St Petersburg - Friday & Saturday 13 & 14 Nov

Last weekend I spent three days in St Petersburg. I travelled by train from Helsinki across the border into Russia arriving in St Petersburg late on Friday night - a seven and a half hour long trip. The weather was cold (around -1 degrees max) but the weather was fine for the weekend. It had snowed on the Friday so the parks were all covered in fresh snow and some of the paths were icy. These photos are from Friday and sightseeing on Saturday with Stella and Yvette from Holland.

Helsinki railway station

The St Petersburg train, the "Sibelius", at Helsinki station..

The scene from the train as we approached the Russian border.

Now in St Petersburg. A park on Nevsky Prospekt - one of the main roads in the city. A statue a statue of Catherine the Great in the background

Armenian church built in 1780. Most of the buildings are painted in pastel colours.
Kazan Cathedral built in 1801-11 - complete with a Corinthian colonnade.

The Church on the Spilled Blood (Khram Spasa-na-Krovi) - built on the spot where Alexander II was murdered in 1881.

Mosaic panels on the exterior of the Church

More detail of the exterior of the Church on the Spilled Blood

Mikhailovsky Castle - the place where Pavel I (son of Catherine the Great) was assassinated.

A memorial flame in Marsovo Pole (Field of Mars) to commemorate the 1917 revolution

Peter and Paul Fortress on the north side on the Neva river

St Peter's Gate built in 1718 - the main entrance to Peter and Paul Fortress

Peter and Paul Cathedral

The crypt of Czar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra and three of their daughters. The remains of the the other two children have never been found.

The tomb of the Romanov family

The interior of Peter and Paul Cathedral

Some singers giving a small concert in the cathedral

Some members of a military band

An old sailing ship on the Neva river - we thought it was a restaurant but it has been set up as a gym.

With Stella in a park on Peter and Paul Fortress

We saw a few weddings with brides dressed like this

Palace Square with the Alexander Column. The column was erected to commemerate the Russian victory over Napolean.

The Hermitage on Palace Square

Lunch with Yvette and Stella - soup, pancakes and salad.

Interior of St Isaac's Cathedral. Very opulent - the green columns are made of malachite.

Statue of Nicholas I in St Isaac's Square. This statue is famous because the horse is standing on two hind hooves with no other points of balance - reputedly the only statue of its kind in Europe.
St Isaac's Cathedral, St Isaac's Square and the Nicholas I statue. The dome of the cathedral is covered in gold.
One of the canals near the Mariinsky Theatre
St Nicholas Cathedral - late afternoon
Statue of Lenin