St Petersburg: Mariinsky

The bronze horseman: Equestrian statue of Peter the Great

For our third and final walk in St Petersburg we headed into the Mariinsky district. the starting point was Pl Dekabristov (Decemberists' Sq) to the east of the Admiralty, where we started yesterday's walk around the Neva. (The Decemberists in question were of course the brave revolutionaries of 1825, rather than the wonderful indie band.)

The centrepiece of the square is the bronze horseman, a statue of Peter the Great erected by Catherine the Great. The inscription in both Cyrillic and Latin letters says "to Peter I from Catherine II - 1782". This is generally interpreted as an attempt to bolster her doubtful legitimacy as a successor of Peter.

From here it is a short stroll in the park to another of the city's landmarks, the enormous St Isaac's cathedral. Yet again there is a link to Peter - he was born on St Isaac's feast day. The cathedral was completed in 1848 after nearly 40 years' construction. The views from the colonnade under the golden dome are impressive - although partially obscured by cranes engaged on building work.



The best view from the colonnade is south towards Isaakievskaya pl, with the Mariinsky palace on the far side.



The baroque interior is lavish, but seems relatively restrained by comparison with the St Peter and Paul cathedral. The pink marble gives it a delicate tone.



We then walked east almost as far as the beautiful, recently restored bridge connecting the two buildings of the main post office.




From here we went down to the Moyka river embankment and at the next bridge had this lovely view of St Isaac's on the left and the Yusupov Palace on the right. This is where Rasputin was killed. There is a wonderful portrait of the young Prince Yusupov, his assassin, in the Russian Museum by Ilya Repin, regarded as Russia's greatest artist.



Our route then took us past the famous, but from the outside at least, not particularly inspiring Mariinsky theatre, to reach the Nikolsky Cathedral. The Cathedral is under restoration, but is still operating, as it apparently did throughout the soviet era. The devotion of the worshippers, crossing themselves three times as they left in the Orthodox fashion, was readily apparent.



Some distance in front of the cathedral is the wonderful bell tower which faces on to the Griboedov canal.



Not far away along another canal we saw, but did not succeed in identifying, another splendid onion domed structure.



Perhaps the only flaw in this walk was that we now had to simply retrace our steps back to St Isaac's and our nearby hotel.

Rating: four stars.

St Petersburg: Around the Neva

Admiralty

Yesterday we walked around the historic heart of St Petersburg. Today we decided to cross the Neva river and explore some of the islands (all connected by road bridges) to its north. We began at the park in front of the Admiralty building, the headquarters of the Russian navy from 1711 to 1917. The golden spire is a landmark from all directions, but is in fact painted wood. The building is now a naval college.

From here it is a few steps to the beginning of Nevsky pr at the side of Dvortovskaya pl (Palace Sq). We turned left and crossed the bridge to Vassilievsky island. As you look back, there are wonderful views of the Winter Palace.


And as you look ahead to the left you see the Kunstcamera, the museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, founded by Peter the Great himself in 1714.



We just skirted the corner of Vassilievsky island, crossed to Petrogradsky island and then to Zayachy island, where the St Peter and Paul fortress was our target. It was here that the city of St Petersburg began. The fortress walls, built in 1703, were its first defences and the fortress is naturally the oldest major building in the city.

We followed the side of the island nearest the Neva river and soon found ourselves walking under the fortress walls. On turning a corner however we were surprised to come on a beach, complete with a few sunbathers.



A bit further on, we entered the riverside gate of the fortress and walked on top of part of the walls. We then made our way to the central square in front of the resplendent St Peter and Paul cathedral.



The 122m high bell tower is still the tallest structure in St Petersburg. The cathedral itself has an extravagant - OK, completely over the top - gilded baroque interior. Most of the Tsars are buried in the cathedral.

From here a delightful tree lined avenue leads past the Ducal chapel to the main east gate where you cross back to Petrogradsky island.




Here we made a bit of a mistake and walked some distance up the main boulevard in a largely futile search for more style moderne gems to add to those we saw yesterday. We then crossed the Neva again to return to the historic heart and seek a place to rest in the Summer Garden, with the Fontanka river on one side and a canal on the other.

The 18th century Garden was Peter's retreat and housed his first Palace - the relatively restrained Summer Palace, which dates from 1704-14.




The entrance to the garden facing the Neva is distinguished by a late 18th century cast iron fence between granite posts.




Inside the Garden is an oasis of green ...



... but happily there is also a bar.

We left by the southern exit and followed the Moyka river back into the historic heart.

Rating: four stars. Actually more enjoyable than the historic heart walk: more open, less bustle and traffic. The "Venice of the north" claim seemed much better founded.

St Petersburg: historic heart

Dvortskaya Pl (Palace Square)

Just arrived in St Petersburg for a six day break, and a walking tour of the "historic heart", as our guidebook described it, seemed the ideal way to spend the first afternoon. The area is defined by the Neva river to the north and the Fontanka to the south.

The starting point was the top end of the busy, long main boulevard, the Nevsky Prospekt. We turned off down an inconspicuous side street and were quickly greeted by this wonderful archway leading through to the Winter Palace (home of the Hermitage museum) and Dvortskaya Pl (Palace Square) with its statue of Alexander I.



From here we followed the bank of the Moyka River, the third of the city's rivers, and soon reached this pleasing bridge, with the massive but decayed 18th court stables building on the right bank.



At the next bridge there is a stunning sight on the opposite bank: the church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood (officially known as the Church of the Resurrection of Christ). This extraordinary structure, which was influenced by St Basil's in Moscow, was built between 1883 and 1907 on the site where Tsar Alexander II was fatally injured in an assassination attempt. After a long period of decline, restoration of the church started in 1970 and was completed 27 years later - thus taking longer than the original construction.



From here we continued along the banks of the Moyka passing the former military parade ground, Mars Field, now a rather drab park. On the opposite bank was the Mikhailovsky Palace which now houses the wonderful Russian Museum of the history for Russian painting.

At the next bridge we crossed and doubled back through Mikhailovsky Gardens to emerge at the side of church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. The curved park wall was impressive.



We then walked round to the square at the front of the Mikhailovsky Palace, known as Arts Square because of the collection of cultural buildings which surround it. A handsome statue of Pushkin, dating only from 1958, dominates the square.



From here we walked the short distance to the Griboedov Canal which intersects the Moyka by church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and followed it along to where it passes under Nevsky pr. Here we were entranced by the art nouveau Singer Building and noted that it now housed a bookstore and coffee shop.



Opposite is the extravagant neo-classical Kazan Cathedral which dates from 1801-11. The influence of St Peter's in Rome is apparent in the colonnaded wings. The space they enclose is a popular place to hang out.



Continuing a little further along the canal side we reached the lovely Bankovsky most (Bank bridge), with its four golden griffins. It is deservedly St Petersburg's most photographed bridge.



We now cut back towards Nevsky pr, skirting the side of the huge 18th century Gostiny Dvor, one of the world's first shopping precincts. The Nevsky pr side has a splendid arcade.



Walking further down Nevsky pr we passed the Armenian church ....



... and then another fabulous art nouveau construction not mentioned in the guide book.



The walk ended at the point at which Nevsky pr crosses the Fontanka river. The palaces on the far side of the river offered a pleasing vista.

All that remained was to walk straight back up Nevsky pr to the point where we could turn off to our hotel for a restorative glass of (very expensive) wine.

Rating: four stars.

A good introduction to some of the beautiful buildings of St Petersburg, but it is not the "Venice of the North" as has been claimed - there are not sufficient waterways and the roads are too busy. At one point Nevsky pr has four lanes of traffic in each direction.