St. Petersburg, Russia
At first, it seemed that our arrival in St. Petersburg was a bit anti-climatic. We exited the train only to find it raining and the roads full of traffic. Not so different from the roads at home in California!
However......
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Brides and grooms walking in the rain. We later learned that it's customary to visit historic city sites after the wedding ceremony.
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Peter & Paul Fortress and Cathedral
After reading so much about St. Petersburg, it was impossible not to be excited to be able to visit! As in previous cities, we had a local guide, Olga, who did a great job of filling us in on city facts and history as our bus inched forward. One thing she mentioned was that St. Petersburg averages only 30 sunny days a year--and since our days in the city turned out to be particularly beautiful and sunny, we realized just how lucky we were.
Our first stop was the cathedral of the Peter & Paul Fortress. This is where almost all of Russia's tsars are buried. Olga explained that the interior of this cathedral is Baroque (much gilding and color) which is unusual for Russian Orthodox churches.
Our first stop was the cathedral of the Peter & Paul Fortress. This is where almost all of Russia's tsars are buried. Olga explained that the interior of this cathedral is Baroque (much gilding and color) which is unusual for Russian Orthodox churches.
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Peter the Great and Catherine the Great are both buried in this church. The last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, is buried here along with his family in the room pictured below.
Gilding is hard to maintain! There was ongoing work and scaffolding in the church. |
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Since all the plaques were in Russian, Olga's information was particularly helpful. We were able to listen to these monks' lovely singing--and encouraged by them to buy their CD afterwards! |
