St. Petersburg City Tour

After meeting our guide and driver nice and early, our first stop was on our side of the river at the Old Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns. The Old Stock Exchange is sited to fill the majestic sweep of the Spit, where the Neva River splits around Vasilevsky Island. The interior features a large colonnaded trading hall, now used as exhibition halls. Opposite the exchange building on the Neva is a hemi-circular overlook with circular ramps descending to a jetty projecting into the river. This formal approach is framed by two rostral columns centered on the portico of the Stock Exchange. The Doric columns sit on a granite plinth and are constructed of brick and decorated with bronze anchors and four pairs of bronze ship prows (rostra), each representing the major rivers of Russia. Seated marble figures decorate the base of each column. They were originally intended to serve as beacons and were topped by a light in the form of a Greek brazier and lit by oil. The braziers have since been removed and the tops of the columns refitted with gas torches that continue to be lit on ceremonial occasions.

Looking straight out from the Rostral columns across the Neva River, is the Peter and Paul Fortress (above) – the original citadel of St. Petersburg. The fortress was established by Peter the Great in 1703 on a small island by the north bank of the Neva River. Built at the height of the Northern War in order to protect the projected capital, the fort never fulfilled its martial purpose. From around 1720 the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high ranking or political prisoners. In 1924 most of the site was converted to a museum.

From here we crossed the Palace Bridge to the main centre of the city to St Isaac’s Cathedral. Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the city and was the largest church in Russia when it was built. It was ordered by Tsar Alexander I to replace an earlier Rinaldiesque structure. The cathedral took 40 years to construct from 1818 to 1858. Under the Soviet government the building was abandoned, then ironically turned into a museum of atheism. With the fall of communism, the museum has closed and regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral.

Rearing fearlessly over the Neva River at the opposite end of Decembrists’ Square from St. Isaac’s is St. Petersburg’s most famous rider, the Bronze Horseman.. It depicts Peter the Great commanding his city in a rather fierce and autocratic interpretation favoured in the era of Catherine the Great who commissioned the monument. Alexander Pushkin made the statue come alive to generations of Russians with his brooding, stormy poem of the same name. The statue’s pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, which is claimed to be the largest stone ever moved by man, with only 1/3 visible above ground.

From here we drove to Mikhailovsky Castle. Also called St. Michael’s Castle, this is a former royal residence in the historic centre of the city. It was built as a residence for Emporer Paul I in 1797. The castle looks difference from each side, as the architects used motifs of various architectural styles. Afraid of assassination plots, Emperor Paul I didn’t like the Winter Palace where he never felt safe. Due to these constant fears, the new royal residence was built like a castle with rounded corners in which a small octagonal courtyard is located and surrounded by specially dug canals which transformed the castle area into an artificial island which could only be reached by drawbridges. Ironically, Paul I was assassinated only 40 nights after he moved into his newly built castle.

In 1800, the bronze equestrian Moment to Peter the Great was erected in front of the castle. By order of Paul I, the inscription "From Great Grandson to Great Grandfather" was made on the pedestal that is decorated depicting scenes of two Russian victories over Sweden during the Great Northern War. After Paul’s death, the imperial family returned to the Winter Palace and the Mikhailovsky Castle was given to the Main Engineering School. In the early 1990’s, Mikhailovsky Castle became a branch of the Russian Museum and now houses its Portrait Gallery.

Directly opposite the Castle is the Summer Garden, which occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika and Swan Canals. The park, first conceived by Peter the Great in 1704, was laid out in a Dutch Baroque style with the walks like with hundreds of allegorical marble sculptures. The park now remains one of the most romantic and evocative places in St. Petersburg.

Our final stop on the tour, was the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. This is one of the main Russian Orthodox churches of St. Petersburg. It’s official name is the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, however, it is most commonly referred to as the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. The name refers to the blood of the assassinated Alexander II who was mortally wounded on that site on March 13 1881.