A Visit to St Petersburg Advent Calendar [8] Quiz

Answer:

The sites, and sights, of St Petersburg include the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. The church is built where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated and it's his blood that gives the church its name. The cobblestones of the road where the attack took place are incorporated into the church. Peterhof is a palace just outside St Petersburg built on the orders of Peter the Great to emulate the Palace of Versailles near Paris. It consists of a series of palaces rather than just one.

The Mariinsky Theatre is a grand opera house which was long known as the Kirov Theatre. It was where many Russian composers staged the premieres of their works and houses both opera and ballet companies. The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of the city established in the early eighteenth century on the River Neva. It consists of a series of buildings, including a cathedral. Nevsky Prospekt is the main street which runs through St Petersburg and is named for a thirteenth-century hero and saint.

The Bronze Horseman is a huge statue of Peter the Great on a rearing horse. It was created by Etienne Falconet on the orders of Catherine the Great and is situated in Senate Square, formerly known as Decembrists' Square. Kazan Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox Church situated on Nevsky Prospekt and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, known as the Our Lady of Kazan. Worshippers queue to kiss an icon of her.

The St Peter and Paul Cathedral is part of the complex of buildings on the Peter and Paul Fortress. It houses the tombs of the rulers of Imperial Russia, including Peter the Great himself, Catherine the Great and Alexander II. In 1998, a chapel was opened to house the remains of the last tsar, Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and three of their daughters, Tatiana, Olga and Anastasia. The bodies of Marie and Alexei were not discovered until 2007, and had still not been moved to the chapel at the time of writing (2024) due to ongoing investigations.

The Amber Room can be seen in the Catherine Palace. It is a recreation of the original, looted by the Nazis and missing, presumed destroyed. Coming up with a replica was a painstaking effort which took over twenty years, but the result is stunning. The Yusupov Palace is inextricably connected to Rasputin, the 'mad monk' who caused problems for the final Romanov rulers of Russia. It is where Rasputin met his death, after several attempts, by the hands of conspirators, including Felix Yusupov. The palace is now a museum.

Another landmark of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison was used to hold enemies of the tsar, initially, and then tsarist supporters after the revolution. Lenin's brother was hanged here, and other famous inmates include Leon Trotsky and Maxim Gorky. Now a museum, the cells have been recreated and are chilling to see.

The Winter Palace is now better known as the home of the Hermitage, Russia's greatest museum and art gallery. It was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 to house her personal collection. The palace itself is impressive, without considering the works of art it displays. Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery lies at one end of Nevsky Prospekt. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1710 in the mistaken belief that it was the site of a decisive battle of 1240 when Russia defeated a Swedish army. The actual site was about twelve miles away, but the monastery remains a fitting tribute to Russian's history.

The other options are all found in Moscow. The Bolshoi Theatre is the home of the opera and ballet companies in the capital, which were established in 1776 under the authority of Catherine the Great. The tomb of Lenin can be seen in Red Square, with the preserved body of the leader on display in a glass coffin. Armed guards surround it and woe betide anyone who doesn't show due reverence. The Cathedral of the Archangel is dedicated to St Michael and is one of the buildings within the Kremlin walls in Moscow. Also there is the Palace of Facets, originally the reception hall in the time of the tsars. You may be surprised to learn that the Kremlin is home to five palaces and four cathedrals, maintained as historic monuments rather than for any religious significance.

The Tsar bell is also on display at the Kremlin. It is a massive bell, the largest in the world, although it was damaged soon after being cast. It has a large chunk which has broken away, so has never been rung. Incidentally, the cannon with the largest calibre is also displayed there, although it has never been fired in anger.

The Kremlin Armoury is also part of the Kremlin complex with displays of uniforms, weaponry and carriages among the items visitors can see. Royal regalia is also shown, plus some of the famous Fabergé eggs. Gorky Park is Moscow's large public park, originally opened in 1928 and named soon after for the author Maxim Gorky.