The Sites in St. Petersburg

We spent NINE, count them NINE, hours in St. Petersburg.  Three of those hours were spent at the Hermitage.  We stopped several other places, but a chunk of our time was spent on a bus.  I tried to click pictures as we drove, but could not get shots off for everything nor can I remember the names of everything we were looking at.  So...  I'll just let you take a look out the bus window with me. When there were stops, and I know a little bit about what was there, I will comment.  Let me just say from the outset that St. Petersburg (called Leningrad a lot of when I was growing up) is a strikingly beautiful city.  There are so many intriguing structures.  COLUMNS, lots of columns, are used in their architecture.  A lot of what I took pictures of were at one time the palace of so and so, daughter or son of so and so, or the government official who served under so and so.  It was like if you had anything to do with the monarchy, whether by birth or appointment, you got a palace!  There were lots of them.

St. Isaac's Cathedral (huge and gorgeous):

We stopped for lunch, quite tastey, which was served with vodka and champagne in the middle of the day!  Yes, there was water as well.  The extra treat was that we were entertained by instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers all dressed in national costumes.  It was a delightful presentation.  They even got some of our fellow cruise members on stage (see pictures below).

I took this picture because of the pattern of the flowers.  Neat, huh?

Our first glimpse of Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral from across the River Neva:

Here's another shot zoomed in:

This is the Winter Palace, part of The Hermitage, from across the River Neva:

After a while we actually crossed the River Neva and went inside the Peter and Paul Fortress to see the cathedral.  As luck would have it (because I left my camera on for so much of the day to catch shots), the batteries were dying so I didn't get all the pictures I would have liked.  The cathedral is beautiful on the outside and despite the fact that it was being renovated on the inside, it still was lovely as well.

The tombs of a lot of Russian Monarchy:

Detail on a bridge (through the bus window, sorry for glare):

Our last stop was at the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The blood refers not only to that of the Savior's but also of Alexander II who was killed on this spot.  His son had the church built as a memorial to him.  Ransacked and looted after the Russian Revolution, this church was closed by the Soviets in 1930, used to store vegetables during World War II and later as a warehouse for an opera theater.  It was restored to its original splendor, but it has never been re-sanctified and used as an operating church. This Russian Orthodox Church looks a little out of place in this city which is so largely baroque and neoclassical in it's architectural style.  It was built to mimic St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. 

Check out the detail:

  

  

We loved St. Petersburg and would go back in a heartbeat.  It now is amongst our top 10 favorites in Europe.

The Hermitage---Not So Ho-Hum

THE Hermitage.  Oh, my goodness.  Enough is not said about this beautiful place.  Growing up, I had always heard about the Lourve and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  When I got older, I learned about the Musee d'Orsay across the river from the Lourve in Paris, and we lived a hop, skip, and a jump from the Art Institute in Chicago.  But somehow I just glossed over the fact that The Hermitage in St. Petersburg is a major "powerhouse" in the art world!  It houses around three million pieces of art in 323 galleries.  If you wanted to see it all, you would have to walk about 15 miles.

The Hermitage, the former residence of many Russian monarchs, is not only full of rich history, but is an archritectural gem (like nothing else I have seen), and is full of an outstanding collection of art and culture from throughout the world. 

Here's where our tour begain---The State Staircase (and surrounding area).  Can you say undescribably beautiful?

This is a shot of the ceiling!

Next, I think we walked through a long corridor (gallery) full of portraits of famous Russians or famous somebody elses!  I just remember there being portraits lining the walls, but I could be totally crazy because we were in this place for three hours.  It's huge, and the public only sees a small portion of it!  Anyway, I snapped these next few pictures on the way to our next stop.

Our next official stop was the Hall of Peter the Great or Small Throne Room.  The throne is the Silver Throne of Empress Anna Ioannovna.     

On to the Armorial Hall:

The next photos show the Gallery of 1812, which is the most famous of all the memorial rooms in the palace.  The 332 portraits which are on display there are of those who held the rank of general or those who were promoted to it shortly after Napoleon's army was driven from Russian soil.  Even the ceiling is a work of art!  The room was designed by Carlo Rossi, and the portraits were done by Englishman, George Dawe.  He was in Russia for 10 years doing these portraits and others of Russian high society.

This large portrait, front and center, is the Portrait of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov (like you're ever going to know that for a history or humanities class)!

The Gallery of 1812 is said to form "a fitting prelude to entering the heart of the Winter Palace---the St. George Hall" or Large Throne Room.  The new throne room was created for Catherine the Great during 1787-95 in a special extension to the Winter Palace.

Here's a wonderful example of the beautiful parquet floors in the Hermitage.  This one is made of 16 kinds of colorful wood:

I think this is a shot of a corridor ceiling as we moved to our next stop, but I can't figure out exactly where we went!  The next shots afterwards show a collection of religious works of art:

The Pavilion Hall in the Small Hermitage:



This beautiful work of metal sculpture is the Peacock by Englishman, James Cox:

The Virgin from a scene of the Annunciation by Simone Martini:

Judith by Giorgione - 1500's:

 

Leonardo da Vinci's The Madonna with a Flower:

Boulle-technique doors in the Leonardo da Vinci Hall:

Leonardo da Vinci's The Madonna and Child (with some reflection off the glass!):

Titian's painting of the classical myth, Danae:

Throughout the galleries we saw a half dozen or so students who were working on their versions of the masters' works.  Lucky kids:

The Raphael Loggias was built to house commissioned copies of the works of Raphael and his pupils 1516-18 which are in the loggias of the Vatican Palace.  This great work of art is often referred to as Raphael's Bible.  Originally in a gallery along side the Old Hermitage, it was moved to the New Hermitage in the 1800's.  It reminded me of a huge patchwork quilt.  It was stunning:

Another gorgeous ceiling in the Majolica Hall:

Dead Boy with Dolphin by Rapheal's student, Lorenzo Lorenzetti:

The Conestabile Madonna by Raphael (1502-03):

Crouching Boy by Michelangelo - 1530s:

The Lute-Player by Caravaggio - 1595

The Apostles Peter and Paul by El Greco - Between 1587 and 1592:

Portrait of Antonia Sarate by Francisco Goya - 1811

Rembrandt's The Holy Family - 1645:

Rembrandt's Portrait of an Old Man in Red - 1652-54:

Haman Learns his Fate by Rembrandt - 1635:

Rembrandt's Abraham's Sacrifice - 1635

Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son:

Rembrant's Portrait of a Scholar - 1631:

Rembrandt's Danae - 1636

Portrait of Anne of Austria by Simon Vouet - 1643:

Napoleon on the Bridge at Arcola by Jean Antoine Gros - 1796:

Woman (Lady) in a Garden by Claude Monet - 1867

Memory of the Garden at Etten by Vincent Van Gogh:

Vincent Van Gogh's Lilac Bush - 1889:

A peek outside into the courtyard:

Looking down in a gallery that housed gorgeous silver pieces.  Don't you love the floors here, too?

A still life by Henry Matisse:

Dance of the Veils by Pablo Picasso - 1907

We walked through another area where several of the royalty's sleighs were on exhibit:

Next, a whole gallery of beautiful tapestries:

There was a whole other gallery which showcased lacquered items---amazing!

Towards the end of the tour we walked through a corridor that had huge portraits of the Russian monarchs:

Here's a picture of DJ, as we ended up right back where we began on the State Staircase.  What an amazing experience this was.  Even my anti-museum going husband still talks about it!