According to European criteria,
Saint Petersburg, the most western city of
Russia, is a young city, in 2003 celebrating "only" 300 years since
Peter the Great built it from nothing into a region newly conquered from the Swedish, at the mouth of the
Neva River, in a inhospitable coastal area of the
Gulf of Finland. Built by conscripted peasants from all over the Empire (but mainly
Estonians and
Finnish), whom joined russian soldiers, but also
Swedish and
Ottoman prisoners of war, and aimed at fulfilling the ambitions of Peter to transform Russia into a modern European country, Saint Petersburg became the capital of the Empire in 1712. It remained the seat of the
Romanov Dynasty and the Imperial Court of the Russian Tzars until the
communist revolution of 1917 (with only one break, between 1728 and 1732). What did Peter the Great for Saint Petersburg, in less than 20 years, but with a lot of money and Western architects and craftsmen, I don't think to did any other European monarch for one of his cities. As plenty of other Russian cities, Saint Petersburg changed its name several times, in 1914 becoming Petrograd, then in 1924 Leningrad, that in 1991 to return to the first name. Therefor the "Venice of the North", with its numerous canals and more than 400 bridges, is the result of a vast urban project, and its architectural heritage reconciles the very different
Baroque and pure
Neoclassical styles.
0077 - Posted on 19.12.2011The
Chinese Palace (in the second postcard - built between 1762 and 1768) is part, along with
Katalnaya Gorka (roller coaster) Pavilion (1762-1774), a cupola pavilion, and the Gates of Honor, of the complex built by Italian architect
Antonio Rinaldi on the order of the Empress
Catherine II, that she called it "My Own Countryside House". In the end it proved a dream unfulfilled, because in fact the Empress spent only 48 days there during the 34 years of her reign. Be noted that ambitious Prussian woman ordered the construction exactly in the year which she ascended the throne, after she murdered
Peter III, who did grabbed to reign only 6 months. This Russian royal residence is called
Oranienbaum (
orange tree in German of that era), after the name of the city where it was built (Lomonosov since 1948 - situated on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, 40 km west of Saint Petersburg).
In fact the Chinese Palace isn't quite chinese, as seen and in the picture, because the style is in essence Baroque, with some Classicist elements and a few Chinese motifs. From the outside, the palace is a relatively simple building, single-storey except the small central pavilion, painted in a mellow combination of ochre and yellow. But the seventeen rooms inside are splendid examples of rococo, richly decorated and colored. The palace is the only one of the palaces in the vicinity of St. Petersburg that was not captured by the Germans in WWII and unlike the interiors of St. Petersburg's imperial palaces, the decorations of the Chinese Palace were successfully evacuated, and re-installed in the early fifties.
0251 - Posted on 17.06.2012The
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg is undoubtedly the most important between the numerous places of worship that have
Alexander Nevsky as patron saint, because it was built by Peter the Great in the place where he believed that took place the
Battle of the Neva in 1240, but especially because it hosts the relics of the saint. He was only 19 years when managed to defeat the Swedes, and 21 when he
defeated the Livonian branch of the
Teutonic Knights, and became even during his lifetime a symbol of the Russians resistance against the invasions from the North. His veneration as a saint began soon after his death (in 1263, at the age of 43 years), he being canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547.
The monastery was conceived by Peter the Great as a charitable, correctional, educational and medical establishment, according to his idea about a utilitarian use of the monasticism. The original building was erected of wood between 1712 and 1713. In 1724, a new church, designed by Italian architect
Domenico Trezzini, was consecrated, and was named
Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Mary (in the third postcard). The relics of the saint, patron of the newly-founded Russian capital, Saint Petersburg, were brought to this church from Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity, in a journey that took several months. In 1750
Empress Elizabeth ordered that a silver sarcophagus be built to shelter the holy relics. The sarcophagus (made from a ton and a half of silver) was moved to the new Church of the Holy Trinity in 1790, but in 1922 the soviets confiscated it "for the benefit of the hungry" and relocated it to the State Hermitage Museum, where it remains until today (without the relics, which were returned to lavra in 1989).
In 1797
Emperor Paul transformed the seminary of the monastery into a academy, and gave the monastery its current rank - the highest in the Orthodox hierarchy - and name: the Alexander Nevsky Lavra of the Holy Spirit "with the staff equal to that of the
Kiev Pechersk Lavra and of the
Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius" ("lavra" is a greek word for a community of christian hermits). The Alexander Nevsky Lavra was a residence of the capital's ecclesiastical authorities and a place of frequent pilgrimage for the Imperial Family, who made rich donations. Among the most precious objects kept in the Monastery's sacristy were St. Alexander Nevsky's crown, made, according to one description, "similar to the hierarch’s cap, of white stoat and crimson velvet". By the beginning of the 20th century the territory of the monastery complex was home to an impressive 16 churches. Today, only five survive: the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Church of the Annunciation (
Blagovestchenskaya - in the third postcard), the Church of St. Lazarus, the Church of St. Nicholas, and the Church of the Holy Mother of God, the Joy of All Those who Mourn, which is over the monastery gates.
0290 - Posted on 27.07.2012The
Peter and Paul Cathedral, the oldest church in Saint Petersburg, and also the second-tallest building in the city (after the television tower), is located inside the
Peter and Paul Fortress (
Petropavlovskaya Krepost), founded by
Peter the Great in 1703. As in the case of many other religious establishments of Russia, on the site of the present cathedral there was first a wooden church, erected just one month after the city was officially founded and consecrated in 1704. The current stone cathedral was built between 1712 and 1733 on
Zayachy Island (along the
Neva River), by the same
Domenico Trezzini, and marked a radical departure from traditional Orthodox churches, being built in early
Baroque style. Because of its height, the bell tower, the world's tallest Orthodox bell tower, was often the victim of lightning, in 1756 completely burning and being rebuilt by
Catherine the Great. New bells were brought from Holland by renowned Dutch craftsman Ort Krass. They played every hour
Since the Glory, and at noon played the national anthem,
God Save the Tsar, to the accompaniment of a canon shot - a tradition which continues today, being resumed after the fall of communism. One major attraction is the graves of most of the Romanov family (the exceptions are
Peter II and
Ivan VI).
0570-0571 - Posted on 23.03.2013The
Saint Isaac's Cathedral (
Isaakievskiy Sobor), dedicated to
Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of
Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint, is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in Saint Petersburg. Ordered by Tsar
Alexander I and build between 1818 and 1858, it's the fourth consecutive church standing at this place. Although the project of French-born architect
Auguste de Montferrand was criticised for the dry and allegedly boring rhythm, the emperor, who favoured the ponderous
Empire style of architecture, insisted to be elected. The
neoclassical exterior, plated with gray and pink stone, expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes. It features a total of 112 red granite columns with
Corinthian capitals. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues stand on the roof, and another 24 on top of the rotunda. The cathedral's main dome is plated with pure gold, and is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann.
In 1931, the building was turned into the Antireligious Museum, and in 1937 became the museum of the Cathedral. With the fall of communism, regular worship activity has resumed in the cathedral, but only in the left-hand side chapel. As of 2012, the church is still a museum. The Cathedral separates
Saint Isaac's Square and
Senate Square. The photo from the fifth postcard was taken from Saint Isaac's Square. On the left can be seen the
Monument to Nicholas I, unveiled in 1859 (the first equestrian statue in Europe with only two support points), and on the right the
Hotel Astoria (the red brick building), designed by
Fyodor Lidval (one of the most luxurious hotels in the Russian Empire). The photo from the sixth postcard was taken from the roof of the
Winter Palace.
1218 - Posted on 07.09.2014The
Alexander Column (in the seventh postcard), erected after the
Russian victory in the war with
Napoleon's
France and named for
EmperorAlexander I (1801-1825), is the focal point of
Palace Square, the central city square. It was designed by the French-born architect
Auguste de Montferrand, and built between 1830 and 1834 with Swiss-born architect
Antonio Adamini. The monument (the tallest of its kind in the world - 47.5m tall) is topped with a statue of an angel holding a cross, designed by the Russian sculptor
Boris Orlovsky. The column is a single piece of red granite, 25.45m long and about 3.5m in diameter, obtained from
Virolahti,
Finland. Without the aid of modern cranes and engineering machines, the column, weighing 600 tonnes (661 tons), was erected by 3,000 men under the guidance of
William Handyside. In the back can be seen the baroque white-and-azure
Winter Palace of
Russian tsars.
