Russia. Exploring Moscow and St. Petersburg
Like others born in the 1960s, the Cold War left me curious about Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. In 2018, I had an opportunity to visit Russia’s capital city of Moscow and its imperial capital of St. Petersburg. Why two capitals? Although Moscow served as the country’s economic and political center for much of its history, Peter the Great moved the Russian capital to St. Petersburg in 1712. Following the 1918 Russian Revolution, communist leaders restored Moscow as the country’s political and administrative capital.
My visit began at Sheremetyevo, Moscow’s main international airport. Located in western Russia, Moscow (population 13 million) is the country’s political, cultural, scientific, and educational capital. It also serves as the focal point for the Russian Orthodox Church. Occupying an area of 2,511 km2, the city was named after the Moskva River. We began exploring the city immediately after checking in at our hotel. The heart of Moscow is Red Square and a fortified complex of five palaces and four cathedrals known as the Kremlin. Surrounding the Kremlin is the 2,235 meter long Kremlin Wall that is five to 19 meters high and varies in thickness from 3.5 to 6.5 meters. Some sections are wide enough to accommodate windowless interior rooms once used to hold criminals. Along its top are 1,045 notches and built into the wall are 20 towers including gate towers with spires crowned with ruby stars. Located on the south side of the wall is Vodovzodnaya Tower. Constructed in 1488, the tower was blown up by the retreating French Army in 1812 and rebuilt between 1817 and 1819. Inside the perimeter of the wall but not accessible to ordinary visitors is Grand Kremlin Palace that served as the official residence of the Russian Tsar. Constructed between 1837 and 1849, the palace covers an area of more than 25,000 square meters. Today, it serves as the residence for Russia’s president. Inside the Kremlin Wall and southwest of Red Square is the Cathedral of Annunciation. Featuring glistening gold-topped turrets, the cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the annunciation of Theotokos and is the site of royal baptisms and marriages.
Along the northeast edge of the Kremlin Wall is the 70 meter by 330 meter Red Square. Inside Red Square and midway between two towers of the Kremlin Wall is a pyramid-shaped building that holds Vladimir Lenin’s remains. I had hoped to enter the mausoleum, but the line was too long. On the opposite side of the square is the 242-meter-long GUM (aka Glavnyy Universalnyy Magazin) department store complex that served as an official “state store” during the Soviet years. Today it functions as a shopping mall with products ranging from clothing to caviar. The building’s upper trading rows were added between 1890 and 1893. My travel companion and I stopped for lunch at a restaurant located on an upper floor. After lunch we toured the iconic St. Basil’s Cathedral (aka the Cathedral of the Blessed), an orthodox church and cultural symbol of Russia. Commissioned in 1555 by Ivan the Terrible, the cathedral is located on a southeastern section of Red Square. Now owned by the Russian Federation, the cathedral’s colorfully painted domes each correspond to one of its nine churches. The cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990 and in 1997, the government began permitting orthodox church services to resume.
Among fascinating places in Moscow are its subway stations that are adorned with floral designs, white marble columns, and massive chandeliers that blend Baroque and Russian architectural styles of the 17th century. Other stations have murals depicting peasants, partisans, or WWII soldiers or feature illustrations that highlight the Soviet Union’s industrial or agricultural prosperity. To escape the German bombardment, Joseph Stalin took refuge in Moscow’s Mayakovskaya Station during WWII. Following World War II, Joseph Stalin is reported to have lamented, “We won the war… foreigners will come to Moscow, walk around, and there are no skyscrapers. If they compare Moscow to capitalist cities, it’s a moral blow to us.” Today, Moscow has the majority of Europe’s tallest buildings, including the administrative building at Moscow State University (MSU). The building was among a group of skyscrapers called the “Seven Sisters” that were built in the Stalinist-style between 1947 and 1953. Completed in 1953 with 36 floors, the MSU administration building was Europe’s tallest building (240m) until 1990. Our tour also took us past Arbat Street, among the oldest streets in Moscow. Today the pedestrians only street is lined with shops and restaurants. I stopped there to photograph a mural depicting Marshall G.K. Zhukov, who organized the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad during WWII.
We continued on to St. Petersburg on a high-speed Sapsan train. Named after the Apostle Saint Peter, St. Petersburg (aka Petrograd and Leningrad) is Russia’s second largest city (population 5.6 million). It is located on the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. The city was besieged by German forces for 872 days (September 1941 to October 1944) during WWII. With more than a million civilian deaths, it was the longest and most damaging siege in modern history. Located in the heart of St. Petersburg, the Hermitage Museum houses the world’s second largest collection of art including Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculptures by Italian, Dutch, Flemish, and French artists. The museum’s collection includes works by Rembrandt, Monet, Michelangelo, and da Vinci. Founded by Catherine the Great in 1764, the museum has been open to the public since 1852. In addition to its museums, the Hermitage complex includes the Winter Palace which served as the residence of Russian tsars from 1760 to 1917. Located on the Neva River, the massive green and white palace was designed in the Baroque style with 1,786 doors and 1,945 windows. In 1837 a fire destroyed much of the building and on October 25, 1917, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks stormed the palace during Russia’s October Revolution.
From the south bank of the Neva River, we could see the tall, gilded belltower of Peter and Paul Fortress. Located on Hare Island, the fortress was founded by Peter the Great as the original citadel of St. Petersburg. Constructed as a star-shaped fort, the main structure was built between 1706 and 1740. During the 18th century the fortress served as a prison for anti-Tsarist political criminals and after the Russian Revolution, it was used to imprison Tsarist officials. The fortress’s church holds the tombs of all of Russia’s Imperial rulers including Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Tsar Nicholas II (Russia’s last monarch) and other family members murdered during the Revolution were moved there in 1998. Since Peter the Great’s rule, a cannon shot is fired from the fortress at noon each day. Our final stop was Peterof, a series of palaces and gardens commissioned by Peter the Great to compete with the Palace of Versailles, built near Paris by French King Louis XIV. Peterof is located west of the city in the Petrodvortsovy District. Constructed between 1714 and 1728, the palace complex was captured and severely damaged by German forces in 1941. Outside is Samson Fountain with its 64 water features that flow into a semicircular pool and to Sea Channel before entering the Gulf of Finland. In lieu of pumps, water originates from natural springs and is stored in reservoirs within the upper garden.
