On the first day we enjoyed a guided waterways tour and on day two we took a guided land tour, with a few hours of free time. As all signs are in Russian we followed a canal route on our map, walked about two hours to and back from the Mariinsky theatres and wasted 45 minutes in a restaurant waiting for our lunch which never came!
St. Petersburg is the northernmost city in the world to have a population of over one million (currently 5 million). Known as the Venice of the North, it has more canals than Venice and Amsterdam combined.
- Spilled Blood
- Palace Square
- Buildings
The Church on the Spilled Blood
(AKA: Church of the Resurrection)
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The front side alcove - just to show the detail |
| The front with a little photoshopping | |
 The back with a couple of tourists |
Tsar Alexander II. |
The Church on the Spilled Blood Modeled after St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, it was designed by a different architect. The St Basil's architect was deliberately blinded so that he could not duplicate another such wonder. It was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated, thus the name of the church. |
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This small alcove commemorates the actual site of the assassination of
Palace Square
This is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire.
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The Winter Palace of the Russian tsars - now part of The Hermitage Museum |
Sample of the Icons at the top. |
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The Triumphal ArchAlexander I of Russia envisaged the square as a vast monument to the Russian victory over Napoleon (1812) and commissioned the general staff building which centres on a double triumphal arch crowned with a Roman quadriga. There is another arch not visible in this picture. |
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The Alexander Column (named for Alexander I) The monument, the tallest of its kind in the world, is 47.5 m (155 ft 8 in) tall. The column is a single piece of red granite, weighing 661 tons. It is set so neatly that no attachment to the base is needed.
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The face of the angel bears great similarity to the face of Emperor Alexander I. |
The pedestal of the Alexander Column is decorated with symbols of military glory. |
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The Mariinsky Theatre(The original...#1) |
The bridge between the old and the new |
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The Mariinsky 2 was just opened in May 2013...across the canal from the original. It was designed by a Canadian architect and caused great controversy due to its ultra modern design in the midst of the old! A very rare "new" building to be found in the heart of the city. |
| The Mariinsky Theatre #2 | |
St Nicholas Cathedral (AKA: Sailor's Church) |
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(Side note - I (Bob) was so pleased with the quality of these pictures I just had to include them.) |
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The Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cathedral (same name - the spire in the forground) peeking out from behind the wall. |
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Monument to Peter the Great in Senate Square |