Voyages & Aventures: 1/3 St-Petersburg: A vibrant city 24/7

Pour notre 35e anniverssaire de marriage, nous sommes allé à la “Venise du Nord” du 9 au 19 Juillet.

Nous avons logé dans un « Bed and Breakfast » pas loin du centre de la ville et avons été charmés par plusieurs zones de cette ville si riche en histoire et en art. Nous avons eu la chance d’avoir une belle météo et sommes revenus enthousiasmés par notre séjour.

For our 35th wedding anniversary, we went to the Venise of the North, St-Petersburg, 9-19 July.

We stayed in a “Bed and Breakfast” not far from the city centre and were charmed by parts of this beautiful city rich in history and art. We were lucky to have great weather and thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.

Below (and on next 2 postings) are highlights of what we saw.

NB All quotes are excerpts from Wikipedia.

Saint Petersburg (Russian: Са́нкт-Петербу), is a city located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd (Russian: Петроград, 1914–1924) and Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград, 1924–1991). It is often called just Petersburg and is informally known as Piter.

Founded by Tsar Peter I of

Russia

on May 27, 1703, it was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1713–1728, 1732–1918). Saint Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

It is

Russia

's second largest city after Moscow with 4.6 million inhabitants. Saint Petersburg is often described as the most Western city of

Russia

. Among cities of the world with over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost.

Saint Petersburg is also home to The Hermitage, the largest art museum in the world,

Russia

's political and cultural centre for 200 years. Over its history it has also been referenced as "the Venice of the north".

The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Watch out... the bridge will open-up!

The Russian cruiser Aurora (Russian: Авро́ра) is a Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in St. Petersburg.

Aurora, built in St. Petersburg, was sent from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific. On 27 and 28 May 1905, Aurora took part in the Battle of Tsushima, along with the rest of the Russian squadron

During the First World War the ship operated in the Baltic Sea. At the end of 1916, the ship was moved to Saint Petersburg (later Petrograd) for a major repair. The city was brimming with revolutionary ferment and part of her crew joined the 1917 February Revolution. Most of the crew joined the Bolsheviks, who were preparing for a Communist revolution. On 25 October 1917, Aurora refused to carry an order to take off to sea, which sparked the October Revolution. At 9.45 PM a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, which was to be the last episode of the October Revolution. The cruiser's crew actually took part in the attack.

World War II n 1922, Aurora was brought to service again as a training ship. During World War II, the guns were taken from the ship and used in land defence of Leningrad. The ship itself was docked in Oranienbaum port, and was repeatedly shelled and bombed. On 30 September 1941 she was damaged and sunk in the harbour.

After extensive repairs in 1945 - 1947, Aurora was permanently anchored on the Neva in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) as a monument to the Great October Socialist Revolution and in 1957 became a museum-ship.