St.Petersburg at Christmas

---

29th December

St. Petersburg

The last of yesterday’s tours- I’m surprised I’m not jet lagged all this zipping about.



4 years ago we visited St.Petersburg (our 2nd visit) but have not visited in December so it was nice to see the Hermitage and surrounding buildings looking all festive.

The view of the small canal behind the hermitage brought back memories of the trip we took through the canals of St.Petersburg back in 2016.



Tsar Peter the Great founded St Petersburg in 1703 on the marshes at the mouth of the Neva River where the Rus Vikings, the founders of ‘Russia’, had passed through centuries earlier. Peter’s city of timber, mud and stone was transformed by the Tsarina Catherine into a Baroque fantasy. This glorious 18th century city is characterised by elegant and extravagant architecture: St Peter and Paul fortress and Cathedral, where Peter the Great is buried along with many of his descendants; the fabulous Winter Palace which now forms part of the Hermitage, one of the largest collections of art, furniture, and historical and archaeological artefacts in the world.



Just a few interesting facts we learnt from our guide.



Christmas in Russia is most widely celebrated on January 7. This is because the Russian Orthodox Church adheres to the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Preceding the Russian Orthodox Christmas, New Year's Day is on January 1 and is often considered the more important holiday.



St Petersburg is the seventh largest city in Europe after London, Paris, Moscow, Madrid and Manchester. It’s also the most northern city in the world, with a population of over one million.



In the White Dining Room of the Hermitage Palace the clock is stopped at 2:10am. This is when the Provisional Government of Russia came to an end, after being arrested by the Communists on 25th October 1917.



The Hermitage Museum holds around three million works of art. It will take you more than one day trip to see them all.

---