Cruise Chronicles – Day 7 – St. Petersburg, Russia – Day 1

For the next two days, we toured St. Petersburg in a van along with eight other passengers, a driver and our terrific guide, Dina. The driver knew his way around town and Dina knew all about St. Petersburg. We were in very good hands.

In the 1600’s, Sweden had an outpost near the mouth of the Neva River. In 1703, Peter the Great captured that fortress and never gave it back. He built a city that became the capital of Imperial Russia and remained so until 1917 when the Communist revolutionaries moved the center of government to Moscow. It was called Leningrad until 1991 when the original name was restored.

Subway Station, St. Petersburg, Russia (14 May 2019)

The first thing we did was get dropped off at a subway station for a one-stop ride on the famous Russian underground. The Moscow subway stations have been likened to museum displays. St. Petersburg stations are similar. We entered in this ancient Olympic-themed station and exited through an old naval history station.

St. Isaacs Cathedral, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

St. Isaac is the patron saint of Peter the Great so it’s no surprise this was a special place. The Cathedral was completed in 1858 and has been a museum since the Soviets declared it so in 1931. The grand interior space can accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers. The features and decor in every direction are stunning. It was a shame we had to leave for our next stop because I could have stayed there for hours photographing the lines and details of every feature.

Major Matryoshka Display, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

We were a van-load of tourists, some of whom were eager to buy souvenirs. This particular vendor had extensive offerings of everything Russian. The place was loaded with imitation Faberge eggs, specialty vodka, fur hats, Christmas ornaments and of course, t-shirts. I got my own throw-back CCCP model figuring it might put me in good stead with our president’s pal Vlad. Naturally, one can buy every example of the famous nesting dolls. The one above has thirty dolls and at about 63 rubles to the dollar, the set will set you back close to $4700. I’ll take the shirt.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

In 1881, Czar Alexander II was assassinated…the fourth of the five Romanov rulers who were murdered. That’s a quarter of the total line. Some might think we are a violent nation (especially these days) but we’ve assassinated only eight percent of our presidents (four total)…so far.

But I digress. The Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected on the site of Alexander’s killing. Completed in 1907 by the next Czar to be killed on the job, its interior is remarkable…with Orthodox iconography on every wall and column.

I have no good pictures of the outside of the church because it was a rainy day and parts of the building was covered in scaffolding. Instead, I refer you to this shot on Alexander’s Wiki page…taken by someone with much better post-production skill than I possess.

Peterhof, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

After lunch, we boarded a boat bound for Peterhof, the Russian Versailles. Peter the Great had visited the French palace and he wanted one of his own. Greatly expanded by his daughter, Empress Elizabeth, the estate was ravaged by German troops in World War II. By 1952, thousands of volunteers helped restore the palace and park to their original grandeur.

Fountains at Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

The Grand Cascade has 64 fountains and over 200 statues. Peter wanted his summer palace on the Gulf of Finland to out-do France with its fountains and out-do the Netherlands with its gardens. I have not visited Versailles but believe Imperial Russia can out-do anyone.

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

The Peter and Paul Fortress was built on the Neva River to protect the city from Sweden, the other power in the region. Inside the walls is the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. And inside the Cathedral are the tombs of Czars. Lots of Czars. Peter the Great, who founded the city and did much to modernize and westernize the Empire, has a front-row tomb and still receives fresh flowers.

Tomb of Peter the Great

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

All but two of the Romanov rulers after Peter I are buried here. Nicholas II, the last Czar, was interred here in 1998, eighty years after he and his family were rubbed out by the Bolsheviks in 1918. It took an international team of forensic DNA specialists to confirm the family’s identities and a special room in the church was built to memorialize them.

Lakhta Tower, St. Petersburg (14 May 2019)

At the end of this day, the view off our cabin balcony permitted a magic light shot across the harbor toward the brand new Lakhta Center. The tallest building in Europe is over 1500 feet high and boasts many modern energy and environmental features.

While I regret seeing none of the day’s amazing sights, it was a long, grueling outing. I lost a toe nail and a persistent bump on the insole of my right foot was painfully aggravated. Tomorrow’s touring will be in flip-flops.