Sofia: your guide to St. Petersburg

City Tours

You will have your first impression of the city; see its historical, literary and architectural landmarks: squares, palaces, monuments, parks and gardens, bridges and rivers. You will be able to form you own opinion of the city and take photos. The tour plan is flexible and can be changed according to your wishes. The suggested tour program (by car or mini-bus) takes 3 hours and includes the following highlights:

Palace Square - the main square of the city with a splendid view of the Winter Palace (residence of the Tsars).
Bronze Horseman - the most well-known monument of the founder of the city, Czar Peter the Great.
St. Isaac's Square- location of the largest cathedral in Russia: St.-Isaac's cathedral, which now houses a museum devoted to the history of the cathedral's construction.

St. Nicolas Cathedral - You will have a wonderful experience of visiting a functioning church which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the city and which was never closed during the Soviet time.

Nevsky Prospect - the main avenue in the city, with all its palaces, churches, shopping areas, restaurants and cafes.

The Spit of St. Basil's Island - a former port. The place provides a great view of the Hermitage embankment and Peter and Paul Fortress.

Smolny Cathedral - one of the most striking masterpieces by Rastrelli: an outstanding Italian architect who worked in baroque style.

Aurora - the famous ship which became the symbol of revolutionary events of 1917.

A standard 4-hour city tour also includes the visit to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The history of Peter and Paul Fortress goes back to the very birth of the city. Peter the Great re-claimed the lands along the Neva River from Sweden in 1703 and decided to build a fort to protect the area from possible attack by the Swedish army and navy. The fortress was founded on a small island in the Neva delta on May 27, 1703 (May 16 according to the old calendar) and that day became the birthday of the city of St Petersburg. The Swedes were defeated before the fortress was even completed. For that reason, from 1721 onwards the fortress housed part of the city's garrison and rather notoriously served as a high security political jail. Among the first inmates was Peter's own rebellious son Alexei. Later, the list of famous residents included Dostoyevsky, Gorky, Trotsky and Lenin's older brother, Alexander. In the middle of the fortress stands the impressive Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of all the Russian Emperors and Empresses from Peter the Great to Nikolas II. The Cathedral was the first church in the city to be built of stone (between 1712-33) and its design is curiously unusual for a Russian Orthodox church. (Come over to St. Petersburg and you can find out why!).

In addition, it is possible to visit:

St. Isaac's Cathedral.

The St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the most majestic buildings in Saint Petersburg. It was built from 1818 to 1858 by the project of the famous architect Auguste Ricard de Montferrand. Since May 1858 the Cathedral is the main

church of Saint Petersburg. It was named in honor of St. Isaac of Dalmatia on the 30th of May - the birthday of Peter the Great. The paintings on the walls and vaults were created by famous Russian artists - C. Brullov, F. Bruni, V. Shibuyev, M. Alekseev, P. Basin, A. Markov, T. Neff. The cathedral is decorated by the mosaic works and stained-glass windows. Both inside and outside the cathedral is decorated with sculptures made by the design of I. Vitali and P. Klodt. A lot of valuable materials were used to decorate the cathedral inside - lazurite, malachite, porphyry, all kinds of marble. 400 kg of gold, 1000 tones of bronze and 16 tones of malachite were used for decoration. Nowadays the St. Isaac's Cathedral is a museum-monument.
The church services are held in the altar part of the cathedral. Those who would like to enjoy the unique panoramic view of Saint Petersburg and the St. Isaac's Square, are welcome to the colonnade of the main dome.

Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood.

This marvelous Old Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1881. Built in 1883-1907, the church was designed in the spirit of sixteenth- and seventeenth century Russian architecture, inspired particularly by St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. The interior of the church, a memorial to the late Emperor Alexander II, was decorated with different marbles and several thousand square yards of mosaics. These mosaics were far from being ordinary; their surface was left unpolished, so that they reflect sunlight, which impressed worshippers and other visitors alike. After the October Revolution of 1917 the church met the sad fate of most churches in the country. "The Savior" was closed for services in the late 1920s, then briefly used for an exhibition of revolutionary propaganda and soon started to fall into decay, being deprived of adequate maintenance. Several times it was suggested that the church be torn down, for it stood as an "inappropriate" symbol of Christianity amidst the largely atheistic country. It is by a true miracle that the church was saved. Since 1970 the church has been managed by the staff of the St Isaac's Cathedral. A long careful restoration began, which lasted for over 25 years. Now with scaffolding already removed, the bell-tower dome gilded, and the interiors carefully restored, the church opened its doors to visitors. The official opening took place in August, 1997 and you can now see this jewel in the crown of St. Petersburg in its stunning beauty.

The Yusupov Palace

The Yusupov Palace, a unique historical landmark of federal importance showcasing architectural trends from the

18th through 20th centuries, has been rightfully acclaimed as the "encyclopedia" of St. Petersburg aristocratic interior design. The history of the palace and surrounding estate dates back to the epoch of Peter the Great, who founded St. Petersburg as his brave new Russian capital. The palace and estate took nearly 200 years to acquire its present shape with contributions from the best architectural talent of the time: J.-B. Vallain de la Motte, A.M. Mikhailov 2nd, B. Simone, H. Monigetti, W. Kennel, A. Stepanov, A, Vaitens, and A. Beloborodov. Five generations of Russia's elite aristocratic dynasty, the Yusupovs, owned the palace between 1830 and 1917. Many of Russia's and St. Petersburg's historical highlights were associated with the Yusupov family nest on the Moika. The palace went down in Russian history as the place where the mysterious monk Grigory Rasputin was assassinated, a Siberian peasant who became the spiritual mentor and friend of Nicholas II and the Royal Family in the early 20th century. The tragedy took place the night of December 17, 1916 in the private annex of the young Prince Felix Yusupov, now housing a historical exhibition recreating the assassination scene. In 1925, the Yusupov Palace was handed over to the city's pedagogical intelligentsia. The palace still serves as a Palace of Culture for Educators, which in the 1990s was reinvented as a diversified historical and cultural center promoting museum activities, theater performances, music concerts, cultural and educational events. The Yusupov Palace is one of the few aristocratic mansions still in existence in St. Petersburg that have retained both their bold facade suites, and their less glamorous premises: an art gallery, private mini-theater, and luxurious private chambers of the Yusupovs, where the warmth and charm of their erstwhile owners still glows.

The Russian Museum.

The Russian Museum is the perfect choice for those interested in Russian art from the 12th century to the mid-

20th century. The museum's collection can only be rivaled by that of the famous Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The museum's central building is the yellow, white-columned Mikhailovsky Palace, built between 1819 and 1825 for Grand Duke Mikhail, the brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. The building was bought by the government during the late 19th century and was turned into the "Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III" in 1898. A new wing, the Benois Building, was added to the museum at the start of this century to help house the museum's growing collections. The Russian Museum today is a unique depository of artistic treasures, a famous restoration centre, an authoritative institute of academic research, one of the major cultural and educational centres, research and methodological centre of art museums of the Russian Federation, overseeing activities of 260 art museums of Russia.