St Petersburg isn't, despite my previous post, entirely composed of
museums. The city and surrounding regions are awash with churches,
monuments and, after the thaw, beautiful parks.
Indeed St Petersburg boasts more churches and cathedrals than a
tourist can possibly hope to visit, even in four months. Some, for
example Kazan Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of our
Saviour and Nikolsky Cathedral (the Sailor's Church) are working
Russian Orthodox cathedrals. It is always interesting to enter in
order to watch a service, and to see the beautiful icons inside –
but be aware that utmost respect is expected, both in attire and
behaviour.
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| Trinity Cathedral |
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| Dostoevsky's grave |
The golden-starred bright blue cupolas of Trinity Cathedral,
currently being restored, are an iconic sight of the city, but two of
St Petersburg's most famous landmarks are St Isaac's Cathedral and
the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. Russian students can
enter the former free, and the interior of the cathedral is stunning
– however, it is worth paying the 100 roubles to climb to the top
of the colonnade. The 262 steps should be avoided by anybody with a
heart condition, but the views across the city from the top are
breathtaking. The Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood is truly
a symbol of Russia, second only in fame to St Basils in Moscow, on
which it was modelled. After years of Soviet mistreatment, the church
has been elaborately and carefully restored. Prepare in advance to
fight your corner with your student card here – otherwise you will
be charged around upwards of £5 per person. Finally, the Aleksandr
Nevsky Monastery is a must for Russian students. Not only is its
Tikhvin Cemetery the resting place of great composers such as
Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Tchaikovsky, but it is also the final
home of Fyodor Dostoevsky. While the monastery itself is a holy and
revered place for Russians, for many it is this grave that is a place
of pilgrimage.
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| Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood |
Walking tours of the city enable tourists to take in all these
sights, as do boat trips around the canals in summer. You perhaps
wouldn't associate Russia with outdoor activities in the sun, but as
our conversation teacher became so fond of reiterating, the weather
in St Petersburg is very changeable. In February, for example, we
took a casual stroll on the Gulf of Finland, which remains frozen
solid until mid-March. By late April, however, the same water was
thawed and ready for boat-loads of tourists taking hydrofoils to
Peterhof.
Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, the two most famous summer residences of
the Russian Tsars, are hugely popular excursions amongst tourists.
While the palace and museums at Peterhof often charge expensive
admission fees, the grounds alone – classically symmetrical gardens
with a spectacular array of golden fountains – are worth the trip.
The parks at Tsarskoe Selo are similarly impressive, but here it is
worth paying the (cheaper) admission to the Catherine Palace to see
the sumptuous interiors, not least the recently restored Amber Room.
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| Peterhof |
Of course, not everybody is staying in St Petersburg for four months,
with the opportunity for day-trips out of the city. However
fountain-lined parks are never far away in this city, and so an
afternoon visit to the Summer Garden fulfils desires to see
sculptures and pavilions designed by Peter the Great. For more
rambling, less elegant beauty, the botanical gardens are the ideal
location for a relaxed moment and a chance, for once, to be away from
the imposing gold structures found on every street corner! And if you
can afford the time for a not particularly Russian activity, the zoo
is also a fun visit – although alongside polar bears and lions, you
should expect to marvel at such wonders as the lynx that is
definitely a domestic cat, the hens, two magpies, and a pigeon, all
of whom have their own cages.
Naturally
my last couple of posts have barely touched upon everything there is
to see and do in St Petersburg, and of course everyone has different
tastes and expectations. For a few of us, trips to the Mariinsky
Theatre to see the operas Evgenii
Onegin and
The
Marriage of Figaro
were unmissable nights out, whilst anyone who has studied Russian
poetry at university would be considered a charlatan if they didn't
make a brief pilgrimage to the statue of the Bronze Horseman. The
souvenir market tucked behind the Church on the Spilled Blood is not
to be skipped, especially if your trip is a one-off, as it's the best
place to find hats, matryoshkas
(Russian dolls) and bits and pieces of artwork.
Twice in our last week in the city, we walked to the river at one in
the morning, to see the bridges go up. By mid-June we had entered the
famous White Nights of St Petersburg – a period where, being so
close to the Arctic Circle, the nights do not actually get dark.
Inevitably this led to near insomnia, and a fine excuse to be walking
the city streets at 2am. I have never felt so in love with a place
than St Petersburg at this time of year – and night – and
watching the huge floodlit bridges go up and ships ranging from tiny
tourist boats to huge trade vessels make their way upriver was a
genuinely magical experience.
We've all had great experiences living in St Petersburg, and as a
close-knit group of friends have discussed and reminisced over each
and every one. But at that moment, as the boats sailed by in the 2am
sunset (or was it sunrise?) we all watched silently. I'm pretty sure
we were all thinking the same thing: even after four months we'd be
sad to go home finally – and if nothing else, we're never going to
forget the unique sights offered to us by St Petersburg and Russia.
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