Nevsky Prospek and other Saint Petersburg, Russia Things to Do Tips

Nevsky Prospect is one of best known streets in Russia and definitely the main avenue of St Petersburg. It runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and then to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
n the very first days of St Petersburg it was the beginning of a road to Novgorod, but was soon decorated with some fine buildings, squares and bridges. If you head to the south you will find yourself at the Kazan Cathedral on one side. At the other side is Kanal Griboedova where you have a wonderful view down to the Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood. In addition to the many churches of different denominations there are many more attractions around. For example there is the Arts Square and the Russian Museum. Further down the road is the National Library of Russia (second largest in the country), the monument to Catherine the Great, Anichkov Bridge with its beautiful statues and much more.

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One of the first 'attraction' which I saw was the cruiser 'Aurora'. The ship was surrounded by ice because the Neva river was frozen. Anyway, 'Aurora' is a museum right now.

The ship was constructed in St. Petersburg New Admiralty in 1897-1903. On the 8th of November, 1903 AURORA was sent to the Far East together with the cruiser detachment under the flag of Rear Admiral A.A.Virenius. She had made the voyage on a route: Kronstadt - Portland (U.K.) - Algeria - Specia (Italy) - Bizerta (Tunis) - Peraeus (Greece) - Port Suez - Gibuti. However the detachment was withdrawn on Baltic Sea owing the beginning of Russo-Japanese war.
Lying in Petrograd the Cruiser had appeared at the centre of events of Russian Revolution 1917. Being in close contact to the workers of a plant, the cruiser's seamen were involved in revolutionary propaganda. This was promoted by general situation in Russia, which was put on a verge of catastrophe by the war. The mutual relations between AURORA's officers and team became extremely strained. On 12th of March the crew had required commanding officer to release under the arrest a three imprisoned workers-propagandists. When on March 13, 1917 at the Cruiser it had become known about the occured Revolution, sailors together with the workers hoisted the Red flag over the ship. Commanding officer was killed, senior officer was wounded, most part of crew landed and joined the revolt.

Later AURORA blank-fired a forecastle gun to bringing moral pressure to defenders of Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was.

Open: Tues-Thur, Sat-Sun 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Location: Petrovskaya Nab

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This square is considered to be the main square of the city and serves as a good example of how different styles can be combined in the most elaborate way. On the northern side of the square stands the picturesque Baroque Winter Palace (built in 1754-62).

Across the square, on the southern side, there is a classical yellow-and-white building of the former Imperial Army General Staff (built in 1819-29 by Carlo Rossi).

In the middle of the square the Alexander Column creates an important focal point for this great architectural ensemble.

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As you maybe noticed I like very much the Baroque-stlye. So I was very impressed when I found myself at the Winter Palace. Not only the style impressed me but also the combintion of the colours light green and white.

From the 1760s the Winter Palace was the main residence of the Russian Tzars. Magnificently located on the bank of the Neva River, this palace is perhaps the major attraction of St. Petersburg. When I was there I was lucky to wait just few minutes to enter the Winter Palace. But a friend from St.Petersburg told me in summer sometimes people have to wait 1-2 hours!!! Many visitors, like me, also know it as the main building of the Hermitage Museum. The green-and-white three-storey palace is truly impressive: it has 1786 doors, 1945 windows and 1057 halls and rooms, many of which are open to the public.

The Malachite Hall, The Baroque Winter Palace was built in 1754-62 for Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. By the time it was completed Elisabeth had already died, and only Catherine the Great and her successors could enjoy their new home. Many of the impressive interiors have been remodeled since then, particularly after 1837, when a huge fire destroyed most of the palace. Nowadays the Winter Palace, together with four more buildings houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage.

Open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. Sunday till 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays. Ticket-office closes 1 hour before closing time.

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Address: Dvortsovaia Naberezhnaia, 32-38

I love to visit museums. I love to visit galleries. And when I visited the Hermitage Museum.. well, I think you can imagine how I felt. But I have to admit, there was something which made me a little bit sad. It is impossible to see everything and although I spent some hours there, I am sure I missed a lot. Too sad the St.Petersburg is not behind the next corner... (from Vienna)

Well, the Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world.

The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from Berlin.
Nowadays, the Hermitage has about 2.7 million exhibits and displays a full range of world art from Ancient Egypt to early 20th century Europe. It includes works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, unique collections of Rembrandt, Rubens, French Impressionists (Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet, Pissarro), plus Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin and sculptures by Rodin.
The collection is huge and very exciting.

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Address: Dvortsovaia Naberezhnaia, 32-38

An impressive monument to the founder of St. Petersburg - Peter the Great - stands on Ploschad Dekabristov, facing the Neva River and surrounded by the Admiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the buildings of the former Senate and Synod - the civil and religious governing bodies of pre-revolutionary Russia.

The monument was meant to be a tribute by Catherine the Great to her famous predecessor on the Russian throne. Being a German princess by birth, she wanted to establish a line of continuity with the earlier Russian monarchs. For that reason an inscription on the monument reads in Latin and Russian: Petro Primo Catarina Secunda - To Peter the First from Catherine the Second.

An equestrian statue of Peter the Great, created by the famous French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, depicts the most prominent reformer of Russia as a Roman hero. The pedestal is made of a single piece of red granite in a shape of a cliff. From the top of this "cliff" Peter shows the way for Russia, while his horse steps on a snake, which represents the enemies of Peter and his reforms. Ironically, the "evil" snake serves as a third point of support for the statue.

According to a 19th century legend, enemy forces will never take St. Petersburg while the "Bronze Horseman" stands in the middle of the city. During the Second World War the statue was not taken down, but was protected with sand bags and a wooden shelter. In that way, the monument survived the 900-day Siege of Leningrad virtually unhurt.

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The dome of this cathedral dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. You can climb up the 300 stairs to the observation point at the dome and get a breathtaking view of the fascinating St Petersburg. But when we where there we decided not to climb up because the weather was not that good to have such a view of Pieter.

The church itself is a real marvel. Built by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand to be the main church of the Russian Empire, the cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - note that the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons (about 177,770 pounds) each. Inside the church many of the icons are the most exquisite mosaics. The iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) is decorated with 8 malachite and 2 lapis lazuli columns. The cathedral, which can accommodate 14 thousand worshipers, now serves as a museum and services are held only on major occasions.

Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.. Closed on Wednesdays.

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Address: Isaakievskaia Ploschad, 1

If you leave the St.Isaac's Cathedral to the north you will see the Mariinsky Palace. This palace has plenty of history behind it. Built for the Grand Duchess Maria, daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, in 1839-44, the palace still retains many of its original splendid interiors. When Maria and her husband owned the palace, they used to have a huge greenhouse, where pineapples grew quite well.

In 1884 the Mariinsky Palace was bought by the government and became the seat of the State Council, the State Chancellor's office and the Committee of Ministers (later - the Council of Ministers). Since 1945 the palace has belonged to the city council and local administration.

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Directions: Across the square from the St Isaac's Cathedral

On Nevsky Prospect there's a building that immediately attracts your attention. Kazan Cathedral encircles a small square with a double row of beautiful columns - an impressive colonnade. The architect Andrei Voronikhin, who built this church in 1801-1811, was greatly inspired by Basilica of St Peter's in Rome. Kazan Cathedral was meant to be a Russian version of St Peter's and the main church of Russia.
After the War of 1812 (during which Napoleon was defeated) the church became a monument to the Russian victory. The captured enemy banners were put in the cathedral and the famous Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812, was buried inside the church.

The cathedral was named after a "miracle-making" icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which the church housed till the early 1930s. The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and from 1932 it housed the collections of the Museum of History of Religion and Atheism, which displayed numerous pieces of religious art and served anti-clerical propaganda purposes.

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Address: Nevsky Prospect, Kazanskaya Square, 2

The original Admiralty was one of the first structures to be built in St Petersburg. It was designed to be a dockyard, where some of the first ships of Russia's Baltic fleet were built. It was also fortified to be an extra defense for the newly obtained Neva delta.

The Admiralty that we can see today was built in 1806-23 by Adrian Zakharov. He maintained the original plan of the building, but turned it into a marvelous example of the Russian Empire style, with rows of white columns, plentiful reliefs and statues. The gilded spire of the Admiralty (and particularly its weather-vane korablik - "a little ship") is a famous St. Petersburg landmark. The tower of the building, topped with the spire,can be clearly seen from three streets: Nevsky, Gorokhovaia Street and Voznesensky Prospect.

The Admiralty used to be the naval headquarters of Russia till 1917, and now serves as a naval college. The gardens in front of the Admiralty are particularly beautiful in summer, and you might choose to walk through them on your way from the Hermitage to the "Bronze Horseman" and St Isaac's.

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