Saint Petersburg, Russia

Saint Petersburg Places And Charm, Russia

Fortress of the Saints Peter and Paul
The fortress is located on the island of the Lepers, across from the Hermitage but on the other bank of the Neva. Here, Peter the Great began St. Petersburg and ordered building of the fortress as early as 1703. Soon transformed into a prison (Alexia, son of Peter the Great, Dostoevsky, Gorky, and Trotsky were held there), the fortress today is frequented by tourists who come to enjoy the panorama from the bastions and to visit the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul where the tombs of the Czars are located.

Palace Plaza
This immense and magnificent plaza witnessed the entire history of St. Petersburg. On one side is the enormous but extremely well-balanced form of the Winter Palace, once residence of the Czars; on the other is the semi-circular palace designed by Carlo Rossi, once site of the Great Russian State, and then the profile of Admiralty. At the center of the plaza is the column dedicated by Nicholas I to Alexander I, a granite monolith 48 meters high.

Nevsky Prospekt
"In Petersburg, there is nothing better than Nevsky Prospekt." This is the beginning of Gogol’s Stories of Petersburg of 1842. It is easy to understand the attachment the citizens of Petersburg had and have for strolling along this quintessential city street. Ordered built by Peter the Great, the Prospekt, or boulevard, is four kilometers long and passes along the Neva, the height of the Admiralty, plaza Alexsander Nevsky, and the imposing monastery of the Holy Trinity. All along it are shops, houses and historic cafes in the most diverse styles (Baroque, neoclassical, liberty, and Soviet) once frequented by Gogol himself, Tchaikovsky, Turgenev, Nijinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Dostoevsky. Today it captures the liberationist spirit of the new Russia.

Along the rivers: Fontanka, Mojka, Griboedova
Seeing the city from the water truly brings out the fascination of the Venice of the North, as St. Petersburg was called. The river buses navigate along canals crossed by bridges in the most varied styles (such as the Panteleimon Bridge) and overlooked by large Baroque and neoclassic palaces, including the Palace Seremetev on the Fontanka, and the sites of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment along the Griboedova.

Sennaja quarter
Sennaja Ploshad, the Hay plaza, where the hay, or rather the hay market, was located, is one of the oldest and most popular plazas of St. Petersburg. Here and in the surrounding areas is the setting of Crime and Punishment, the novel by Dostoevsky, and the entire area is in continuous transformation. Liberty-style buildings alternate with the Soviet ones; new shopping centers house shops and activities, while people of all types circulate in search of a good deal, especially between Sennoj Rynok and Aprashkin, the so-called sukh of St. Petersburg. Visitors sample typical cuisine from the kiosks: stuffed potatoes and blini, Russian crepes.