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Links: to Copenhagen Baltic cruising :Day 1 - Copenhagen to Oslo Day 2 - Oslo Finale: Copenhagen encore
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St Petersburg, Russia. 10 June 2014, Tuesday The restoration of the summer palace of Peter the Great outside St Petersburg has almost certainly boosted the profits of the manufacturers of gold paint. Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed inside the Palace, and words can't adequately describe its decor but....let's just say that it will never become the option of choice for 21st century decorators. The "no photographs" rule doesn't extend to the extensive grounds. I've no idea how many hectares are covered, but you could lose an army in the forests here extending down to the waters of the Gulf of Finland. |
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Palaces were the order of the day - our second stop was at a more modest establishment, the Yusopov Palace, former home of the family whose son was one of the assassins of the Russian mystery man, Rasputin The story goes that in 1916, just before the Revolution, Grigor Raspatin, known as the 'Mad Monk" who claimed to have miraculous powers, began to exert what was seen as an evil influence over the royal family, the Romanovs. Rasputin persuaded the empress that he could cure the hemophilia of the young Crown Prince. |
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right: the leader of the assassination plot against Grigor Rasputin; The rest of the palace has a bit more class, even if it does verge into the gold baroque style as well |
Rasputin was enticed to the Yusopov palace, and fed poisoned food and drink, to no effect. So he was stabbed, before being thrown into the Neva River. The foundation which now owns the palace runs it as a conference and performance centre, and raises extra funds by opening it for cruise boat tourists. The actual room where Rasputin was attacked has a rather kitsch display with figures placed around the room with "poisoned" food on the table (left). . |
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Plus, it has its own theatre, which eclipses all modern "home theatres". It was certainly worth a look. The guide told us that the Yusopovs were among the richest people in Russia, and connected by family ties to the Royal family, which prevented the young assassin's arrest. Members of the Royal Family were protected by such legal manouvres.
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The final stop for the afternoon was St. Isaac's Cathedral which we had a brief look at yesterday. I've never heard of a St Isaac (left) - obviously my knowledge of saints is far from complete. His cathedral, in the centre of St Petersburg, is impressive, and unlike many such imposing basilicas, it has a warmth and a charm to it that I found very appealing. St Isaac's has had mixed fortunes - it has been rebuilt three times after fires, and suffered the humiliation of being a Museum for Atheism after the Russian Revolution. In 1970, it lost its atheist role, and after much restoration work, reopened as the glorious building it is today |
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The tiny white dot in the centre of the dome (right) is a dove, measuring 4.5 metres across, giving an idea of the size of the dome |
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Its role today is mostly as a museum, but each Sunday, and at Christmas and Easter, Russian Orthodox faithful are able to hold a service in a side chapel. We are now about to cast off for Helsinki, on the other side of the Gulf of Finland. The captain has just told us that the temperature there tomorrow is expected to be 23°, which, if true, will be pleasant. And he added that sunset tonight is at about 11.15pm, sunrise before 4am. When you factor in twilight, and the pre-dawn light, there's hardly any darkness at night here now, in the run up to the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, in a little over 10 days. Next: a lazy day in Helsinki |
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Dozens
of classic style statues scattered around the gardens are coated
in the stuff, and on the inside of the Palace, more than a few
large rooms have every curved edge painted gold - and there's
hundreds of curves, to say nothing of curlicues. It's called
"baroque" style, and it's overwhelming when done on such a large
scale as at Peterhof.
There
was an army of tourists there today. We were among the first to
arrive, thanks to our guide insisting on a 7am departure from St
Petersburg for the 30km drive. As a result, we had the place to
ourselves for the first hour or so, but by the time we left,
hordes of people were queuing for tickets.
