IMPERIAL RUSSIA: ST PETERSBURG

"This is a city of half-crazy people... there are few places where you'll find so many gloomy, harsh and strange influences on the soul of a man as in St Petersburg." – Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

A U.S. citizen is required to obtain a visa in order to enter Russia. However, visitors on a cruise ship may opt to be part of what is in essence a group visa: as long as you stay with your licensed guide on an organized tour, you can be in the country without an individual visa. Since I was signed up for several excursions that qualified for this group visa, I opted to skip the individual visa. If I had it to do over, I’d get the individual visa for this particular cruise. Why? Our ship, being much smaller than the usual cruise ship, was able to dock on the Neva River, right in the center of town and walking distance to many sites. It was rather frustrating not to be able to just walk off the ship and visit some of the places nearby that my tours did not go.

Catherine Palace

That being said, the places I did go were fascinating. First was Catherine Palace in the suburb of Pushkin. This was the summer palace of the tsars, built in 1717 by Peter the Great for his second wife, Catherine, who after his death became Empress Catherine I.  She was succeeded by her daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who had much of the original structure demolished and rebuilt to her taste. Elizabeth was succeeded by her son, Peter III, but only for six months before he was assassinated. It is largely believed that Peter III’s wife, Catherine, was responsible for his murder. In any event, she certainly benefited from it: she succeeded him on the throne, ruling for three decades as Empress Catherine II, later known as Catherine the Great.

Catherine the Great's coronation gown

Catherine II then had the palace renovated again to her own taste, but she was the last Russian ruler to use it as a summer palace. Nevertheless, the structure stood for many years until WWII, when it was severely damaged by retreating German forces.  Many of the palace’s treasures disappeared at that time, some never to be found again. One of the most famous rooms was the Amber Room, the walls of which were completely covered by intricate designs of amber. The amber is believed to have been removed by the Nazis, but only one or two of the pieces from it have ever been found.  Nevertheless, the room has been reproduced based on pictures and plans from the past, and is a magnificent sight. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed, and so I cannot share pictures here.

The afternoon included a visit to Yusopov Palace, the home of a family that was even wealthier than the tsar. It also is supposedly the place where the “mad monk” (who was neither mad nor a monk) Rasputin was assassinated. During the reign of the last tsar, Nicholas II, Rasputin had attained considerable influence over the tsarina, Alexandra, because of the relief that he managed to bring to her son Alexi. Alexi suffered from hemophilia, and his mother credited Rasputin with calming Alexi and easing his pain. It is widely thought that he did this through hypnosis. Nevertheless, the aristocracy resented and feared Rasputin’s influence, and were concerned that it fed into widespread dislike of Alexandra, who was mistrusted because of her German background during the time of WWI.

Interestingly, Rasputin wrote in letter to Alexandra dated December 7, 1916:   “If I am killed by common assassins, and especially by my brothers the Russian peasants, you, Tsar of Russia, have nothing to fear, remain on your throne and govern, and you, Russian Tsar, will have nothing to fear for your children, they will reign for hundreds of years in Russia. But if I am murdered by boyars, nobles, and if they shed my blood, their hands will remain soiled with my blood… : if it was your relations who have wrought my death then no one of your family, that is to say, none of your children or relations will remain alive for more than two years."

Rasputin was killed, purportedly by a group of Russian nobles, including Yusopov, on December 30, 1916.  The tsar’s and his family were killed by the Bolsheviks on July 16, 1918—less than two years after Rasputin’s death. However, it is now widely believed that Rasputin was actually killed by a British spy, and not Yusopov and his friends.

Also interestingly, our guide told us the story of Yusopov and friends as assassins while we were in the palace. When we returned to the bus, she explained that that is the official story she is required to tell, but then told the alternative story of the British assassin (which I had heard of from a documentary).

One of the "running boys"

Next was a canal cruise around the city. It was a great way to see the sights. It also provided a phenomenon of great interest. The canal boats sail under a series of bridges. At the first bridge, a couple of teenaged boys stood on the bridge and waved at us. How nice. We all waved back. When we got to the next bridge, there were the boys again. We then realized that they were running alongside our boat, getting just enough ahead of us to go up onto the next bridge to wave at us. They continued to do this throughout the trip, which probably covered at least two miles. Our guide explained something we’d already surmised—they’d be greeting us at the end, in hopes of getting some money for their efforts. And, yes, we all gave them a bit of money. How could we not admire their hard run and their creativity?

The throne in the Winter Palace
from which Tsar Nicholas II
announced Russia's entry into WWI

The next day was a visit to the Hermitage, which is part of the magnificent Winter Palace in the heart of the city. The building itself is beautifully finished inside, making the structure itself a work of art. But inside is a collection of 3 million pieces of art, assembled primarily by Catherine the Great, that includes some of the world’s greatest works. It is said that if one spent eight hours a day viewing each work of art for one minute, it would take 17 years to see them all. We were fortunate to be allowed in before the museum opened to the public, so that we had seen a number of the highlights before the massive crowds entered. It was a terrific day, and a great goodbye to a beautiful city.

Rubens' Rape of the Sabine Women,
hanging in The Hermitage