SIGHTSEEING & EXCURSIONS IN ST. PETERSBURG
St. Petersburg Sightseeing Tour
The introduction tour around the city & its center will acquaint you with the brightest period of St. Petersburg architecture. During the "Golden Age" (from the first half of the 18th century to the end of the first half of the 19th century) the city was planned and built in harmonious architecturally interesting buildings in Baroque and Classical styles. During the sightseeing tour, the most popular and interesting excursion you will see Nevsky prospect with its old houses and palaces, Palace square and 5 Hermitage buildings outside, Neva embankment, The University, Menshikov palace, The Bronze Horsemen, Buildings of Senate and Senode, Peter and Paul fortress, St.Isaaks cathedral, Kazan church, Liteiny prospect (Ligovka) etc.
Duration: 3 hours
EXCURSION TOURS – ST. PETERSBURG
The Peter and Paul Fortress. St. Petersburg
The Peter and Paul Fortress is a small ancient city in the very heart of the modern megalopolis. Designed to protect newly acquired lands from invading Swedes, the hexagonal shaped Peter and Paul Fortress lost its military significance before it was completed. Its guns never saw any action and were put to use as a flood warning signal, and the fortress housed a political prison for two hundred years. Its prisoners were many famous Russian people: members of the Royal Family, writers, poets, political figures & statesmen. In the Fortress you will see St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of every tsar since Peter the Great, Trubetskoy Bastion, the former interrogation center and prison. In the gardens there is an interesting and controversial monument by the local artist Mikhail Shemiakin to Peter the Great.
Duration: 1 hour
The State Hermitage. St. Petersburg
State Hermitage is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. The museum is located in 5 historical buildings of St. Petersburg, including the Winter Palace – the former residence of Russian tsars. The buildings of the museum, by themselves, are architectural chef d’oeuvres. The story of The Hermitage collection begins with Catherine II and now there are over than 3 million items from prehistoric culture, Egyptian art, the art of Antiquity, Scythian gold, and great collections of Western-European paintings and sculptures are displayed in 400 halls of the museum. Today it’s the one of the world’s largest museums, if you will study each item in the collections for just 10 seconds, a complete tour will take over 3 years. The Hermitage usually houses several concurrent temporary exhibitions.
Duration: 4 hours
The Russian Museum. Sté Petersburg
Russian Museum opened 1898 in the Mikhailovsky Palace (architect Rossi), The Empire residence built in early 1820s for Grand Duke Mikhail, son of the Emperor Paul. It is situated in the veru centre of St. Petersburg a stone's throw away from the city's central magistral - Nevsky prospect. The museum numbers nrarly 400 000 exhibits. It is the largest in the country collection of the Russian art, incliding a unique collection of Old Russian Icons, works of painting, folk art and numismetics, as well as the world's finest collection of Russian Avant-garde.
Duration: 3 hours
St. Isaac's Cathedral. St. Petersburg
St. Osaac's Cathedral is one of the most stunning structures in the world designed by the French architect Monyferrand between 1818 and 1858, is the large church in St. Petersburg with its height101.5 meters. Around the cathedral 112 columns, each of granit monolith weight 114 tons. Its interior decoration is a symphony of gold, marble, lapis lazuli, malachite and porphyryr. The wall and vaults are covered with painted and mosaic of Russian and French arists. The Cathedral itself dominates the central part of the city.
Duration: 1 hour
Yusupov Palace. St. Petersburg
State Hermitage is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. The museum is located in 5 historical buildings of St. Petersburg, including the Winter Palace – the former residence of Russian tsars. The buildings of the museum, by themselves, are architectural chef d’oeuvres. The story of The Hermitage collection begins with Catherine II and now there are over than 3 million items from prehistoric culture, Egyptian art, the art of Antiquity, Scythian gold, and great collections of Western-European paintings and sculptures are displayed in 400 halls of the museum. Today it’s the one of the world’s largest museums, if you will study each item in the collections for just 10 seconds, a complete tour will take over 3 years. The Hermitage usually houses several concurrent temporary exhibitions.
Duration: 2,5 hour
Petershoff, Grand Palace and Park, Fountains.
Petershoff was built by Peter the Great a summer residence as splendid as the Versailles palaces. The initial layout of the summer residence was drawn by Peter himself. The construction work began in 1714, the formal opening of Petershoff took place on August 15, 1723. But the construction work continued for another 150 years. Twenty palaces and over 140 fountains were built, and seven magnificent parks occupying about 1,000 hectares were set out. The real flowering of Peterhof was associated with Peter's daughter Elizabeth. Between the midforties and midfifties, arcitect B. Rastrelly turned the Upper Chambers into the sumptuous Great Palace. The center of the park ensemble is the Grand Palace which was built in 1714-1725. In 1755 it was rebuilt by B. Rastrelly. A magnificent view of the Grand Cascade opening into a sea canal opens up from the palace windows.
Duration: 5.5 hours
The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.
The history of this summer tsar residence dates back to the early 18th century. In 1723, the palace for Catherine, the wife of Peter the Great, was completed. Later it continued to be called the Catherine Palace, and the entire surrounding neighbourhood was named Tsarskoye Selo (the Tsar's Village). The construction was entrusted to Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The internal decor was the responsibility of Charles Cameron. He decorated the interior of the Catherine Palace with marble, bronze and semi-precious stones. You wil be struck by the splendour of the numerous rooms, especially the Lyons Parlour whose walls were faced with lazurite while the parquet composed of twelve precious species of wood was inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Greatest of all wonders is certainly the Amber Room which was transferred from the Winter Palace. People called it the "eighth wonder of the world".
Duration: 5 hours
Pavlovsk, Paul Palace and Park Paul Palace
The Pavlovsk palace and park ensemble is located 27 kilometers away from St.Peter-sburg. Just like Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, this town was also the summer residence of the Russian emperors. In the Pavlovsky Park beauty of nature is masterly "put back together" in the style of Russian Classicism. On shores of ponds and rivers Slavyanka - elegant pavilions, colonnade and arbours. It looks as if the beauty of architecture competes with beauty of the nature.
Duration: 5 hour
