1st photo great shot of Alexander's Column.. really illustrates its massiveness...
Did you know that column is ONE single piece of red granite and NO cranes were used to place it in the Square!
Alexander's Column represents Russia'a victory over Napoleonic France... Ironically, it was designed by a Frenchman!
Luvin' all the shots of the Winter Palace, originally built for a daughter of Peter the Great.. just SO impressive!
Beautifully restored horsedrawn carriage, black with gold double eagles.
Good to see the White-Blue-Red striped Russian flag flying over the Palace. My Russian grandparents were both so glad to see the red hammer & sickle flag go. They both were born & raised in Czarist Russia, pre-Communism, and came to America (thank God!)to live (separately, then met in USA) after the Russian Revolution. They hated Communism and wanted to live in "the land of the free".
Nice shot of the details of Alexander's Double Arch, showing all the statuary on top.
I think your visit to St Petersburg alone made your trip worthwhile. How many people can say they's been inside the Hermitage museum?
Although your visit to Tallinn, Estonia's "old city" was mighty impressive too.. to walk where the Crusaders rode!
I'm wondering if you got to Yusupov Palace, where Rasputin was murdered? There are wax figures there depicting the murder. I'm hoping you got photos of those!
Thanks so much for your comment Gail...The Alexander Column is quite impressive and yes I did know it's carved from a single block of granite. They had a program on the history channel "Engineering an Empire" showing all the amazing buildings and monuments in St Petersburg and some about their construction... Visiting St Petersburg was probably the highlight of the trip but there were lots of neat things I saw elsewhere too.
1st photo great shot of Alexander's Column.. really illustrates its massiveness...
ReplyDeleteDid you know that column is ONE single piece of red granite and NO cranes were used to place it in the Square!
Alexander's Column represents Russia'a victory over Napoleonic France... Ironically, it was designed by a Frenchman!
Luvin' all the shots of the Winter Palace, originally built for a daughter of Peter the Great.. just SO impressive!
Beautifully restored horsedrawn carriage, black with gold double eagles.
Good to see the White-Blue-Red striped Russian flag flying over the Palace. My Russian grandparents were both so glad to see the red hammer & sickle flag go. They both were born & raised in Czarist Russia, pre-Communism, and came to America (thank God!)to live (separately, then met in USA) after the Russian Revolution. They hated Communism and wanted to live in "the land of the free".
Nice shot of the details of Alexander's Double Arch, showing all the statuary on top.
I think your visit to St Petersburg alone made your trip worthwhile. How many people can say they's been inside the Hermitage museum?
Although your visit to Tallinn, Estonia's "old city" was mighty impressive too.. to walk where the Crusaders rode!
I'm wondering if you got to Yusupov Palace, where Rasputin was murdered? There are wax figures there depicting the murder. I'm hoping you got photos of those!
Thanks so much for your comment Gail...The Alexander Column is quite impressive and yes I did know it's carved from a single block of granite. They had a program on the history channel "Engineering an Empire" showing all the amazing buildings and monuments in St Petersburg and some about their construction... Visiting St Petersburg was probably the highlight of the trip but there were lots of neat things I saw elsewhere too.
ReplyDeleteWow...amazing architecture.....I'm know I would stand in front of it totally awe struck!!!
ReplyDelete