Historical Sights of St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia after its capital — Moscow, with the population of about 6 million people. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Our guests who left for Paris right after having visited St. Petersburg, and spent several days there on the banks of the Seine, witnessed that they found the city on the Neva river more amazing, more beautiful, and more impressive than Paris. Our city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great (ruled 1682 -1725) in 1703 and from 1712 became the new capital of Russia. It had this status up until 1918 when the capital was brought back to Moscow.

This city witnessed many important historical events. In fact, the whole history of the Russian Empire lies here on the banks of the Neva River. Russia became a European empire at the beginning of the 18th century; in fact, Peter the Great was the first Russian emperor. It was the era of vast changes in our country, and Peter was the greatest reformer ever. Almost all the emperors starting with Peter himself are buried in St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral that is situated on the territory of Peter and Paul’s Fortress which is the birthplace of our city. The gilded spire of the cathedral with a three meter high angel on top is one of the symbols of our city.

St. Petersburg thus started as a fortress to protect the lands along the banks of the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland from Sweden. In fact these lands had always been an apple of discord between Russia and its «northern neighbor» Sweden. Separate fights were held throughout centuries up until 1700 when a war was started that was one of the most important happenings in the history of St. Petersburg and Russia and that came down into history as the Northern War. It was started by the Swedish king Karl XII. For Peter I who was the ruler of our country then the main purpose of the war was to regain the lands along the Neva and the Gulf of Finland that were lost to Sweden in 1617 as a result of a peace treaty.

The beginning of the 17th century was a hard time for Russia when Lithuania and Poland were trying to capture Moscow. Russia was weak and without a tsar then and it asked Sweden for help. As a result of this «help» Russia lost the access to the Baltic Sea. The country could not develop without it that is why in 1700 Peter entered this war that lasted for 21 years and was ended in 1721 with a total victory of Russia. To protect the newly regained lands Peter and Paul’s Fortress was founded on a little Hare’s Island.

The fortress developed into a city under the rule of the Romanovs — the ruling dynasty in Russia from Peter’s grandfather Mikhail until the last Russian emperor Nicholas II.

It was at the time of Elizabeth, Peter’s daughter (ruled 1741-1761), that the city obtained its magnificence in architecture. One style was ruling in the middle of the 18th century — baroque, and there was an architect who could not be surpassed in creating baroque masterpieces — Francesco Rastrelli (1700-1771). This Italian architect, who was the favorite court architect of Elizabeth I, built a lot of richly decorated baroque buildings in St. Petersburg and its suburbs, which are now a distinguishing feature of our city. Among them are the Winter Palace — former main imperial residence, the Smolny Convent (former residence of the first women's school in Russia), and summer imperial palaces in Tsarskoe Selo (now Pushkin) and Peterhof (now Petrodvorets). The Winter Palace is one of the most splendid buildings in St. Petersburg. Almost all the Romanovs starting from Catherine the Great resided there. The palace had hundreds of rooms; many of them were State Halls the interiors of which are preserved till the present days and open to visitors.

When you are inside of these miraculous halls you’ll have a strong sensation of having got back to the times of the emperors. When you take the magnificent State Gala Staircase covered with a red velvet carpet and decorated with sculptures, huge mirrors, ceiling paintings, marble, gilded wood carvings — all to the baroque style — you are going to feel yourself one of the astonished guests invited to the pompous balls and receptions held in the Winter Palace. They had never before imagined such richness and splendor. Candles were lit in the vast Great Throne Room where the Emperor and Empress as well as Grand Dukes received their guests. Nobody was forgotten. The provincial nobility was received in the Emblem Hall covered all over with gilded bronze and sparkling in the candlelight.

Now the Winter Palace does not only display beautiful interiors but also houses our greatest pride — the Hermitage Museum. It ranks among the best museums of West European art in the world such as the Louver in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery and the British Museum in London and Prado in Madrid. The Hermitage possesses the masterpieces of such great painters as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Hals, Velasquez, Goya, El Greco, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Kandinsky, and many others. The Hermitage has more than 3 million exhibits, among them not only paintings but also antique sculptures, medieval applied art, cameos, ancient and 18-19th century gold and jewels, coins, archeological finds, collections of the Eastern countries — Egypt, Iran, China and Tibet, Japan. There is also a Russian department though the main collection of the Russian Art is to be found in the Russian Museum. In the Hermitage you'll find imperial carriages covered with gilded wood carvings, upholstered with velvet and decorated with French paintings; original Russian sledge, Peter I’s personal set of medical instruments, and a whole gallery of the Romanovs’ gala portraits.

The Hermitage comprises several buildings, and the Winter Palace is just one of them. All the five buildings are situated on the bank of the Neva river. Behind them there is one of the little rivers — the Moyka — flowing, and the Neva is connected with the Moyka by a short canal that flows write between the buildings of the Hermitage. It’s called The Winter Canal, and this is one of the most poetic corners of the «old St.Petersburg». It was described in Alexander Pushkin’s famous «Queen of Spades», and until now is the place for romantic dates of people who are in love. This place is especially lovely when seen from the water — when you sail either along the Moyka or along the Neva River in a boat and cast a look on the beautiful arch that frames the Winter Canal.

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