Catherine Palace
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Day two saw us off to Catherine Palace first. Today was a Monday and the traffic was very different to yesterday.
Very busy roads and it took over an hour to travel the 27kms to the Palace. Well worth the drive though! Catherine Palace
is the biggest of all the other palaces due to its size and unique decor. The facade is 1000ft long and is painted a bright blue colour.
Its history is well documented and has close associations with the Romanov Tsars of past times. It is a huge complex
that has a Great Hall, Picture Galleries, private sitting and other rooms on show as well as the famous Amber Room.
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The palace was almost destroyed in the Second World War and has taken time to rebuild and create the incredible building that it was.
There are also 1500 acres of parks and gardens filled with beautiful statues and pleasant places just to sit and admire
this wonderful, historical place.
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Lunch again and we chose a crepe place today and we were not disappointed. As we left headed for Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, we noticed two
rostral columns of red granite. Apparently they were intended to serve as beacons and may be lit on ceremonial occasions even today.
The columns are decorated with marble allegorical figures representing four major rivers of Russia — the Volga, Dnieper, Neva, and Volkhov.
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Peter and Paul Cathedral was another highlight for us as the interior was amazing - all seemed to be green and gold. It was the city's tallest building in the days of
Peter the Great. There are 18th century paintings and icons here and the tombs of many Tsars and Tsarinas as well as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.
The interior was so tall and incredibly beautiful that we just had to take lots of photos to remind us of this experience.
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Our last sightseeing stop in St Petersburg was the magnificent Church of the Spilled Blood. It was built in 1907 and the interior has over 7,000 square mts of mosaics designed by
30 artists including some famous Russian painters. The outside of the Church is 17th century Russian style and was based on, or inspired by St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow.
It didn't escape being damaged in the 1917 October Revolution but has now been restored and is open for visitors.
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