Although St Petersburg is not actually located on the Trans-Siberian, it is connected to the line. A visit to this magnificent city - the rival of Moscow - is an experience that should not be missed. This is the capital Peter the Great built in 1712 on the estuary of the River Neva. He wanted to give Russia a window on Europe and a European port. The city was built in 18th-century classical style, employing Italian architects and using Swedish prisoners of war for much of the labor.
St Petersburg was a cultural and revolutionary center. The composers Tschaikovsky, Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich made their home here as did the writers Gorky, Pushkin, Turgenev and Dostoyevsky. The haunt of intellectuals, it is no surprise that St Petersburg was also a center of political dissent. On December 14, 1825, revolutionaries from the nobility led their troops into Senate Square, refusing to swear allegiance to Nicholas I on his accession. They were brutally put down and the survivors were exiled to Siberia. The second uprising was instigated by the tsar's troops on January 22, 1905 when they fired on a crowd marching to the Winter Palace (Bloody Sunday). Led by an Orthodox priest, the people attempted to petition Nicholas II for his help in resolving the country's difficulties. However, he absented himself from the palace and left orders to deal with the malcontents. The ensuing massacre precipitated the unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the tsarist system. However, this proved to be a dress rehearsal for the October 1917 Revolution which began in the city with a shot from the cruiser Aurora.
In 1914 Tsar Nicholas II changed the name of the city to the more Russian-sounding Petrograd after criticisms of his German wife. Only 10 years later it was changed to Leningrad in tribute to the central figure of the revolution. In 1945 Leningrad earned the title 'Hero City' from its earlier gallant stand against a German siege. For 900 days - from September 1941 to January 1943 - its people stood firm as more than 650,000 died, mostly from starvation.
Today five million people live in the former Leningrad. The city has largely been restored to its previous glory and an ambitious 30-year plan aims to enhance its monuments, embankments and more than 125 miles of streets. The city center is to become a protected area with growth restricted to the outer districts and industry will be dispersed to reduce pollution.
Pushkin had his last meal here before his fatal duel.
PLACES OF INTEREST:
The Hermitage, Kirov Theater, the Summer Palace, the Winter Palace, Nevsky Prospekt, Peter-Paul Fortress, Petrodvorets (Peter the Great's Versailles by the sea), and the Metro stations Kievskaya, Komsomolskaya and Mayakovskaya.
MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES:
ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM OF THE USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: 3 Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya (218-1211). Open Sunday - Thursday 11am - 6pm, last entry 5pm.
Depicts the life of more than 100 of the Soviet Union's ethnic groups.
THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM: Winter Palace, 34 Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya (212-9525). Open Tuesday - Sunday 10:30am - 6pm, last entry at 5pm.
One of the largest museums in the world with more than 2,700,000 exhibits. It is too large to see in one visit.
MONASTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND ALEXANDER NEVSKY: 1 Ploschad Alexandra Nevskovo. Grounds are always open.
A place for religious study and worship, and a museum. Has two cemeteries where the likes of Tschaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Dostoyevsky are buried.
STATE MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ART: 4/2 Ulitsa Inzhenernaya (314-4153). Open Wednesday - Monday 10am - 6:15pm, last entry at 5pm.
