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Ship Litvinov: St. Petersburg - Rostov-on-Don, River Cruise 01 Oct 2010 - 20 Oct 2010
Route description:
Cross Russia from its northern shores to its southern beaches. Travel from St. Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don via an intricate network of canals and explore its unique history and culture both past and present.
Itinerary
| Day 1 | Arrival  Your personal driver will meet you at the airport (he will be
holding a sign with your name on it) and take you to your ship.
There is no evening program, as you will probably want to get some
rest. You will be served dinner in the ship's restaurant after
which you can relax in the bar or get some sleep. |
| Day 2 | St. Petersburg .jpg) St. Petersburg is Russia's cultural and historical treasure, one of the world's most beautiful cities, and one of its top ten tourist destinations according to "The Forbes Traveler." It is known as the Venice of North thanks to its numerous canals and hundreds of bridges. It is sometimes called Russia's Versailles thanks to dozens of opulent palaces and royal estates. It can be rightly called a living museum - so many of its buildings are part of Russia's history.
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| Day 3 | Mandrogi  Mandrogi is the name of a small village that has no architectural wonders, giant castles or churches. You will, however, discover the unique style and architecture of the northern tribes that have occupied these lands for centuries. |
| Day 4 | Sailing  The Volga is often mentioned in Russian literature. In ancient times this river was used as a trade route by the Vikings who travelled to Greece. It was along this route that the first Russian settlements appeared. Today, more than half the population of Russia lives along this ancient trade route.You will have a great entertainment program while sailing:
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| Day 5 | Goritsy .jpg) Goritsy is famous for the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (1397). This monastery's strong walls and bastions were used by some nobles as a safe house during the Times of Trouble. The Polish armies stormed it, but never succeeded in capturing it. Unfortunately, the monastery was not so successful in repelling the attacks of other invaders four centuries later. The Bolsheviks closed the monastery in early 20th century and sent its monks to the prison camps.You will visit monastery of St. Cyril on the White Lake |
| Day 6 | Yaroslavl  By today standards Yaroslavl is small, but its place in Russia's history and culture cannot be underestimated. Before it was annihilated by the Mongols it was Russia's largest city, its economic, political, cultural and scientific center. It was rebuilt shortly after but was once again burnt to the ground. While the Mongols had been preoccupied with Yaroslavl, Moscow was able to harness enough power to overthrow the "Mongol yoke."During the Polish occupation of Moscow in the early 17th century, it was Yaroslavl once again that became the center of the national resistance to the occupation. One cannot know how many great works of art from ancient times were lost to fire. Some historians suspect that Yaroslavl could have been the most evolved European city of the times.
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| Day 7 | Plyos  The small town is 63 km southeast of Kostroma on the Volga. It was founded in 1409 by Great Prince Vasilii I Dimitriovich as a fortress to help protect the approaches to Kostroma from the Tatars. On the right bank of the Volga atop an already high bluff they built the usual earthen ramparts behind deepened ditches and topped with wooden stockade and towers.Now the town is famous for its serene scenic beauty and its reputation as an artists haven. This is due largely to the renown of Isaak Levitan, the landscape painter who recorded local scenes. The town was also the home of the famous Russian basso, Chalyapin.
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| Day 8 | Nizhniy Novgorod  Nizhny Novgorod was one of the newly founded towns that escaped Mongol devastation on account of its insignificance. The city, similarly to Moscow and Tver, attracted refugees from other cities pillaged by the Mongols and expanded rapidly during the period of the "Mongol yoke" that lasted for a little over 100 years. Moscovy incorporated the city in 1392 and soon thereafter the Tatars of Kazan burnt it down (1408). It took over one century to construct an enormous redbrick castle here which was soon of use when the Tatars tried to burn it again in 1520 and 1536. Today, just like 500 years ago, Nizhniy is one of the main commercial centers of Russia.
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| Day 9 | Kazan  Kazan was the capital of Tatars, the allies of Mongols. Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan in 1552 and forced its Muslim ruler to convert to Christianity. Ivan remodeled Kazan's castle to the Russian style and built St. Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square of Moscow in the celebration of his victory. It is interesting that St. Basil's domes, all nine of them, correspond to the number of days that the siege of Kazan lasted.
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| Day 10 | Ulianovsk  In 1924, the city of Simbirsk was renamed Ulyanovsk in honor of Vladimir Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, who was born in Simbirsk in 1870.In Ulyanovsk you can find corners, which have remained from ancient Simbirsk, narrow streets and low roofs of old buildings. But they don't form the appearance of present-day Ulyanovsk - large modern city, big industrial and culture center of the Middle Volga Region.
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| Day 11 | Samara  Samara has long been Russia's diplomatic and economic link to the East. The growing bread trade in 19th-20th centuries turned this city into an important economic center in Russia. In World War II many of military factories were moved to Samara. The soviet leaders were even planning to move Russia's capital here had Moscow fallen to the German hands. Today, Samara is the third largest metropolitan area in Russia after Moscow and St. Petersburg and an important industrial center.
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| Day 12 | Saratov  Saratov was the northernmost colony of Greek Empire. In 512 BC it was completely annihilated by Persia. One millennium later, Ivan the Terrible established a colony on the ruins of the ancient city. Saratov used to have a large population of Germans, who migrated here during 19th century. When World War II erupted, they were relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan. During the Cold War Saratov became the center of military aircraft production and not surprisingly, Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, trained here.
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| Day 13 | Volgograd  Volgograd (former Stalingrad) is famous for the battle that unfolded here during the World War II. German forces attempted to cut off the Russian armies and their industrial production from their fuel supplies. To that end, they needed to take Stalingrad, situated on the western bank of the Volga River. Hitler sent his best armies and generals, including famous marshal Von Paulus to command the siege. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted for almost one year. The heroic defense of the city enabled the Russian army to prepare a counter attack and to surround the invading forces. This was a serious loss from which Hitler forces were never able to fully recover. This was not the victory for the allies yet, but it was in Stalingrad that the tide of war turned against the Germans. Volgograd has a giant memorial Rodina Mat (Motherland) commemorating those who fought and died here.You explore the city by bus and visit the infamous Mamayev Mound |
| Day 14 | Sailing  You will have a free day while sailing with a great choice of entertainment programs on the ship. |
| Day 15 | Astrahkhan  Astrakhan is located where the mighty the Volga meets the Caspian Sea, on the trade route from India to Persia. Astrakhan was the capital of Khazaria and then of the Golden Horde (the Mongols). Moscow took Astrakhan in 1556 and has ruled it ever since. As Russia's gate to the Orient, this city features a unique mixture of East and West.You will visit Kremlin grounds of the city on a bus city tour |
| Day 16 | Sailing  You will have a free day while sailing with a great choice of entertainment programs on the ship. |
| Day 17 | Volgograd  We are returning to Volgograd. There is a lot to see in this city and today you will have a chance to explore it a little more. We will offer you a list of optional tours that you can choose from. |
| Day 18 | Sailing  You will have a free day while sailing with a great choice of entertainment programs on the ship. |
| Day 19 | Rostov-on-Don  Rostov-on-Don was founded on December 15, 1749, as a customs house was set up on the Temerik (a tributary of the Don) to control the trade with Turkey.Rostov's favorable geographical position on the crossing of trade routes promoted the rapid economic development of the city. The Don River that the city is named for is a major shipping lane connecting southwestern Russia with regions to the north
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| Day 20 | Departure This is the last day of your terrific journey across Russia by rivers. It is time to say goodbye to your new friends from the ship. We hope that you will be back soon!Your driver will be waiting for you near the ship with the sign with you name to drive you to the airport. |
