St Petersburg Sights
The enormous Palace Square is effectively the heart of the city and was the setting of many events of worldwide significance, including the Bloody Sunday (1905) and the October Revolution of 1917.
The Winter Palace (Hermitage) is on the left & the Alexander Column on the right.
At the centre of Palace Square is the red granite Alexander column, the tallest of its kind in the world. This double triumphal arch (right) is very theatrical.
The square has been used for concerts: Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney & Elton John among others have played here.
The Bronze Horseman is one of the symbols of the city.
Monument to Nicholas I
A pompous statue facing St Isaacs Cathedral. The only technical point of interest being that it was the first equestrian statue in Europe with only two support points (the rear hooves of the horse).
St Nicholas Naval Cathedral. A fine example of a Baroque Orthodox cathedral. The Navy’s main church.
St Isaacs Cathedral
The tallest building in St Petersburg. It is a brooding monster with no charm at all.
Even though it is the city’s main cathedral, I am afraid it is a difficult building to like.
It is a late (completed in 1858) Neoclassical rendering of a Byzantine Greek-cross church. I think it looks a very austere structure on the outside.
Inside it is very different. It is all very Italian Baroque – except for its regular cross layout and the Iconostasis.
Obviously it suffered under the communists when it was turned into an Anti-religious Museum (!?!), being stripped of anything moveable or valuable.
The four main doors mimic Ghiberti’s Baptistery doors in Florence.
St Isaacs Cathedral – Interior
Church on Spilled Blood
Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on this spot in 1881. He was riding in a carriage when an anarchist threw a bomb under it. Being bullet-proof, it had little effect. Unfortunately the Tsar then got out to look at the commotion. That was when another accomplice threw the bomb that killed him. A case of curiosity killed the cat!
The grimly-named church was erected over the very spot of the assassination.
Originally called The Imperial Russian Ballet. Then after the Revolution, The Soviet Ballet. Then it was named after the leading Bolshevik leader in “Leningrad”, Sergey Kirov after his assassination in 1934. However after the break-up of the USSR, Bolsheviks were no longer popular, so it was renamed the Mariinsky. Until that is the next politically correct name comes along.
Rostral Column
This is one of a pair of lighthouses on the Neva river opposite the Peter & Paul Fortress.
Kazan Cathedral
This building (based on St Peter’s in Rome) is bit out of proportion. The colonnades being so dominant & the church being a relatively secondary architectural feature in the middle.
Yusupov Palace
The scene of the gruesome assassination of Rasputin in 1916. The courtyard where the conspirators eventually managed to kill Rasputin as he attempted to flee is now occupied by a kindergarten playground.