Day 7 - St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 7 – Saturday 6^th September 2014 – St. Petersburg

An Introduction to St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, - the name changes mirror the historical twists and turns undergone by the city since its founding in 1703 by Peter the Great.  His choice of site, though impractical in most respects, created one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, a glittering court and a great artistic heritage.

The Revolution of 1917, the siege during the Second World War and the collapse of soviet communism have each made their mark on the city.  The blend of Western European and Russian influences brings both charm and singularity to St. Petersburg, so despite its architectural and artistic glories; it is not just a museum but a flourishing city.

St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, who cut into the marsh on Hare Island at the mouth of the River Neva and proclaimed “Here shall be a town!” Twenty thousand workmen – serfs, soldiers, convicts and artisans – commenced on the project.  Thousands died from famine, disease, accident or exhaustion, and it is said the city was built on the bones of the builders.

Peter the Great’s ambition was to create a great port and metropolis rather than a well sited military fort, and in 1712 he declared St. Petersburg to be his capital.  To emphasise the break with Moscow, he ordered a church be built on Hare Island, simple in design, with an enormous tapering spire instead of the traditional orthodox church cupola.  To ensure the church was the highest building in Russia, the spire was built taller than Ivan the Great’s Belfry in the Kremlin.  This is the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul and became the last resting place of the tsars.

When Russia joined forces with the Allies in the First World War, the city’s name was changed from the Germanic St. Petersburg to Petrograd.  During the war, the fires of revolution, which had been burning intermittently since 1825, became a conflagration which changed the look of the world, when Lenin and his comrades overthrew the Russian Empire and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  The city’s name was changed to Leningrad after Lenin’s death.

During the Second World War, the citizens endured appalling hardship during the 900 day siege of Leningrad by the German army.  During this time, one and a half million people died, mostly from starvation.

With the election of Gorbachev in 1985, the USSR started a process of change which has radically altered life in Eastern Europe.  Nationalist aspirations, struggling economies and the impotence of communist control have led to the dissolution of the USSR.  The pace of change may be daunting and unpredictable; in 1991 by popular referendum, the name of the city was restored to St. Petersburg.

We arrived in St. Petersburg at 07.00 and had a leisurely breakfast in the Princess Grill at 08.00.  Most of the other guests had gone off on the many organised tours and using this method you do not require a visa.  As we were travelling independently, we had acquired our own Russian visa prior to departing from Southampton, achieving the required stamp is another story.

Inside No.158 bus

Armed with all of the necessary information on travel, guide books and maps, we were ashore at 09.30 and passed through immigration in the cruise terminal.  Just outside, we boarded the 10.10, number 158 bus (cost 25 rubles), which took us to the nearest metro station at Primorskaya on the Green line.  The exchange rate for the local currency is 60 rubles to 1 pound sterling.

A single fare to anywhere on the metro system is 28 rubles (50 pence).  The system consists of five colour coded lines which run from the outskirts through the centre, where they intersect at one of the six main stations.  The metro has 63 stations, ranging in style and ambience from the dim-lighting and memorial atmosphere of Ploschad Muzhestva.

Down Escalator

 

View from bottom of Escalator

Before setting foot in St. Petersburg metro you need a metro map with the Russian Cyrillic and transliterated names, though there are some signs in English.  With the purchased metro token you pass through the turnstiles at the top of the escalators, these are very long and as the lines pass under the many rivers and canals in the city, these escalators travel as far down as 400 metres.

Metro Station

Follow the signs in the metro to the platform where the direction of the trains and a list of all the stops on the route are marked on the wall, routes are also displayed inside the carriage.  It is best to remember the number of stops you have to make before getting off, though on the train, as the train approaches a stop, the name of the station is announced in Russian only.

We travelled three stops and got off at Mayakovskaya and transferred to the Red line after walking through the interconnecting walkway to the Ploschad Vosstania station.  Here we boarded the train for the two stops to Ploschad Lenina (Finland Station) and came out of the metro and emerged not too far from the river.

Lenin Statue

In the square outside the main railway station is this imposing statue of Lenin.  We walked down to the landing stage where my guide book informed you could get a hydrofoil ferry out to the island.

We found out this information was incorrect and luckily waiting at the same place was a young English speaking man, who told us the best way to the island was on the bus, and he confirmed the station where it left from.

Back to the metro, purchased another token back on the Red line and change onto the Green Line for one stop and changed onto the Blue line at the Nevsky Prospekt station.  Three stops and we came out of the Chyornaya Rechka (Black River) station.

My own research told me to use the shuttle bus K-405, this we found at one of the street corner bus stands.  A mini-bus with about 18 to 20 passengers and when the bus was full, off we went at a cost of 65 rubles (£1.20p) to Kronstadt on the island of Kotlin. This is 30 kilometres (20 miles) from St. Petersburg; the island is 10 km long and 3 km wide in the middle of the Finnish gulf. 

A dam has been built to protect St. Petersburg from floods, this links the island to the mainland to the north and south of it, and is now part of the city’s ring road.  We approached the island from the north crossing over the new dam protective structures and came into the main town of Kronstadt.

Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great in 1704 as a maritime fortress and naval base for the Baltic fleet on Kotlin Island and was considered one of the most fortified ports in the world.  The port is ice-bound for 140 -160 days in the year, from the beginning of December to April and a very large proportion of the inhabitants are sailors.

Naval Cathedral

After 45 minute bus journey we were dropped off at the main site on the island, the Naval Cathedral which was completed in 1913 with a height of 70 metres and the diameter of the dome of 27 metres.

Cathedral Interior

The interior of which is fantastic, the paintings, chandeliers, marble boards with names of the lost seamen.  There were many visitors here taking in the splendour of it all, and I came away with the feeling of awe, as this is the most wonderful building I have ever come across which is dedicated to seamen.

I had come here on my own mission and outside the cathedral with the tour buses in a line; I approached one of the tour guides. A young lady who spoke perfect English and most helpful, with my map in hand, she confirmed there was only one cemetery on the island. Just outside the town but as she was not from here, she stopped a local woman and enquired how to get there.  We were told the number of the bus, and where to find the stop.  At the bus stop, the sign informed the next bus was not for another hour, so with my picture of a cemetery approached a nearby taxi, who with a negotiated fare of 100 rubles, agreed to take us there.  A ten minute ride and we stood outside the cemetery gates.

Burial Site

Cemetery

I also had photographs of when my Grandfather was buried in 1932, and I knew I was in the right place in this wooded graveyard.  Though it is no longer in use and not very well looked after, there were flowers which have recently been laid at various grave sites.  Most of the grave stones and crosses are in dis-repair and broken, there are some which were still readable as to who lies there.  I wandered around looking at all of those which I could decipher, though I could not find my Grandfather’s, there were many from the 1930’s, 1940’s and to other nationalities.

Memorial

All of this further convinced me, I was in the right location, I laid flowers in the small receptacle at the main memorial to those who were lost in the last war.  I said a few words from my family to my Grandfather, and came away a little tearful but with a sense of achievement.

Kronstadt Harbour

The local bus took us back into the town and we got off at the harbour and on this sunny, warm day strolled around in the nearby park, taking in the waterfront scene.

Heading towards the Cathedral we were looking for the K-405 shuttle bus stop to take us back to St. Petersburg but could not find it.  My information also informed a 101 bus would also take us to the city, at the bus terminus boarded the public bus, finding a seat in the middle across from the conductress’s seat.

As this was a bigger public bus there were many stops, with more people getting on than off, the bus quickly filled up and half way along the journey, we picked up the Russian drunk, complete with his opened bottle of booze.  This kept me entertained for the rest of the journey, as the conductress’s seat being the only one vacant; the drunk would plonk himself there and carry on having swig from his bottle. When the conductress came back after collecting more tickets, she would loudly chastise him, while he meekly apologised and gave up the seat, until she went off to collect more tickets and he would sit down again. 

After an hour, the bus dropped us at the Staraya Dererevoya (Old Village) metro station, the Purple line and travelled five stations to Sadovaya and walked along to the connecting station Sennaya Ploschad on the Blue line to take us one stop to Nevsky Prospekt and we came out at 19.00, to be on the main street in the city.

Gostiny Dvor Metro station

We headed for somewhere to eat and found a pizza restaurant but once inside, they sold all sorts of other meals and drinks.  In very cosy surroundings, we helped ourselves to a very nice meal.  Suitably replenished it was time to head back to the port, and re-entered the nearby metro at Gostiny Dvor, on the Green line for the two stop ride to our first station at Primoskaya.  From here the 158 bus took us back into the docks and on board Queen Victoria for 22.00.

Over a well-earned drink, we looked back on what we done in the twelve hours ashore.  We had travelled on eight metro trains on four different lines, been on five buses, and travelled in a taxi, enjoyed a restaurant meal, ice cream and drinks.  Achieved my goal of finding my Grandfather’s burial site and the cost had come to two thousand rubles (£35 or 60 US dollars).

What a day and one I will never forget!