St. Petersburg is actually built on a series of islands surrounded by the river Neva and various canals. Here
we are looking across the river Neva at the Hermitage
.
The gold spire and dome belong to St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, inside the Peter and Paul Fortress. Inside
this cathedral are buried many of the Russian Czars.
Peter the Great's son attempted to overthrow his father, but the plot failed. As a result Peter executed his son
and buried him under the staircase in St. Peter and Paul, as a sign of dishonour. Alongside him is his wife.
This is the tomb of Catherine the Great.
On the far right is the tomb of Peter the Great. Note that the marble boxes that you see are empty, since
the bodies must be buried under ground, and are only representative.
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Czar Nicholas II abdicated but he and all his family were assassinated
anyway. They are all buried here in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Some of the gold decoration inside the cathedral.
This is the Smolny Tari Convent. Peter the Great sent his daughter here to become a nun.
We visited the Yusopov Palace, famous not only because it was one of the only non-royalty palaces, but also
because the assassination of Grigory Rasputin took place here. Rasputin was born as a peasant, but through
his deep religious conviction, slowly gained power and prestige, until be became a trusted advisor to
Nicholas II. There were those, including Yusopov, who felt that Rasputin was a threat to Russia and planned
and executed the murder in the palace. This is the representation of that murder, where Rasputin was first
poisoned, then shot, and finally strangled.
This is a bedroom in the Yusopov Palace, one of many, many such decorated rooms.
In this room, we entered though one door and saw a similar door on the opposite side. The door
actually led nowhere, but was put there to balance the symmetry of the room.
This is the gold adorned theatre, built to stage plays. The perspective here is looking away from the
stage toward the seating area.
This is the Big Choral Synagogue, the centre of Jewish life in St. Petersburg.
Big Choral Synagogue
Big Choral Synagogue
Big Choral Synagogue
St. Petersburg is actually built on a series of islands surrounded by the river Neva and various canals. Here
we are looking across the river Neva at the Hermitage
On the far right is the tomb of Peter the Great. Note that the marble boxes that you see are empty, since
the bodies must be buried under ground, and are only representative.
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Czar Nicholas II abdicated but he and all his family were assassinated
anyway. They are all buried here in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
We visited the Yusopov Palace, famous not only because it was one of the only non-royalty palaces, but also
because the assassination of Grigory Rasputin took place here. Rasputin was born as a peasant, but through
his deep religious conviction, slowly gained power and prestige, until be became a trusted advisor to
Nicholas II. There were those, including Yusopov, who felt that Rasputin was a threat to Russia and planned
and executed the murder in the palace. This is the representation of that murder, where Rasputin was first
poisoned, then shot, and finally strangled.
This is a bedroom in the Yusopov Palace, one of many, many such decorated rooms.
This is the gold adorned theatre, built to stage plays. The perspective here is looking away from the
stage toward the seating area.
