Monuments to visit Russia

One, two, three. The heavy, richly decorated curtain rises at full speed. Tonight again, as they have for nearly 160 years, the musicians, singers and dancers of the Mariinsky will perform the show of life. This theater and ballet troupe has become the most famous in the world. Founded in 1860, opposite the great Kamenny Theatre and named after Empress Mary, wife of Alexander II, the Mariinsky Theatre was the first to present works by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev... It has welcomed the greatest performers, including Rostropovitch and Richter, and the most famous Russian dancers, such as Istomina, celebrated by Pushkin, Pavlova, Nijinsky and many others.

From 1870, the Mariinsky's ballet troupe was directed by the French choreographer Marius Petitpa, to whom the Russian ballet school owes its formidable development, and whose work with the composer Tchaikovsky marked the history of ballet. In 1895, Swan Lake premiered to Tchaikovsky's music, with the same choreography that you will see tonight. It was followed by European tours, Diaguilev's famous Russian ballets, starring Nijinsky and the Pavlova. All this was before the difficult years of the USSR, when the Mariinsky became the Kirov and lost its prestige to the Bolshoi, the capital's theatre promoted by Soviet power. The flight to the West of the star Nureyev in 1961 during a tour in France also caused a resounding scandal.

Since the fall of the USSR, the illustrious conductor Valery Guergiev has restored an aura to the theatre and his company, but more so to operas. So make no mistake, if everyone is rushing to the sumptuous performances of 19th century ballets, don't hesitate to see the operas, especially Russian ones. The stagings are sublime, even if some will regret the academicism and classicism that Mariinsky is gradually trying to get rid of. Today, the theatre company is placed under the high patronage of the President of Russia. Grigorovitch worked there before leaving for the Bolshoi Theatre. The construction of a second stage of very contemporary design inaugurated in May 2013, but not to the taste of all the St. Petersburgers in the historic centre, marks a new stage in the long history of this world monument of music and dance.

From within. Russians love to dress up for shows, so take the opportunity to dress up too. Another great Mariinsky specialty is ice cream or champanskoe (local sparkling wine) with small sandwiches, which can be enjoyed during intermissions.

Mariinsky II Theatre (Ulitsa Dékabristov, 34). In May 2013, the Mariinsky Theatre was expanded with a new stage, Mariinsky II, inaugurated with great pomp by Vladimir Putin. This annex with its very contemporary architecture is connected to the existing theatre by a footbridge and can accommodate up to 2,000 people on 7 levels. This extension has caused controversy throughout Russia, but no one will question its exceptional acoustics.

The theatre is compared to a shopping centre by its detractors. It's up to you to make up your mind! No one, however, will question its exceptional acoustics

Located on Mamai Hill, about 3 km north of the city centre, it is a collection of memorials to the Battle of Stalingrad. The most impressive is Rodina Mat zovyot: the famous gigantic concrete statue of the call of "Mother Russia", 85 m high and brandishing a sword. The place is impressive for its calm and proportions, it invites introspection and reflection on the Soviet memory of the war.

This temple was the largest in the city until the inauguration of the "golden hut of the Buddha Sakyamuni". It is located 7 km from the centre, but can be reached by minibus. A little deserted since the construction of the new temple, it is nevertheless very pleasant by its situation in the steppe. It is not uncommon to find it alone, which some Kalmouks enjoy to focus on their prayers and thoughts.

The first mayor of St. Petersburg had his residence in this beautiful house in the baroque petrovian style, whose facade on the University quay overlooks the Great Neva. It was built according to plans by the Italian architect Francesco Fontana, then the German architect Gotfried Schädel, also assisted by illustrious colleagues such as Domenico Trezzini, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Jean-Baptiste Leblond and Georg Johann Mattarnovi. Its construction took place between 1710 and 1725. It was the very first stone building and one of the very first palaces in the city.

Peter the Great's Necker. Alexander Menchikov (1673-1729), of more than modest origin (he was a pirojki seller in his youth!), was appointed governor of the city by Peter the Great. He directed the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress and Kronstadt, and practically ruled Russia during the reign of Catherine I. The Menchikov Palace was erected from 1710 to 1727 on a large estate donated by the founding czar to him, who was also one of his closest advisers. This sumptuous setting will be the setting for the very first receptions and celebrations of the new capital, and will contribute to forging its reputation for luxury and hedonism. With too much ostentation perhaps. So Menchikov did not have much time to enjoy the splendours of his palace, which overshadowed the Summer Palace, the first and too modest imperial residence: nourishing an ambition that would prove to be excessive, his intrigues after the death of his protector would indeed bring him a severe disgrace. From 1730, he had to exchange his luxurious salons for a Siberian exile that was to have nothing golden about it. At the same time, the socialites deserted the noble residence, giving way to the Spartan austerity of the guards, who now owned the premises.

The interior of the museum in Menchikov's apartments, on the first floor, the walls and ceilings are lined with remarkable Dutch earthenware tiles, which were very fashionable at the time. You will also notice the marquetry floors, the personal objects of Menchikov and Peter the Great (navigation tools, costumes, clocks, etc.), and the very refined oriental-style decorations adorning the apartments of Menchikov's wife (Chinese hangings, porcelain, etc.). The furniture and various objects of daily life are exceptional testimonies of the Russian culture of the early 18th century.

This palace, which had many owners before it became the property of the great Yusupov family, brings together all the architectural styles that blew over the city. In their time, its salons brought together members of the imperial family, European crowned heads, poets, philosophers and musicians. This oversized residence, marked by history, is a string of princess' rooms, music and reading rooms, ballrooms and reception rooms, and ceremonial lounges. The Moorish baths and the small private theatre are real jewels. But the interest of this palace is to make you enter the universe of one of the greatest Russian families by giving access to rooms less luxurious, but in which you still feel the presence of their former owners: the prince's bachelor flat, the library, the family dining room... Russian visitors flock to the room where Rasputin was murdered. Don't miss the palace theatre, a real gem! In 2015, a new multifunctional building was opened on the palace site: the Stables Wing, which hosts temporary exhibitions and events of all kinds, and the Palace Park, restored in 2016, as well as the adjoining Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Finally, on the left side of the main palace building, the newlyweds' wing reopened in 2019 after restoration work.

The entire Russian campaign and the following years of the reconquest of Europe created in Tsar Alexander I a strong religious feeling with messianic overtones that led him to carry out a pharaonic project of a cathedral dedicated to the Holy Saviour to thank heaven for helping him defeat Napoleon. The work was initially planned on Sparrow Hill since 1817 on the site of the French field camp, but it was interrupted when Alexander died. The architect then experienced the reversal of fate of a court life and was condemned to exile in Siberia... compromising the entire project. It was not until 1839 that the new Tsar, Nicholas I, approved a new cathedral plan, this time in its present location on the banks of the Moskva River. Gargantuan, the construction took more than 20 years, the cathedral could be consecrated only in 1860 and became the preferred place of Orthodox worship of the power. Ironically, it served for only 70 years and was blown up under Stalin's orders in 1931 to erect a monument to the glory of communism... a project which, after his death, was converted into a huge Olympic swimming pool. In the mid-1990s, the Moscow City Council decided to rebuild the building. Today, the huge cathedral and seat of the patriarchate represents the renewed Russian faith, but it is not popular among Muscovites, who find it expensive and ugly.

The Summer "palace" appears very modest in size and volume in comparison with the gigantic silhouette of the Winter palace located just a few meters away. The building, designed by the Swiss-Italian architect Domenico Trezzini, is well worth a visit, especially for its pleasant garden bordered by the Neva River and three canals. With the Fontanka, the left branch of the Neva River, running along its main façade, this palace was built on the instructions of Peter the Great in 1710 and can be considered a remnant of what St Petersburg was before it became the capital. He was facing the Maisonnette de Pierre, where Pierre lived the rest of the year to monitor the progress of the work on the Pierre and Paul Fortress.

At the end of the 18th century, the garden became very fashionable. A certain Svinine wrote at the beginning of the 19th century: "Before ten o'clock, there are only sick people walking around there to follow the advice of their doctors. Between ten and twelve o'clock, the velvety lawns of the garden are filled with groups of children supervised by pretty nannies or governesses. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the scene changes: it's time for the St. Petersburg Beauty Walk. "Every year, a kind of "beauty contest" is organized in the Summer Garden for the daughters of rich merchants: young girls, accompanied by their mothers, stand along the alleys, while the young merchants, while walking, choose a bride. These festivities no longer take place today, but the garden remains a favourite walking spot for the St. Petersburgers, in this city surrounded by water and stingy with green spaces.

If you take the central alley you will soon see Italian statues. A veritable open-air museum of sculpture, the Summer Garden now boasts some 92 statues. The alleys are surprisingly quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the centre. The appearance of these statues gives the Summer Garden the surrealist side of a miniature of Versailles. Be careful, however, in the middle of winter, the statues are protected from frost in small wooden cabins or kept warm. The garden then loses much of its interest.

The palace, at the far end of the garden, attests to the simple tastes of the Tsar and his attraction to the Dutch style. In particular, some of the personal effects of Peter I and Catherine I are on display

Severely damaged during the Second World War, but superbly renovated, the Great Catherine Palace is the baroque jewel of the architect Rastrelli. It offers visitors the suite of stately rooms and private apartments, which have been perfectly restored. A Baroque staircase leads to the exhibition rooms on the first floor, dedicated to the history of the palace. Overlooking the main courtyard and the gardens, the Great Ballroom dazzles with a variety of rococo ornamental details, gilded wood carvings, inlaid parquet flooring and the Triumph of Russia on the ceiling. The reception lounges offer an abundance of Baroque mirrors, overmantels and gilded woodwork. The dining rooms are decorated with paintings with mythological themes.

The ceiling of the Portrait Room features a painting of Olympus by Tiepolo. Among the many portraits, you will notice those of the Empress Catherine I and Elizabeth; the former is the origin of the palace, the latter brought her magnificence to it.

Decorated by Rastrelli, the Painting Room brings together works from the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly from the Dutch, Flemish and Italian schools. The blue salon, with its Pompeian ceiling, crystal torches, carved armchairs, and walls decorated with portraits of Peter the Great and Catherine I, was the favourite room of the Great Catherine. Next came the private apartments of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, where blue and pastel green tones dominated.

The Blue Chinese salon, stretched with Chinese silk, has a marquetry parquet flooring that combines rare woods such as ebony, rosewood, sandalwood... The palace chapel, finally, is one of the most beautiful baroque flights of Rastrelli. Covering the walls of the narthex, the gilded tapestry with bird motifs was made in the 18th century by Russian serfs weavers.

Designed for Catherine II, the Ionic Gallery, located to the south-east, on the garden side, connects the empress's apartments, designed by the same architect in the antique style and decorated with jasper and agate.

The famous Amber Room is a 100 m² room, decorated with amber panels of all shades. A marvel, even if it is in fact only a reconstitution of the work offered in 1716 by Frederick I of Prussia to Peter the Great. The original panels were stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War and could never be recovered.

The Savior's Tower (Spasskaya), the highest tower in the compound and directly overlooking Red Square, is the main tower of the Kremlin. It enjoys a sacred aura and the rule imposed to uncover the head to be able to cross this entrance of apparat used by the tsars and the dignitaries. During the 70 years of communism, the tower's carillon played the Internationale and the Funeral March twice a day. Today, the tower is famous for its clock: the gag is to ask the time on the Red Square when you just have to raise your head.

A local substitute for the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the Hermitage Bridge, built in 1766 on the Winter Canal, is one of the most romantic: this elegant arch leading to the Hermitage Theatre is linked to the heroine of Pushkin's Lady of Spades. This is where Lisa, spurned by her lover, threw herself into the water. The bridge is one of the sets in Tchaikovsky's opera inspired by Pushkin's work. A succession of quays border the Neva, along the entire length of its St. Petersburg course.

These two sphinxes of Thebes, 3,500 years old, no longer contemplate the Nile but the Neva. Studied by Champollion and acquired by the Tsar in 1830, they now watch over the Academy of Fine Arts. For the anecdote, they had to decorate the banks of the Seine because Charles X had acquired them a few weeks before being deposed during the revolution of July 1830. So it was Nicolas I who pulled the chestnuts out of the fire and took advantage of the political unrest to buy the two chimeras from France.

The Tsar of Bells, located next to the tower of Ivan the Great, is a bronze master bell and also happens to be the largest bell in the world. It was cast for two years between 1733 and 1735 and weighs 202 tons, is 6.14 m high and has a diameter of 6.60 m! It was then installed in honour of Tsarina Anne Ioannovna, who could not help but appreciate such a unique honour. During the fire of 1737, a piece weighing 11.5 t broke off and fell at the foot of the gigantic bell, which remains in a similar state today.

Opened in 1808, the Palace of Armor includes not only a military collection, but also all the treasures accumulated by tsars from the 12th century until the revolution of 1917. Among them are the famous Vladmir Monomaque's hat worn by the Tsars, the wedding dress of Empress Catherine II and rare (and fabulous) examples of Fabergé Eggs. The rest of the collection includes gifts from foreign ambassadors, icons, jewelry and even furniture.

Place des Décembristes, facing the Neva River, the Bronze Knight, the oversized homage of Catherine II to Peter the Great, is historically the first monument erected in Saint Petersburg. The orthodoxy forbidding the sculptures, Great Catherine, on Diderot's recommendation, called upon the Frenchman Falconet. With one hand, the tsar holds the reins of his rearing horse and, with the other, points to the Pierre-et-Paul fortress, the very first building in the city. The hero of Pushkin's last poem, Eugene, is an obscure employee whose fiancée has just been swept away by a flood of the Neva. Desperate, il passe in front of the statue and attacks the tsar, whom he holds responsible for his misfortunes. Le souverain outraged then descends from its granite pedestal and throws his mount into the streets of the city. Eugene, panic-stricken and chased by the Bronze Horseman, sinks into madness.

The founding czar of the city crushes with his hooves any attempt at rebellion, even that of a desperate young man. Pushkin was the first to scratch the cult devoted to Peter the Great and his reforms, certainly modernist but which propelled Russia into a world that was not his own. The image of the flood is reminiscent of the ambiguity of the myth of St. Petersburg. Splendid by its architecture, the city is always at the mercy of a flood of the Neva. Its very origin seems almost unreal, since it was built on a huge swamp deemed uninhabitable and at the cost of thousands of deaths.

The (wooden) Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin was built in 1221, and the first building constructed in stone was the imposing Dmitrov Tower, when the Kremlin was renovated in 1374. With the fall of Kazan in 1552, Nizhny Novgorod lost its military importance. Under Catherine II, and in 1785-1790 the kremlin was renovated to give it a more civilian appearance. During the Second World War, the Kremlin was partly destroyed by aerial bombardments, and then rebuilt in the 1950s.

The small 28-metre long Bankovskiy suspension bridge has spanned the Griboedov Canal since 1826. It is modest in size but very elegant. And you can see it from afar with its 4 mythical golden griffins guarding the passage, which is only pedestrian... It owes its name to the neighbourhood of the former Bank of Assignats, which today houses the students of the Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics. It is particularly beautiful since its complete restoration in 2019.