St. Petersburg is one of the top tourist destinations in Russia tour with loads of tourist attractions that no one can visit all on one short trip to St. Petersburg. No travel agencies can offer their travelers every major attraction inside and outside the city, let alone all the attractions. However, many tourists find themselves curious about places not included on their tour to the St. Petersburg program, and they want to check them out. One of the main things that you should learn about so that you can visit those places is the primary addresses in St. Petersburg because if you want to walk around the city without your tour guide or group, you need to find your way around St. Petersburg. Now, there are lots of grand squares, main streets, and historical places that you should learn to be able to visit certain attractions. However, some of the streets in St. Petersburg may not host many major attractions, but they are still crucial on your tour to Russia, simply because of their history. One of those streets is English Embankment, on the left of Neva River, between Senate Square and the Annunciation Bridge.
When foreigners arrived at the city from the sea, the English Embankment was the first thing they would see in St. Petersburg. Historically, it has been one of the most fashionable streets, where lots of aristocrats and wealthy foreigners had lived. The English Embankment was constructed between 1763 and 1767. The street called English Embankment because of the former British Embassy and the English church that could be found on this street. However, after the revolution of 1917, the last British Ambassador had left Russia. However, you can still see the English church somewhere in this street, which was constructed and designed by Giacomo Quarenghi. The English church was built in 1815 and preserved as an architectural landmark in St. Petersburg. If you visit this church by any chance during your tour to St. Petersburg, you can find the last English organ in Russia, a large pipe organ inside it. Although at the beginning of the 18th century, most of this place was occupied by naval officers and admiralty shipyard workers, by the 1730s, foreigners started to build their mansions there. Soon after, a whole English community had appeared in the street that created their English church and English theatre, many British actors and musicians had come and performed there in Russia. Soon after that, the area became an elite English club, which many Russian nobles and aristocrats visited. By the middle of the 19th century, you could find multiple grand mansions, which turned the district into one of the most popular areas in St. Petersburg. You can still find some of those mansions today, which has turned out to St. Petersburg tour attractions, such as Rumyantsev Mansion, the Palace of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and the Palace of Grand Duke Andrey Vladimirovich.
One of the interesting facts about the English Embankment is that you can find its name in history on several major historical events in Russia. For example, on English Embankment, next to the Annunciation Bridge, there’s a spot where the Cruiser Aurora shot a blank shot to signal the beginning of the storm on the Winter Palace, which led to the start the October Revolution. English Embankment also has been active in cultural events in Russian history. The famous Scarlet Sails, which was the way schools of St. Petersburg, celebrated the end of the school year since the end of the Second World War, started from English Embankment. Currently, Scarlet Sails is part of one of the most famous festivals in Russia, the White Night Festival, in which more than three million people attend annually. We also recommend our tourists to fix their tour to Russia time, during that festival if it’s possible since it happens during the summer tour to Russia.
Today, if tourists walk around this street during their tour to St. Petersburg, they will find some of the attractions of Russia tour and some famous places and monuments along the way. One of the well-known sites, which locates at the beginning of this street is Senate Square that houses Senate and Synod building as well as the most famous monument to Peter the Great, The Bronze Horseman. The Senate and Synod building was the last project of renowned Italian architect Carlo Rossi in St. Petersburg. The Senate and Synod were the replacement for the patriarchy in Russia, which was suggested by Peter the Great. Although the building doesn’t have anything special to offer to its visitors, the architecture of the building, especially the arch in its middle, always attracts the eyes of St. Petersburg tour tourists. Senate Square also houses the famous Bronze Horseman, which is one of the most significant monumental statues of Peter the Great, renowned French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet created by the orders of Catherine the Great.
The Rumyantsev Mansion is another attraction of Russia tour in St. Petersburg that tourists would find if they visit the English Embankment during their trip to St. Petersburg. This magnificent mansion belonged to Count Nikolay Rumyantsev, a passionate collector who had dedicated a lot to art and artists throughout his life. Although his fantastic collection of Russian antiques, paintings, books, seals, formed the basis for the Moscow Public Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum, his restored mansion has become a home to a branch of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, which is why we at the Star Travel Group would suggest our travelers visiting this museum on their tour to Russia. You can learn more about this mansion and Museum of the History of St. Petersburg on our weblog.
We at the Star Travel Group recommend you visit our weblog if you have plans to travel to Russia any time soon because, with our information, including the best places to visit, the top shopping centers, best restaurants in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and other useful facts about the top attractions of Russia, you can have a better, more exciting, and more comfortable trip to Russia.
