This post will be a little bit soulful, lyric,
personal and even a little bit romantic as well as the city it’s devoted to – a
city where lived oppressed Dostoyevsky, mysterious Bulgakov, incomparable
Nabokov and a pride of Russia – Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. I am talking
about Petrograd. Oh, I mean Leningrad. No, of course, Saint-Petersburg. Pardon,
this city has changed too many names during its not such a long history. Nevertheless,
don’t expect me tell you something about it that you can’t find on the
Internet. I don’t believe there is still any possibility to say something new
about this city. Just because this city, its culture and history are too great.
Moscow I have always considered to be my “mother”. A
very strict mother, who doesn’t forget mistakes. Even though she is mostly
conservative, but she doesn’t mind some modern representation. Incredibly
hard-working she does her best in order to provide for her big family. While
Saint-Petersburg for me is an epatage “grandmother”, a former aristocrat, who
lives in enormous apartment full of rare items. You go to visit her by night
trains, while she bakes luxurious strawberry pies. And here you drink tea in a
vintage porcelain cup while listening her stories about an elephant in the
imperial park or terrible floods of the past.
Before this summer I was in Saint-Petersburg 6 or 7
times and still there are thousands of things to see. Moreover, I was growing
and the city was developing too. Now it’s not the same as it used to be. Nowadays
the city if full of new small and cozy cafes with absolutely phenomenal names, graffiti,
stylish people, wonderful bookstores and tourists. Yes, we noticed much more
tourists from various countries than during our previous trips, but, of course,
the main place in this touristic party take endless tourists from China.
As well as their disciplined groups we ran through all
the main attractions: one second to stop, to take a photo and to go on. I sure
this way of “fast-food” traveling is horrible, but what can you do when you
have such a small amount of time and so many things to see? Only in Kazan
Cathedral we managed to take some rest. The main attraction of the cathedral is
a holy icon “Our Lady of Kazan” and the place where was interred Mikhail
Kutuzov – the Field Marshal who played a most important role in winning the
Napoleonic War.
Here’s a Singer House, which is now the House of
Books. Nowadays it is also famous as the headquarters of the VK – the most
popular social network among Russian-speaking users. The architect dreamed to
build a building similar to New York skyscrapers, but there was an imperial
decree which indicated the maximum height of the houses. Nevertheless, the
problem was perfectly solved – over six floors there was built a graceful tower,
topped by a glass globe. This soaring tower gives the impression of altitude,
but at the same time does not negate the domes of the Kazan Cathedral and the
Savior on spilled blood, rising above the Nevsky Prospekt.
Nearby is located Church of the
Savior on Blood dedicated to Alexander II. In 1881 Alexander's carriage passed
along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded.
The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate
with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw
another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar,
bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died a few hours
later.
Palace square and Winter Palace. Today, it forms part of the complex of
buildings housing the Hermitage Museum.
And, finally, a founder of Saint Petersburg – Peter the
Great. Alexander Pushkin wrote a famous poem about this monument, called “The
Bronze Horseman”.
1 коммент.
So very beautiful, thanks for sharing!! I would absolutely love to visit Russia... Moscow and Saint Petersburg are both such fascinating cities :)
ReplyDeleteMorgan | www.monde-et-mode.com