Peter’s Church
Inside St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s as a swimming pool.
Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood – Based on St. Basil’s in Moscow, this church is where Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 and is dedicated to him (hence the icky name!). The interior is completely covered in mosaics…over 7,000 m2! During communism, this church was used as a storage space for stage settings from the Maly Opera Theatre.
Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
Inside the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
Inside the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
The Hermitage – Can’t forget the Hermitage. It is actually the second largest museum in the world…behind the Louvre.
Palace Square and the Alexander Column from inside the Hermitage.
Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad – The Siege of Leningrad lasted from January 18, 1943 to January 27, 1944 and was the deadliest siege in history. Honestly, I knew very little about these 872 days, being American and living in Germany. A bit of conflict of interest there! However, the bottom line is that when innocent people die in atrocious ways on account of war, it doesn’t matter whose “side” they are on.
The city of Leningrad (now named St. Petersburg) was encircled by the Germans for more than 2 years and completely cut off from supplies. Citizens of Leningrad sustained themselves on bread made of sawdust and cannibalism actually became a problem. The defenders of Leningrad actually managed to push back the German forces, but at the horrible cost of over a million lives.
The memorial includes a 48m obelisk, a 40m ring symbolizing the city’s encirclement, a dozen statues, an “eternal flame” and a museum. It is also a traffic circle! Here is an aerial picture from the St. Petersburg website, which shows how large the monument is…something I couldn’t capture myself. We visited as the sun went down, and were totally alone, which made this dramatic memorial even more somber.
We also got to visit with the scholar who was preparing his move to St. Petersburg, and sample some local food and drink (horseradish vodka and salmon caviar blinis)! 2.5 days were definitely not enough in St. Petersburg. We walked our tails off and saw a ton of stuff, but there was so much more we would have gladly done! Maybe next time.
Next stop: Moscow!