Recalling Moscow -

Snowy mural on a Moscow street wall 2013

   

I was in Moscow during the summer of 2013. 

I flew there from the city of Petropavlovsk in the Russian Far East, 

on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was 9 hour flight across Siberia and, 

on landing, Moscow was drenched in heavy rain.

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour from the bus window 2013

Crossing Red Square 2013

The following day the sun came out and I was able to see how wonderful

 the city really is, an amazing blend of old and new.

Now Moscow is in the midst of winter - on checking I see today the high

 is 28F and the low will be 19F - we were almost that cold here yesterday,

but have no snow as they most likely do.

If you haven't seen this video, filmed on the Sparrow Hills overlooking

 Moscow, do watch.

It's a 'flash mob' to beat most flash mobs you may have viewed online - or 

maybe even watched in person. 

It will cheer you, put an end to the winter blues, make you smile, tap your

 toes, wish you were there. . . . . . sing or hum along and just enjoy in Full Screen -

"Puttin' on the Ritz"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXd3wX_USc

A country residence……

Tsarskoye Selo, The Tsar's Village, is the stunning country development on land given to 

Catherine the Great by her husband Peter the Great.

Luba, our fabulous Russian guide, on right above, managed to get us admission to 

Catherine Palace through a side entrance thereby skipping the huge crowds.

Detail of the ceiling paintings and ornate gilding of the Grand Hall. This enormous room with

an area of 846 square meters is permeated with a sense of majesty.

Paintings of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra, the Romanovs, whom 

along with their four children, were executed in 1918.  This tragedy you will be familiar with if 

you've ever been interested in the stories (and the movie) of the daughter Anastasia, Rasputin, and 

the Russian Revolution.

Church of the Resurrection in the east wing of the palace.

Again, another remarkable St. Petersburg palace complex - these pics just showing a fraction 

of the opulence, and give one more to ponder on regarding the vast difference between the
rulers and the people of this country when under the Tsars.

Next port of call, lovely Stockholm, Sweden, the 750 year old capital built on 14 islands and 

connected by 57 bridges.

Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg………………

Passing the Hermitage/Winter Palace on our way by hydrofoil to Peterhof Palace, the 

opulent complex of palaces and gardens on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, begun by 

Peter the Great to emulate Versailles. 

Arriving early morning, the walk from the seaside dock toward the palace is quite an 

eye opening experience!

A leisurely walk through the gardens past many playful fountains - some you can actually play in - with over thirty palaces, summer houses, gazebos, pavilions, decorated with over a hundred statues, doesn't prepare you for the grandiose sight of the 18-19th century architectural and park ensemble covering almost four square miles. 

The Peterhof Palace, officially opened in 1723, was the favorite residence of the Tsar, Peter the Great, after whom it is named.

Early arrival before the fountains started to play.

All water comes from a gravity-fed water system.

View of The Grand Canal, also known as The Sea of Samson Canal, as the fountains started up.

This was such a beautiful place, a quick visit is not enough. I could have spent hours, 

possibly days here, enjoying the falling water and visiting every part of the 

park which is like a huge open-air museum.

The Grand Cascade

There was no palace entrance permitted with our all too short visit but what 

we were able to view, and fortunately in brilliant sunshine, was truly amazing.

The Palace Church with gilded domes.

Next stop in St. Petersburg, the glorious Catherine Palace where we did get to go inside.

St. Petersburg, more from the first day~~~~~~~~

St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the largest churches in the world, with a vast gold
(220 pounds were used) cupola surrounded by statues of angels. It took 40 years to construct.  

It's not only an active church but also a museum housing artistic and religious treasures.
For services on major ecclesiastical occasions, the main area can accommodate
14,000 standing worshippers.

 Paintings beginning to fade have been made into mosaics.

Beautiful biblical scenes fill the cupola's interior making this one of 

St. Petersburg's most decorated churches.

The silver dove at the top, symbol of the 

Holy Spirit, although appearing small is actually 6 feet long.

Palace Square is the central square of St. Petersburg and the setting of many
worldwide events of significance including Bloody Sunday in 1905, and the
October Revolution of 1917.

The red granite column, Alexander Column (1830-1834), is the tallest of
its kind in the world, 47.5 meters, and weighs 500 tons.

 Leaving the beauty of ornate palaces above ground, we were taken into the
St. Petersburg metro system to view one of the many stops, Admiralty Station.
This is the deepest underground rail system in the world, 105 meters down, and we
were on that escalator for what seemed eternity.

Going down, down, down……….

then at the bottom were amazed at the station which was spotlessly clean, relatively
quiet, and decorated with ornate columns and beautiful mosaics depicting Russian history. 

There are stations even more elaborate than this one, and the fare to travel anywhere,
any distance, is the equivalent of just 93 cents, a huge travel bargain.

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Architecturally, this cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city is
predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but this amazing place harks back to medieval
Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism, and resembles Moscow's
well known St. Basil's Cathedral.  I visited that wonderful place last year.
This church stands on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on March 13, 1881
as his carriage passed along the embankment of the Griboedov Canal.

This church reopened in 1997 after 27 years of restoration but has not been reconsecrated and
does not function as a full-time place of worship - it is a museum of mosaics. During the
Russian Revolution of 1917 the church was ransacked and looted, the interior badly damaged.
During WWII, when many people were starving due to to Siege of Leningrad, the church was
used as a temporary morgue, and suffered more significant damage.
Dedicated exclusively to the memory of assassinated Tsar, it is now one of the main tourist
attractions in St. Petersburg.

 The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics - according to its restorers, more
than another church in the world. The walls and ceilings are completely covered in intricately
detailed mosaics - main pictures being biblical scenes or figures - but with very fine patterned
borders setting off each picture.

Top of the elaborate shrine constructed over the spot where Alexander was assassinated.
I certainly would have enjoyed more time here to view such splendor and detailed mosaic art.

Thank you for your comments on the beautiful places I'm enjoying sharing with you. Being on a 

tour is of course somewhat restrictive. If I'm ever able to return to this amazing city I would love 

to actually stay in the area and have more free time to see everything in more detail.

Next time……a perfect sunny day dawned and we were off on the waterways to Peterhof Palace.