Saint Petersburg
The former capital of a grand and Glorious empire which stretched over much of the globe, St. Petersburg is chock-full of culture and history. Although just 300 years old, St. Petersburg has a rich and exciting history, full of dramatic events and major historical figures. Founded in 1703 by Emperor Peter the Great as his "window on the West", St. Petersburg enjoys a vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere and some of the most beautiful architecture in Europe. A city of palaces and museums, broad avenues and winding canals, Alongside world-famous attractions such as the Hermitage, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theatre, the city has scores of lesser known but equally fascinating sights that reveal both the pomp and extravagance of St. Petersburg's political and Imperial past, and also the mysterious, tragic genius that has touched so many of the city's great artists and writers. Still considered Russia's cultural capital, St. Petersburg reflects the country's extraordinary fate like no other city, and its uniquely rich atmosphere exerts a powerful grip on even the most jaded traveler. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
Historic Centre and Related Groups of Monuments
Unesco World Heritage
The 'Venice of the North', with its numerous canals and more than 400 bridges, is the result of a vast urban project begun in 1703 under Peter the Great. Later known as Leningrad (in the former USSR), the city is closely associated with the October Revolution. Its architectural heritage reconciles the very different Baroque and pure neoclassical styles, as can be seen in the Admiralty, the Winter Palace, the Marble Palace and the Hermitage. The unique urban landscape of the port and capital city of Saint Petersburg, rising out of the Neva estuary where it meets the Gulf of Finland, was the greatest urban creation of the 18th century. Saint Petersburg was built at the beginning of the 18th century in an astonishingly short period of time, according to an orderly plan based on many of Peter the Great's own ideas. Within the first decades of its history, Saint Petersburg became a grandiose agglomeration consisting of the historical city core surrounded by ceremonial country residences, an advanced fortification system, estates and dachas, settlements and small towns linked by radial routes. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
The former capital of a grand and Glorious empire which stretched over much of the globe, St. Petersburg is chock-full of culture and history. Although just 300 years old, St. Petersburg has a rich and exciting history, full of dramatic events and major historical figures. Founded in 1703 by Emperor Peter the Great as his "window on the West", St. Petersburg enjoys a vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere and some of the most beautiful architecture in Europe. A city of palaces and museums, broad avenues and winding canals, Alongside world-famous attractions such as the Hermitage, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theatre, the city has scores of lesser known but equally fascinating sights that reveal both the pomp and extravagance of St. Petersburg's political and Imperial past, and also the mysterious, tragic genius that has touched so many of the city's great artists and writers. Still considered Russia's cultural capital, St. Petersburg reflects the country's extraordinary fate like no other city, and its uniquely rich atmosphere exerts a powerful grip on even the most jaded traveler. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
Historic Centre and Related Groups of Monuments
Unesco World Heritage
The 'Venice of the North', with its numerous canals and more than 400 bridges, is the result of a vast urban project begun in 1703 under Peter the Great. Later known as Leningrad (in the former USSR), the city is closely associated with the October Revolution. Its architectural heritage reconciles the very different Baroque and pure neoclassical styles, as can be seen in the Admiralty, the Winter Palace, the Marble Palace and the Hermitage. The unique urban landscape of the port and capital city of Saint Petersburg, rising out of the Neva estuary where it meets the Gulf of Finland, was the greatest urban creation of the 18th century. Saint Petersburg was built at the beginning of the 18th century in an astonishingly short period of time, according to an orderly plan based on many of Peter the Great's own ideas. Within the first decades of its history, Saint Petersburg became a grandiose agglomeration consisting of the historical city core surrounded by ceremonial country residences, an advanced fortification system, estates and dachas, settlements and small towns linked by radial routes. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
St. Isaac's Cathedral
originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably smaller than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more impressive fades and interiors. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably smaller than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more impressive fades and interiors. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ / Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood
it marks the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881. Designed by Alfred Parland in the style of 16th and 17th-century Russian churches, the Church of the Resurrection provides a stark contrast to its surroundings of Baroque, Classical and Modernist architecture. Alexander II died of wounds inflicted in an attack by the terrorist group People's Will. Immediately, his heir, Alexander III, declared his intention to erect a church on the site in his father's memory, and moreover to have this church built in "traditional Russian" style - in distinction to what he saw as the contaminating Western influence of Petersburg. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
it marks the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881. Designed by Alfred Parland in the style of 16th and 17th-century Russian churches, the Church of the Resurrection provides a stark contrast to its surroundings of Baroque, Classical and Modernist architecture. Alexander II died of wounds inflicted in an attack by the terrorist group People's Will. Immediately, his heir, Alexander III, declared his intention to erect a church on the site in his father's memory, and moreover to have this church built in "traditional Russian" style - in distinction to what he saw as the contaminating Western influence of Petersburg. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
Hermitage Museum
one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums. Centuries of European fine art and a rich collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, but also the astonishingly opulent 18th and 19th century state rooms of Russia's imperial family. Since the summer of 2014, much of the Hermitage's renowned collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art has been transferred across Palace Square to the General Staff Building. The Hermitage complex consists of five historic interconnected buildings, the largest and most impressive of which is the Winter Palace, which alone contains over 1,000 rooms, 1,700 doors, 1,900 windows, and 100 staircases. This vast palace, an imposing symbol of imperial might and prestige, was the official residence of the Romanov Tsars from 1762 until the revolution in 1917. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums. Centuries of European fine art and a rich collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, but also the astonishingly opulent 18th and 19th century state rooms of Russia's imperial family. Since the summer of 2014, much of the Hermitage's renowned collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art has been transferred across Palace Square to the General Staff Building. The Hermitage complex consists of five historic interconnected buildings, the largest and most impressive of which is the Winter Palace, which alone contains over 1,000 rooms, 1,700 doors, 1,900 windows, and 100 staircases. This vast palace, an imposing symbol of imperial might and prestige, was the official residence of the Romanov Tsars from 1762 until the revolution in 1917. Source: www.saint-petersburg.com
Winter Palace, Large Hermitage, Small Hermitage, New Hermitage
General Staff Building