St. Petersburg is rightfully called the "Northern Venice", as it was built on the marshy area on the delta of the Neva River. Because of its location the architects had to design a major, complex system of canals for drainage to surmount the environment - more than 100 canals spanning 300 km were built in total, a trademark of the city today. Cruising along the canals and rivers in St. Petersburg is undoubtedly both the best way to get acquainted with the unique spirit of the former imperial capital and to admire the facades of the city, along with its pink granite embankments and several of its 350 bridges, each with a specific name and history. The most beautiful bridges have decorative wrought-iron railings and ornamental sculptures. Transfer to the ship.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is a memorial of one of the significant figures in Russia imperial history, Alexander II who in his era, Russia had numerous improvements in social situations, politics, economic, and military.
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood located precisely on the spot that Alexander II's terror happened years ago, alongside Griboyedov canal, near the Winter Palace.
An anarchist decided to assassinate Tsar Alexander II, in 1881. A member of a revolutionary group called People's Will which ordered Tsar Alexander II's execution and attempt a bunch of assassinations towards the Tsar life before threw a handmade bomb at the Tsar and his companions which only shocked them at first, the second bomb which led to both the attacker, Ignaty Grinevitsky's death, and wounding the Tsar terribly. Several hours later, The Tsar Alexander the Second died because of the wounds in Winter Palace.
The State Duma signed an appeal to build a chapel in memories of the Alexander II at the terror spot the next day, Alexander III, the successor of the emperor and the Tsar's son agreed to build a monument, however, he commanded to build a church instead of the chapel.
While the interior of the church designed by various famous artists of the time such as Mikhail Nesterov, Mikhail Vrubel, and Viktor Vasnetsov, the chief architect of the church was non-famous at the time, Alfred Parland who born in an English family at St. Petersburg. Unlike all the other structure in St. Petersburg which follows the Baroque or Neoclassical architecture style, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was in Romantic-nationalism style which represented the Saint Basil Cathedral in Moscow and the 17th-century churches in Yaroslav. Just like the exterior, the church interior with more than 7000 pieces of Mosaic and amazing artworks is quite extraordinary and exclusive.
In the Soviet era, the church penetrated and looted several times, and its interior damaged gravely, and finally, the government closed the church, in 1932. During the Second World War, the church shifted into a temporary morgue for the people who died in the combats or hunger during the siege of Petrograd. Even after the war, the church turned into a warehouse for vegetables which led to the sarcastic nickname, The Savior on potatoes.
The Church of Savior on Spilled Blood authority was given to the Saint Isaac Cathedral for them to turn it to the museum, in 1970. The Cathedral with its funding constructed a restoration site for the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood which gravely damaged over the years, and finally, reopened the church for the public after 27 years as the Mosaic Museum, in 1997. Even before the revolution, the church never used for daily worships and religious ceremonies, and today as before, it's only a monument and memorial for Alexander the Second, and only serves memorial services.
Today, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is a favorite target for tourists and visitors. With over 7000 pieces of mosaic artworks and Iconography on the ceiling and walls of the church attract lots of people to itself. The ceiling painted the biblical scenes, and you can recognize the art of brilliant artists at that time in each corner of the place.
The inside of the Dome of the church is a Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator's face. The walls all covered in 200 icons of the church supporter and follower whom all seem to be praying in silence and watching over the church from the top. Both the east and the west wing of the church are important as mosaic artworks since in the east side there is a beautiful work of Christ portray, and at the west side precisely on the location of the attack, there's a memorial work of a dramatic scene related to the terror of Alexander II.
Between 1980 and 1994, Vitaly Andrew Shershinov led a professional restoration group to fully clean and restore the interior mosaic design, and in some case entirely rebuild them which let us witness its beauty today as it was from the start.
Besides the marvelous mosaic arts in this church, there are much more in this place to attract tourists such as its excellent interior stonework. The stonework around the windows, the decorative on the walls, and the artworks around the main dome are all from marble which shines its art even more. The marble floor, pieces of granite decorative, and other features in the church make it one of the popular sites in St. Petersburg.
As we said before, the Church of Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main tourists' spots in St. Petersburg and Russia tours' lists of visits with its marvelous history, and of course, the museum of mosaic. If you are a fan of mosaic art or love to see some iconography and artworks from famous artists from the 18th and the 19th centuries, you should make a plan to travel to Russia and head over the Church of Savior on Spilled Blood, and enjoy every second of your visit there.
If you think that you would enjoy visiting the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, you can find more places like this church in our guide pages such as Travel to Saint Petersburg.
The first structure that constructed in Saint Petersburg was the Peter and Paul fortress. Thus, we can assume that even if the fortress isn't older than the city, they positively share the same birth date. The defending plans of the fortress never questioned, however, it was a military base, government office, Tzars' burial ground, illegal prison, the research center for Russian specialist, and of course, an exceptional tourist’s attraction since the beginning.
In the time that Saint Petersburg began to form in 1703, Peter the Great ordered to build a wooden fort on the north bank of the Neva River to prevent the Swedish Empire from a counter-attack for getting its lands back. However, that plans never challenged due to the Swedish Empire lack of interest of counter-attacking, but the wooden fort slowly turned into a stone fortress, from 1706 to 1740, and made the Peter and Paul Fortress that we now recognize. The Italian architecture Domenico Trezzini co-worked with military engineer Kristof Minikh to design the fortress with 12 meter high walls and hexagonal structure. The fortress shifted into the city police state and a temporary prison for high-ranked convicts, in 1720. The Trubetskoy Bastion rebuilt in 1870, to become the new prison in the fortress. This fortress which practically was state prison was very similar to the Bastille Fortress in France.
After the February Revolution in 1917, the fortress and its prison completely went under the Soviet control, and they used it as a prison for the high-rank tsarist officials. The Tsar himself threatened to be imprisoned in the fortress if he comes back to the Tsarskoye Selo. However, he came back but went under house arrest in Alexander Palace instead of the Peter and Paul fortress. Between 1918 and 1921, at least 112 person including four high-class dukes executed in the fortress. The fortress shifted into a state museum, in 1924. Regrettably, in the Second World War, during Nazi's assault of Saint Petersburg, the fortress suffered grave damages, but, repaired in the post-war campaign and became one of the top Saint Petersburg tourists' spot as of today.
The Mint at the Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the greatest of its kind in the world which Peter the Great himself established it in 1724, so it was one of the oldest industrial places in Saint Petersburg as well. This Mint still works till this day and produce coins, medals, and official's items.
The City History Museum of Saint Petersburg's headquarter placed in the fortress, and from 1938, took city museum and old museum place in Saint Petersburg. The museum called Leningrad during the Soviet rules, from 1955 to 1991. This museum which held the city history and documents from birth till the modern date includes maps, books, structure plans, and documents on all the buildings inside the Nevsky street which of course a part of it is accessible for tourist to observe. The first full exhibition of the museum held in 1957, in celebrating of Leningrad 250th anniversary. More than 1 million documents such as architectural plans, photos, old maps of the area from 18th to 20th centuries maintained in the museum, till 2002.
Aside from the Hermitage and the Mariinsky rep and popularity, The Peter and Paul Fortress doesn't have less place in Saint Petersburg as tourists' attraction than the others. This historical and recreational place with its mostly overcrowded sand beach during summer which is a relaxing place for the walruses and of course when the sand festival took place in there, brings lots of tourists to the area.
The Peter and Paul Fortress history museum which is at the west side of the Nevsky Curtain Wall provides the complete information about all the buildings in the fortress and the technology that used to build them, and of course the defending mechanism of the fortress for the visitants. In a part of this museum, there are several pictures, images, maps, and documents about the fortress and the surrounding area from the 18th century till today.
One of the most popular things in the fortress is the cannons midday shots which take place in the Naryshkin Bastion at noon. All the tourists in the area usually seek to be there to see the cannon works.
Today, Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Trubetskoy Bastion are quite popular among Peter and Paul Fortress’ visitors. Both of these places require additional tickets. We’ve covered the information about these two places in other posts, so be sure to check them since both of them are quite important in Saint Petersburg’s history book.
Generally, touring this fortress when you visit Russia would be recommended from Russia Tour agencies to tourists just like the Hermitage and Mariinsky. Undoubtedly, assigning a full day to enjoy the fortress and the beach completely wouldn't be an odd thing to do especially if the sand festivals season with their colossal sandy statues starts during the time. By the way, while you are there, be sure to check out the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps which locates right across the canal.
Peter and Paul's fortress is one of the main attractions of the city which you should visit when you travel to St. Petersburg. There are lots of information you should get before you can visit Russia if you want to have the best tour plans for your travel, which you can discover in our blog at the Star Travel Group, or you can ask Russian travel agencies to help you with preparation.
The Neva River without its branches is around 74-kilometer long and considered to be the fourth-longest river in all Europe. The river starts from Ladoga Lake and after passing several small cities and the middle of the famous St. Petersburg, ends in Finland Gulf. The river played a crucial part in the area since it was the place that ancient people lived around it to the present day as a primary commercial line which connects the Baltic Sea and the Lake Ladoga.
Since the city covered with the river and its branches, many of St. Petersburg attractions are near the canals and river. There are also several historical bridges and newly constructed ones all over these canals. These bridges are making these canals impossible to cross for the huge commercial ships. This case might be the best news for the tourists and people who love to float around the river. Celebrating the beauty of Saint Petersburg with all of its structures under the daylight, and sailing around the river without distribution of the commercial ships will lead to making a good memory out of Saint Petersburg’s finest hours.
People who love to have this kind of memory from the city have the option to choose their suitable boat tours from many choices, and enjoy a lovely afternoon on the Neva River in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg has loads of other fun things to explore, and if you want to learn about them, you can always check our weblog at the Star Travel Group, especially our guides about St. Petersburg, such as 'Tour to St. Petersburg.'
The participants of the tour will build up the impression of the city via visiting all the most common and well-known places of interest. The trip to the three main cathedrals is included. Tourists will see the origins of St. Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Fortress and its cathedral, which serves as a pantheon of Russian tsar dynasty, the place where the first quarter of the city was built in 1703. The fortress possesses not only the cathedral but also some other places of interest including the Grand Ducal Burial Vault, the mausoleum of non-Romanovs nobility, Saint Petersburg Mint, one of the largest mints in the world, Trubetskoy Bastion with its prison cells, the City Museum, etc. The shores of the Fortress are covered with a sandy beach which attracts a lot of tourists, suprisingly, all over the year.
The second cathedral to visit is St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. It is a huge baroque orthodox cathedral which has always been hghly associated with the navy of Russia. The cathedral consists of 2 separate churches, finally designed in the presense of Catherine the Great. The main shrine of the cathedral is the icon of St. Nicholas, made 4 centures ago. The cathedral is a rare example of Rastrellieqsque Baroque style.
The third one is the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, the church everyone usually sees on the postcards and which is considered to be the most recognizable symbol of Saint Petersburg. The church was erected on the site where the Emperor, Alexande II, was fatally wounded as a result of an attack. Due to such a site it seems that the church is built in the middle of the canal on the water surface. The church possesses various cultural heritage items including mosaics and paintings.
While moving from place to place the participants are to use boats, since Saint Petersburg is knows as the 'Northern Venice' and it is next to impossible to come to the city and not to experience this mean of transport discovering really vast net of channels and rivers of the city.
