We had the buffet breakfast at the hotel with a couple of thousand other tourists there, mostly Germans and Japanese. Then we managed the Metro ride from Alexander Nevsky Station to Nevsky Prospekt Station. We spent the morning exploring the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Ulitsa Plekhanova...
Modeled on St Peter's Basilica in Rome, this massive church began construction in 1801, and was completed ten years later. Shortly thereafter Napoleon invaded Russia. Marshall Kutuzov prayed in the church to the most venerated icon in Russia,
Our Lady of Kazan that Russia would be delivered. History and Tolstoy record the strange way that was accomplished; Napoleon suffered an overwhelming defeat in Russia. In 1813, Kutuzov died and was buried in the church. And a memorial statue to the great general stands today by the entrance.
The outside colonnade is quite spectacular. And the interior is like some kind of massive heavenly railroadstation. During Soviet times the church was closed and housed the Museum of Religious History and Atheism. Today young parents with their infants and friends and relatives flock to have their babies baptized proudly and openly.
The origination-point for the Peterhof Tour was beside the Gostiny Dvor; we boarded a white passenger mini-van amid a herd of larger tour buses. There was only one other couple on-board: an older Hispanic man and woman from Phoenix, on their first vacation out of North America. Our guide was quite young, perhaps 20 or so, and not at all friendly. (She was the first guide we'd met who seemed ill-suited for her work.) The driver was a lot more typical, and very professional.
As we neared the city limits, we ran into another massive traffic-jam on the Imperial Highway; as usual, the cause was undetermined. We probably lost an hour in it, but soon we were out in ther open. We passed through a lovely suburb of villas and parks and estates about halfway to Peterhof; this was Strelna. Here is a recently-built upscale Dacha beside the road...
It was close to 3 when we arrived. The parking-lots were quite full and we had to park quite a distance away. After the usual port-potties and free-for-all cleaning sprinkler, all for 5 Roubles, we finally entered the grounds. Crowded, but spectacular.
Most of the visitors were Russians. Numbers-wise it could've been half the population of the Leningrad Oblast. Obviously the place to be on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The guide let us find our own way, with instructios to meet her at 5:30 neat the back entrance. Here is the famous view from the front of the Palace, one of the great man-made marvels in the World: the fountains, the staircase, and the grand canal empying into the Baltic Sea...
And inside the palace, this painting of the former owner on horseback...
In the dining room, a royal banquet is set; note the incredible crystal glass samovar.
It was such an extravagant place, that we decided that it would make a perfect retirement. So here is a picture of the happy new owners.
The fountains are spectacular from any angle, but this shot from base is one of the best of them all.
On the last day of May, the grounds are alive with color and scents. Here are lush apple blossoms against the beautiful lines of a curved pavilion (Van Gogh would've painted it)...
The Grand Palace was designed by Jean Baptiste LeBlond in 1715 as Peter's Summer Palace; it soon became known as the 'Versailles of the North'. The name 'Peterhof' is Dutch, and reflects Peter's great admiration for Holland; the Russian name is 'Petrodvorets' (Peter's Estate). Fantastic festive evenings were held here for Russian aristocracy and foreign dignitaries, but Peter himself seldom spent the night here. (He preferred much simpler quarters that we shall see shortly.) The engineering used to drive the water-works is the original 18th Century technology, and all the fountains are still hooked to it.
Here is the famous Chessboard Cascade.
And here is the Roman Fountain in the center of the park.
Prancing around the park are these beautiful Russian children...
Now we are headed toward the Baltic Sea. We pass the beautiful Aviary, filled with exotic birds.
And here is
Monplaisir Peter's private seaside bungalow where he actually resided.
Every morning, rising from bed, this was Peter's view...the seagulls on the Bay of Finland...
Heading back toward the Grand Palace about 5:30 PM, we saw this great view of the palace from the Canal.
By the time we left the area -- after rescuing some Swedish girls who'd missed their tour bus, and then catching up with it to board them -- it was getting on toward 7. At least the traffic had thinned out. Outside of St Petersburg, we caught sight of this 'Space-Age China-Town' being built beside the highway as a joint Sino-Russian Project. (I wonder if it was ever finished?)
