July 26, 2009
There were many tourists around the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. The church was constructed on the site where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881:
The Monument to Catherine the Great was finished in 1873. Her reign was known as the “golden age” of Russia, and she was adored by the people.
We rode across the bridge to The Peter & Paul Fortress which was the original fortification of St. Petersburg built in 1703 by Peter the Great.
The fortress served as a prison in the 18th century but was converted to a museum in 1924. Part of the complex includes Peter and Paul Cathedral which was the burial place of most of the Russian tzars.
The remains of Czar Nicholas II and his family were re-interred in the cathedral in 1998, the 80th anniversary of their deaths. Nicholas was the last Russian Emperor. He and his family were executed in 1918.
We explored the fortress and took pictures of the sandy beach below the fortification walls.
One of two Rostral Columns on the end of Vasilyevsky Island which were constructed in 1810 to mark where the Neva River splits into two channels.
Beautiful architecture in St. Petersburg includes the 1877 Ciniselli Circus:
We had a great time in St. Petersburg. It’s a wonderful city to visit!