St. Petersburg sightseeing

Continuation from  Venice of the North.

I did tell you in my St. Basil’s Cathedral post that we found the famous cathedral’s twin in St. Petersburg right? 

It is Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, or sometimes called Church of the Resurrection. It looks similar kan? Which one do you think is more beautiful?

This Cathedral is a gem of architecture. Just look at it; the glazed bricks, colored tiles, marble, mosaics, everything… and most importantly, the colorful dome. This is truly a precious piece of work. 

From the church, we walked around Nevskiy Prospekt. 

 St. Petersburg's trishaw

Some random pictures of people's behind. haha... They wore white to commemorate the white nights.  


What I like most about St. Petersburg is its historic buildings. Many of the buildings look old, but they are still beautiful.  

And I noticed that many buildings were built with Atlantes that look much like the Greek ones. 

 

Just like Moscow, there are a lot of churches in St. Petersburg.

After a bit of meandering around some canals and bridges, the walk then brought us to a mechet.

What is a mechet you may ask? Well, mechet is the Russian word for mosque. Yes. There’s a mosque in St. Petersburg. Muslim is quite big here. Alhamdulillah…

It’s not difficult to find this mosque, its minarets can be seen from far. 

There’s a halal meat shop at the nearby shoplot. 

Got halal certification like JAKIM somemore... 

We went in just to have a look. Didn’t buy anything in there. Whenever I stay in a hostel, my meal is everything instant. Maggi mee I love you.. haha.

Then, we crossed a wooden bridge to a small island. 

Zayachy Island is the last upstream island of the delta of the Neva. Thus, during war, no enemy ship could enter the waterway without passing it. This led to the foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress, as a defense of the island. 

 the fortress as seen from the Winter Palace

No entrance fee is needed to visit this fortress. However, the fortress is still well maintained as it has been a museum-preserve since 1993. 

the gate of the fortress – Peter’s Gate.

Inside the fortress, there’s a cathedral, prison, commandant and guard houses.

the fortress layout

The Peter & Paul Cathedral used to be a wooden church, but it has been rebuilt, complete with a belfry and a golden spire. 

The spire became a symbol of Russia’s security on the Neva river while the belfry is now the highest structure in the city. 

This Naryshkin Bastion is the central bastion. It faces the Neva river, with a flag tower on it. 

Outside the bastion, there are two cannons. 

I read in a book that they still carry the tradition, the cannon-shot is still fired at noon. 

We walked past the Neva Gate to a small jetty outside the fortress. 

  

Through this gate you can get on to the Commandant’s quay and enjoy the view of the Neva river.

We left Zayachy Island and headed back to Nevskiy Prospekt. 

It was almost 10.45pm but it was still bright!