St. Petersburg
Our Tour of St. Petersburg was the highlight of our Norwegian Baltic Capitals Cruise. We were a little nervous to go through customs in the Russian port, but outside of a long line, it was not a big deal at all. They didn’t even look at our tickets/blanket visas the first day (if you are part of a cruise, your “blanket visas” are good for up to 72 hours).
Special thanks to our amazing guide Daria (with TJ Travel), who took care of us and educated our family about the wonderful city of St. Petersburg. Our driver was Alexander and he did a great job looking after us. Daria was especially good with our girls and you could often hear her say over our personal earphones, “Ok girls, let’s look at this over here…”.
She took great care to help us find food that our family would enjoy eating as well, introducing us to Russian pancakes and Russian pies (savory and sweet options of both were available).
****Daria, if you read our posts about St. Petersburg, please feel free to correct our details using the comments section below, or email us at ourworldedventureblog@gmail.com****
The city of St. Petersburg has 5 million people and continues to grow with many new apartment buildings. The traffic is often terrible and they can’t widen the streets because of all the historic buildings and waterways.
St. Petersburg is described as a “young city” with a known establishment date.
Sweden had controlled this access point to the water trade route that extended from Scandinavia all the way to Byzantium. So, when the 17 year old and waterway obsessed Peter the 1st of the Romanov Dynasty ascended to the throne, he set his sights on winning the Baltic port city to have access into the Bay of Finland on the Western edge of his empire. This Great Northern War was fought over the course of 21 years. Finally, on May 27th, 1703, Russia defeated Sweden. Peter the 1st became “Peter the Great” and named his prized sea port, St. Petersburg in honor of the Biblical St. Peter.
Peter the Great established St. Petersburg and made it the capitol in 1721, transferring that honor which had previously been held by Moscow. He had the initial city designed and built in 30 years. As a well-traveled young ruler, Peter the Great hired a team of European Architects to help him plan his masterpiece city to mirror and surpass other great European cities.
In the hopes of having his city be wholly connected to the water, Peter established the Russian Naval Academy. Further, he provided each resident family with a boat since he hoped residents would travel by canal boat rather than horse-carts. The waterways are still lined with rings for mooring small watercraft dating back to Peter the Great’s time.
One of the unique things about St. Petersburg is that it is the Northernmost European capitol. It only has 85 days of sunshine per year, and has summer nights known as the “White Nights” when the sun doesn’t set and there are 24 hours of light.
The city is made up of 42 islands connected by bridges, but for that reason, the city is often threatened by floods. The Neva River, St. Peterburg’s largest River, has a large volume of water that often overflows and even freezes during the harsh winters. At that point it is thick enough to travel across. This city is also associated with the Baltic Russian Navy, so it has many navel museums.
Revolutions occurred in 1907 and again in 1917 bringing an end to 800 years of Russian Monarchy as the Bolsheviks established Soviet Russia.
Church of Spilt Blood
When I first heard about this church I assumed the term “Spilt Blood” referred to Jesus; however, it was named for Alexander the 2nd who was mortally wounded on the cobblestones in the area. It was built in his honor. These historic cobblestones are still visible today below a decorative canopy within the church. (pictured here)
This was one of the most beautiful and picturesque churches we have ever seen. It’s impressive colorful onion shaped domes on the outside are only a prelude for extensive and colorful mosaics in the interior spaces.
There are over 7000 square meters of mosaics on the walls that are made of “smalt” — a non-transparent glass. Russian Artisans were able to produce over 10,000? shades of glass, purple being the most difficult color for them to produce; however, they successfully created it for the picture of the Madonna.
The church was built in only 28 years as generations of Mosaic builders passed on their craft from Father to Son. The marble floors are equally impressive as they contain every marble color that appears in nature.
As in every Orthodox church, there is a stand of icons, or holy doors that separate the altar from the people. During an orthodox service, the priests walk between the doors praying for the people, and then return to the place behind the doors which is representative of heaven — symbolically and literally serving as the mediators between God’s presence and worshippers.
The church has a well designed ventilation system under the benches around the outside walls of the space that allow there to be a constant temperature in this massive space.
Although St. Petersburg now considers the Church of Spilt Blood primarily a museum to the art of Russian mosaic artists and honoring the death of Alexander the 2nd, it is used as a worshipping community at Easter and other “high holy days.”
The church has miraculously despite multiple threats. The Bolsheviks tried to blow up the church because they didn’t see any value in the historic building, feeling that there were too many churches in Russia. So, they packed the cathedral full of gun powder, but an unexpected rain saved the church from certain destruction. Amazingly, if not providentially, the church was also spared during the massive German bombing campaigns of WWII. An unexploded Nazi bomb was found decades later in the roof of the building but miraculously it never detonated in all those years. Beyond the cultural import of preserving the beauty of Russian mosaic work, we also think the pictorial images of God’s action through history and the inspiration of Saints continues to be vital for stirring and rekindling faith across generations.
Matyrioshka Dolls
Daria thought it was very strange that when I told her we sometimes called these “Russian Nesting Dolls” — the appropriate term is Matyrioshka dolls.
Each of our daughters picked out a set of dolls that had 5 dolls inside with beautiful pictures of St. Petersburg or Russian fairytales. We shipped them home directly from the store so we don’t have to travel with them. We thought this would be a great memento of our travels that they can enjoy and pass down through their own families someday.
Hermitage with the private visit to the Gold Room (Early Admission)
The Hermitage museums have over 3 million items on display, however, that is only 5% of what they have in their archives! Someone calculated that it would take you 9 years to walk through and just glance at all 3 million items.
The Hermitage Museum was started in 1764 by Catherine the Great to display her vast art collection. She did not intend to display the art for public viewing, instead the story goes that Catherine said they were to be enjoyed by “her and her mice” for all she cared. It did not open for the public until 1852.
We stopped in one major hall that contained all the generals who fought against, and ultimately defeated, Napoleon. Alexander is pictured on a horse, and it is almost an exact copy of the portrait of Napoleon on his horse that is in the Louvre — quite a political statement!
A Two-headed eagle is the symbol of Russia. It symbolizes Russia’s role and position straddling the expanse between East and West. Further, the strength of the two-headed eagle serves as a warning that Russia is constantly vigilant to maintain the sovereignty of it’s state from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Baltic Sea.
The Gold Room
When we signed up to see “The Gold Room” we were under the impression that it was a room with gold walls and decor, like many of the beautiful rooms in the Hermitage. We entered one room with gold columns (see picture), but it was not the gold room. We kept wondering how much more gold ornamentation would it take to be revered as “The Gold Room” at the Hermitage? Once we reached “The Gold Room,” we would understand our assumptions were flawed.
Later, we entered the basement of the museum, and, finally, “The Gold Room!” We walked into a guarded, sealed chamber that contained ancient gold artifacts from tribes that predated the Russian peoples. Some of the gold work, like filigreed earnings made of woven threads of gold, stunned us with its beauty and intricacy when viewed through magnifying glass. We were told that artisans could stretch one gram of gold into two kilometers of gold thread!
The second half of the room contained diplomatic gifts from world leaders to the Tsars and Leaders of Russia. Countries such as Iran gave beautiful jewel encrusted swords and daggers, and countries such as China gave jewelry, hairpins and tea sets with gold work that was simply unbelievable in its intricacy and beauty.
Hope’s impressions: “The Gold Room was beautiful. It had swords and had many figures of gold. I liked the swords the best. It was amazing to see that much real gold in one place.”
Metro Station
There is public transportation, and then there is Russian public transportation in St. Petersburg.
The Metro line in St. Petersburg is impressive for its construction, cleanliness, and even artwork.
They dug down below the Neva River, so it is one of the deepest metro lines in the world.
You have to take two long escalators down over 200 meters into the ground! We had never been on a escalator that long before.
Citizens only pay a small amount and can change lines as many times as they need before reaching their destination.
Hydrofoil to Peterhoff
The ride to Peterhoff was one to remember! We boarded long, thin hydrofoil boats and found seats near the front.
Once the boats get up to speed they rise up out of the water as their metal fins, or hydrofoils, and ski along the top of the water.
They are best in very smooth water and cannot run on choppy water. We had a few waves due to wind and you could hear the water slapping into the bottom of the boat. But they were still running across the Baltic sea following red and green buoys that designated their cruising path to and from St. Petersburg proper and Peterhoff. We went under a brand new bridge that was under construction, and the new sports arena that will open in 2018 and be the largest in the world.
Peterhoff
Peterhoff, the summer place for Peter the Great, was unmatched in its splender and majesty.
Its hard to believe that during WWII the Nazi’s occupied this area for three years and had completely destroyed it.
The palaces, statues, fountains and forests all had to be restored to their former glory.
Peterhoff was built to celebrate Peter the Great’s victory over Sweden that took 21 years. There are many elements within Peterhoff that contain symbolic images of Russian victory over Sweden.
From the large forested paths, splendid fountains, bronze statues gilded in gold, palaces and gardens — Peterhoff was built to impress! He even built trick water fountains, so that if a guest stepped on the wrong stone in the path they would be sprayed with water.
And as young ladies approached the palace, he could drench them with pathway fountains, even though they were dressed in huge gowns and make-up. It was said that Peter didn’t care because he could then see their true beauty sans makeup.
We think Peter the Great would be proud of the impact his beloved St. Petersburg made on our family. We were impressed by the grandeur of the buildings. We were charmed by the culture and the delightful citizens. We learned, through symbolism, of the history of Russian conquest and the faith that makes Eastern Orthodoxy rich. We will be back!
Awesome! Did you see Rembrant’s huge painting “The Return of the Prodigal” while at the Hermitage? Of all the 3 million artifacts there, that is the one I want to see most! Can’t wait to see you in Jerusalem….
Wow! Now I want to visit St. Petersburg. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, impressions and pictures. I feel like I’m travelling the world also! So much beauty.
Wendy, it is so beautiful! You would love St. Petersburg. Glad you are “edventuring” with us!
No, bummer! The Hermitage is GIGANTIC! Can’t wait to see you in Jerusalem too!