Our second day in St Petersberg was a very full day, so I've broken this journal up into two parts, before lunch and after lunch. We started early this morning, and were on our way to our Boat Tour along the Neva River. This would take us along the water for a fish-eye view of some of the buildings that we would later explore as well as some areas we wouldn't see otherwise. We were lucky again with sunny skies and warm weather, especially for our open-top tour boat. From the boat tour we headed off to the Fabergé Museum. I wasn't sure what to expect from the Fabergé Museum, but it was all very beautiful, fascinating and so much more than just a few eggs. From the museum, we went to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (or Church on Spilled Blood). This is a beautiful onion-domed church, with an awe-inspiring mosaic interior. After the church we took our lunch break. There was so much we saw that day and so much history, it's difficult to remember it all. Some of the captions below have been culled from the internet (doubtless more reliable than my memory).
BOAT TOUR
The Kunstkamera, or Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, was the first museum in Russia, and is one of the oldest in the world.
The Hermitage Museum, the second-largest museum in the world. Founded in 1764, the collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings, of which this is one - the former Winter Palace.
This is the Frigate Grace Restaurant. Looks like an impressive old sailing ship, but it's a modern, purpose-built permanent structure.
The former Summer Palace built in 1710 on the banks of the Neva River - it was the first palace built in St Petersburg and seems modest compared to some of the other palaces we visited.
St. Michael's Castle was built more like a castle than a palace, with a large interior courtyard and surrounded by rivers and canals. Emperor Paul I never felt safe in the Winter Palace, so he had this "castle" built. 40 nights after he moved in he was assassinated - so even paranoid people can be right sometimes.
The Fabergé Museum, which would be our next stop of the day.
Circus Ciniselli was opened in 1877 and was the first circus building made of bricks in Russia. "The Ciniselli Circus quickly became one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg and occupied the position of the primary entertainment enterprise."
The (very) tall spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral inside the Peter and Paul Fortress. This is the waterside entrance to the island, built in the early 1700's and used as a prison and execution ground by the Bolshevik government.
One of the two Rostral Columns standing outside the old St Petersburg Stock Exchange building. The Doric columns are constructed of brick coated with a red terra cotta stucco and decorated with bronze anchors and 4 pairs of ship prows.
THE FABERGÉ MUSEUM
One of the many beautiful rooms of the former Shuvalov Palace. The building is as impressive as the Fabergé collection itself. This Red Room features Russian silver works.
This is the first of the 54 Imperial Fabergé Eggs, of which 9 are on display in the Fabergé Museum. "Hen" dates from 1885 and was relatively simple with a plain white exterior. Inside the white egg, a yolk of pure gold contained a second surprise - a little gold hen.
The Renaissance Egg from 1894. The surprise of this egg is now lost, but it is speculated that it contained pearls.
The Rosebud Egg from 1895 is a jewelled enamel egg. The egg opened to reveal a yellow-enameled rosebud in which the two surprises were contained. The surprises are missing, but they were a golden crown and a ruby pendant.
The Imperial Coronation Egg from 1897. Fitted inside a velvet-lined compartment was this precise replica of the 18th-century Imperial coach that carried Tsarina Alexandra to her coronation. The coach is less than 4 inches long.
On the left is the Lilies of the Valley Egg from 1898. This egg's surprise is 'elevated' out of the egg by twisting a pearl button revealing three portraits painted on ivory and framed in diamonds. On the right is the Cockerel Egg from 1900. This timepiece egg had a mechanism on the top that enabled a bird to come out and move.
On the left is the Fifteenth Anniversary Egg from 1911 commemorating the 15th anniversary of the coronation of Nicholas II. There is no surprise in this egg, contrary to the Tsar's wishes. On the right is the Bay Tree Egg, also from 1911, presented to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The piece is made of nephrite (jade) with a tiny lever hidden among the leaves that activates a feathered songbird that rises and animates it's wings, head and beak.
Made during World War I in 1916, the Order of St. George Egg was given a modest design in keeping with the austerity of the war. It is the most recent Imperial Egg in the Fabergé Museum collection.
While these are Fabergé eggs, they are not "Imperial Eggs" having been made for customers other than the Imperial Family. On the left is the Duchess of Marlborough egg from 1902, the only Fabergé egg commissioned by an American. It was made for Consuelo Vanderbilt who became the Duchess of Marlborough. On the right is the Kelch Chanticleer egg, commissioned in 1904 by a Russian industrialist as a gift to his wife. It is very similar to the Cockerel Imperial Egg.
From the Imperial Egg room, we moved on to the Gold Room, another elaborately decorated room. This featured "gifts from the Tsars, objets de fantaisie made by House of Fabergé, and jeweled boxes."
A fascinating silver piece on the fireplace mantle in the Gold Room.
The Anteroom contained "jewelry, small items, accessories, and clocks and a collection of household items once owned by the wealthy and which demonstrates the rich color palette of guilloché enamel."
A beautifully enameled clock piece.
"The White and Blue Room displays works of enamel from the workshops of Pavel Ovchinnikov and presents outstanding examples of Russian porcelain."
Enamel pieces with a more modern, abstract design.
"The Gothic Hall features a collection of Russian icons from the 16th-20th centuries, most of which are clad in frames and covers of precious metals made by famous jewelers from Moscow and St. Petersburg."
"On display in the Upper Dining Room are paintings by Russian and French impressionists and neoimpressionists from the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries." The specific lighting used in a darkened room made the paintings seem to glow with light.
Some delectable bites in the museum café. Their execution as exact and beautiful as the other works of art on display in the museum.
CHURCH ON THE SPILLED BLOOD
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in March 1881. The church was built between 1883 and 1907, funded by the imperial family.
"An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. Embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones, it makes a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine."
"The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture."
"The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world."
"In 2005, the State Museum of St. Isaac's Cathedral began the recreation of the Holy Gates (permanently lost in the 1920s during the Soviet period). Entirely produced with enamels and based on the pictures and lithographs of the time."
One of the elaborately detailed domed ceilings in the church.
A closeup of the intricate mosaic work.
"The church was reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration, but has not been reconsecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship. The Church of the Saviour on Blood is a museum of mosaics."
NEXT: (Day 9) St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 2 (Part Two)
PREV: (Day 8) St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 1
Baltic Cruise - May-June 2018
The Kunstkamera, or Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, was the first museum in Russia, and is one of the oldest in the world.
The Hermitage Museum, the second-largest museum in the world. Founded in 1764, the collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings, of which this is one - the former Winter Palace.
This is the Frigate Grace Restaurant. Looks like an impressive old sailing ship, but it's a modern, purpose-built permanent structure.
The former Summer Palace built in 1710 on the banks of the Neva River - it was the first palace built in St Petersburg and seems modest compared to some of the other palaces we visited.
St. Michael's Castle was built more like a castle than a palace, with a large interior courtyard and surrounded by rivers and canals. Emperor Paul I never felt safe in the Winter Palace, so he had this "castle" built. 40 nights after he moved in he was assassinated - so even paranoid people can be right sometimes.
The Fabergé Museum, which would be our next stop of the day.
Circus Ciniselli was opened in 1877 and was the first circus building made of bricks in Russia. "The Ciniselli Circus quickly became one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg and occupied the position of the primary entertainment enterprise."
The (very) tall spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral inside the Peter and Paul Fortress. This is the waterside entrance to the island, built in the early 1700's and used as a prison and execution ground by the Bolshevik government.
One of the two Rostral Columns standing outside the old St Petersburg Stock Exchange building. The Doric columns are constructed of brick coated with a red terra cotta stucco and decorated with bronze anchors and 4 pairs of ship prows.
THE FABERGÉ MUSEUM
One of the many beautiful rooms of the former Shuvalov Palace. The building is as impressive as the Fabergé collection itself. This Red Room features Russian silver works.
This is the first of the 54 Imperial Fabergé Eggs, of which 9 are on display in the Fabergé Museum. "Hen" dates from 1885 and was relatively simple with a plain white exterior. Inside the white egg, a yolk of pure gold contained a second surprise - a little gold hen.
The Renaissance Egg from 1894. The surprise of this egg is now lost, but it is speculated that it contained pearls.
The Rosebud Egg from 1895 is a jewelled enamel egg. The egg opened to reveal a yellow-enameled rosebud in which the two surprises were contained. The surprises are missing, but they were a golden crown and a ruby pendant.
The Imperial Coronation Egg from 1897. Fitted inside a velvet-lined compartment was this precise replica of the 18th-century Imperial coach that carried Tsarina Alexandra to her coronation. The coach is less than 4 inches long.
On the left is the Lilies of the Valley Egg from 1898. This egg's surprise is 'elevated' out of the egg by twisting a pearl button revealing three portraits painted on ivory and framed in diamonds. On the right is the Cockerel Egg from 1900. This timepiece egg had a mechanism on the top that enabled a bird to come out and move.
On the left is the Fifteenth Anniversary Egg from 1911 commemorating the 15th anniversary of the coronation of Nicholas II. There is no surprise in this egg, contrary to the Tsar's wishes. On the right is the Bay Tree Egg, also from 1911, presented to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The piece is made of nephrite (jade) with a tiny lever hidden among the leaves that activates a feathered songbird that rises and animates it's wings, head and beak.
Made during World War I in 1916, the Order of St. George Egg was given a modest design in keeping with the austerity of the war. It is the most recent Imperial Egg in the Fabergé Museum collection.
While these are Fabergé eggs, they are not "Imperial Eggs" having been made for customers other than the Imperial Family. On the left is the Duchess of Marlborough egg from 1902, the only Fabergé egg commissioned by an American. It was made for Consuelo Vanderbilt who became the Duchess of Marlborough. On the right is the Kelch Chanticleer egg, commissioned in 1904 by a Russian industrialist as a gift to his wife. It is very similar to the Cockerel Imperial Egg.
From the Imperial Egg room, we moved on to the Gold Room, another elaborately decorated room. This featured "gifts from the Tsars, objets de fantaisie made by House of Fabergé, and jeweled boxes."
A fascinating silver piece on the fireplace mantle in the Gold Room.
The Anteroom contained "jewelry, small items, accessories, and clocks and a collection of household items once owned by the wealthy and which demonstrates the rich color palette of guilloché enamel."
A beautifully enameled clock piece.
"The White and Blue Room displays works of enamel from the workshops of Pavel Ovchinnikov and presents outstanding examples of Russian porcelain."
Enamel pieces with a more modern, abstract design.
"The Gothic Hall features a collection of Russian icons from the 16th-20th centuries, most of which are clad in frames and covers of precious metals made by famous jewelers from Moscow and St. Petersburg."
"On display in the Upper Dining Room are paintings by Russian and French impressionists and neoimpressionists from the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries." The specific lighting used in a darkened room made the paintings seem to glow with light.
Some delectable bites in the museum café. Their execution as exact and beautiful as the other works of art on display in the museum.CHURCH ON THE SPILLED BLOOD
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in March 1881. The church was built between 1883 and 1907, funded by the imperial family.
"An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. Embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones, it makes a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine."
"The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture."
"The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world."
"In 2005, the State Museum of St. Isaac's Cathedral began the recreation of the Holy Gates (permanently lost in the 1920s during the Soviet period). Entirely produced with enamels and based on the pictures and lithographs of the time."
One of the elaborately detailed domed ceilings in the church.
A closeup of the intricate mosaic work.
"The church was reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration, but has not been reconsecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship. The Church of the Saviour on Blood is a museum of mosaics."
NEXT: (Day 9) St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 2 (Part Two)
PREV: (Day 8) St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 1
Baltic Cruise - May-June 2018