Start of a new series on St. Petersburg.
Somehow our Golden Ring tour guide failed to make the required booking for our overnight train trip to St. Petersburg. We ended up sleeping in carriages without breakfast service. Hence our first destination in St. Petersburg was this restaurant for breakfast but we had to pay ourselves. Here members of our tour group were lining up to place their orders.
St. Petersburg, Russia (Wednesday 22 Aug 2012 @ 10:03am)
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The Academy of Arts building facing the Neva River.
This building took 25 years to complete and was finished in 1789.
The headquarters has moved to Moscow since 1947.
Note. This image shows only one entrance to a super wide building.
St. Petersburg, Russia (Wednesday 22 Aug 2012 @ 10:48am)
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Located in front of the Academy of Arts are two granite sphinxes. They date from 14th century BC and were excavated in 1820 in the temple of Amenhotep III near Thebes, Egypt. In 1834, the Tsar at the time purchased these statues and installed them for display in Petersburg.
St. Petersburg, Russia (Wednesday 22 Aug 2012 @ 10:50am)
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These 32m high columns were designed by Thomas de Thomon and built in 1811 as beacons to guide ships around the port of St. Petersburg at night.
Constructed of brick coated with a deep terra cotta red stucco and decorated with bronze anchors and four pairs of bronze ship prows (rostra). At the foot of each column are pairs of marble sculptures of mythical gods representing four major rivers in Russia.
In the background is the neo-classical facade of the Naval Museum, formerly the Stock Exchange.
St. Petersburg, Russia (Wednesday 22 Aug 2012 @ 11:07am)
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The 122m spire on top of the belltower of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, the patron saints of the fortress, was designed by Domenico Trezzini in 1712. The guilded needle spire, crowned by a weather-vane angel, remained the tallest structure in St. Petersburg until 1960.
When renovators were cleaning the angel on the spire in 1997, they found a note in a bottle left in one of the folds of the angel's gown. In the note, renovators from 1953 apologised for what they felt was rushed and shoddy work (Khrushchev wanted the angel refurbished for the 250th anniversary of the city that year). It is said that the renovators in 1997 left another message for future generations, but the contents of that message have not been revealed.
St. Petersburg, Russia (Wednesday 22 Aug 2012 @ 11:29am)
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