# St.Petersburg Russia



## merlin

I thought I would post a few photos of St.Petersburg:





Skating last Christmas on one of the many frozen lakes




St Isaac's cathedral from across the river Neva




The eternal flame in The Field of Mars in memory of October revolution 1917


 

One of the many canals here.



One of the lavish metro stations built during the 1950's to impress the west


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## Ameriscot

Lovely photos!  I'd love to see that ship with all the sails up.


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## merlin

*The Church of Spilled Blood"*

A few more photo's of St.Peter this time its the "Church of the Spilled Blood" 


A view along the canal whose name I can't pronounce let alone spell 


A full frontal view, its like a piece of confectionary really


From a distance across the "The Field of Mars"


The interior which I found stunning, it can't be captured on camera really


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## Ameriscot

Gorgeous!  Those are the buildings I'd love to see!


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## merlin

*Church of Spilled Blood Interior*




Supposedly a very rare image of Jesus as a youth, mind you I came across an image of Jesus in a church while in India recently, in which he was smoking a cigar


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## Ameriscot

Amazing!!  I love visiting cathedrals and old churches even though I'm no longer a christian. The art and architecture and history is what I love.


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## Pappy

Amazing pictures, Merlin. Keep them coming when you can.


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## Jackie22

I enjoyed seeing your pictures, thanks for taking the time to post them.


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## merlin

*The Hermitage*

The Hermitage is one of the worlds largest and Russia's most famous museum, its housed in the Tsar's former "Winter Palace" on the banks of the river Neva.
Its a huge building and would take at least a week to go round it all, I have been several times and only seen part of it, additionally only 10% of its art treasures are on display at any one time.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/?lng=en



The Hermitage from across the river


one of the numerous rooms


The main entrance staircase


another room


one of the ballrooms


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## Cookie

Merlin, did you notice if the hermitage had washroom facilities? My sister visited the hermitage as well as other places there, said there were hundreds of people lined up to get in, the place was very ostentatious and extravagant but strangely there were no washrooms, which means tourists were SOL.


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## merlin

*A Few Churches*

Some of the local churches, a lot were destroyed during Soviet times, but many have been restored to their former glory, they are often used both as place of worship and a concert hall for classical music.








This one is on the corner of the street where I am staying with my partner Lisa


The only mosque in St.Petersburg


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## Bee

Merlin, I think your photos are just about the best I have seen posted, they are really beautiful, thankyou.


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## merlin

Cookie said:


> Merlin, did you notice if the hermitage had washroom facilities? My sister visited the hermitage as well as other places there, said there were hundreds of people lined up to get in, the place was very ostentatious and extravagant but strangely there were no washrooms, which means tourists were SOL.



There are plenty of toilets Cookie, a large one in the cloakroom area and others on the ground floor.


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## merlin

Bee said:


> Merlin, I think your photos are just about the best I have seen posted, they are really beautiful, thankyou.



Thanks Bee its good that I can put them to some use, as there are thousands sitting on my hard drive going nowhere!!


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## merlin

*Gatchina*

Gatchina is a small town 40 Kms south of St.Petersburg


The main street


One of many churches


The palace, built as a fortress


Palace grounds


Palace grounds


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## merlin

*Palace Interior*






Restoration in progress



Artists impression when completed


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## Bee

Oh! my goodness, they really are all so beautiful Merlin,thankyou.


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## Cookie

Thanks for those wonderful photographs, Merlin.  It amazes me how much wealth there was in those pre-revolution days, much like Versailles, maybe? Thank goodness the beautiful churches were preserved.


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## hollydolly

Absolutely stunning and everything looks so clean. Merlin what camera are you using for the indoor shots, they have such glorious clarity?


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## Ameriscot

Love those pics!  The photos are sharp and have great colours.


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## GeorgiaXplant

Breathtaking! Thank you for posting.


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## merlin

hollydolly said:


> Absolutely stunning and everything looks so clean. Merlin what camera are you using for the indoor shots, they have such glorious clarity?



Thank you hollydolly, I have several cameras, but most photos uploaded were taken on a Fujifilm X100, I recently bought a Sony RX100M2 which I love, its the nearest to an SLR in photographic quality I have come across. I always used an SLR in the days of film, but as I have aged I find lugging around a large camera with various lenses all too much.

Terry


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## oldman

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. How long did you visit there? Where you with a tour group?


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## merlin

oldman said:


> Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. How long did you visit there? Where you with a tour group?



I travel independently, and am in Russia at the moment I usually spend about 3/4 months a year here during 4 or 5 trips, have done since 2003


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## oldman

Just a few more questions. Who pays to build the churches? I can see a lot on money being spent. What is the primary religion in Russia? Do you ever get stopped to have your papers checked like we see on TV? 

My uncle invited me to go with him to Russia maybe 15 years ago on his dime. He wanted to go in the summer when it would have also been warm over there. Unfortunately, that is also the busiest time of the year for airlines and it's tough to get just one week off let alone the two weeks that he wanted to stay. Thankfully for him, he got one of his golfing friends to go along and as he tells it, they had a really good time.


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## merlin

oldman said:


> Just a few more questions. Who pays to build the churches? I can see a lot on money being spent. What is the primary religion in Russia? Do you ever get stopped to have your papers checked like we see on TV?
> 
> My uncle invited me to go with him to Russia maybe 15 years ago on his dime. He wanted to go in the summer when it would have also been warm over there. Unfortunately, that is also the busiest time of the year for airlines and it's tough to get just one week off let alone the two weeks that he wanted to stay. Thankfully for him, he got one of his golfing friends to go along and as he tells it, they had a really good time.



The primary religion in Russia is the "Russian Orthodox" and in fact the majority of Russians of all ages are religious, which surprised me I must admit. The story goes the Russian people chose the church in the 9th century from the Greeks rather than from Islam, as it would enable them to continue drinking alcohol 

The buildings are renovated by the government if of architectural interest, and from donations from the local congregation as well. The priests here are quite rude and arrogant in general, not approachable at all.

I have never had my papers checked, even when wandering around the Kremlin, I think its a bit of a myth, but the traffic police are always stopping cars and checking drivers papers, which doesn't affect me as the driving looks terrifying so I wouldn't dare attempt it.

I can get to Russia for £180 any time of the year via Germany, or to Moscow for £60 with Easyjet; as you say the best time for weather is summer when its warm or hot even!!


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## oldman

That is definitely cheap enough. I am a retired pilot for United and have the opportunity to fly free. That would be a long flight for me and I would need to upgrade to business or first class, just so I could be more comfortable. At 6'4", being trapped in coach on a long flight like that would really be painful.


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## Debby

Such amazing architecture and I especially liked the Church of the Spilled Blood!


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## merlin

Debby said:


> Such amazing architecture and I especially liked the Church of the Spilled Blood!



Yes I was completely overwhelmed by the interior, its breathtaking, well worth a visit if you are ever in St.Peter


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## Debby

merlin said:


> The primary religion in Russia is the "Russian Orthodox" and in fact the majority of Russians of all ages are religious, which surprised me I must admit. The story goes the Russian people chose the church in the 9th century from the Greeks rather than from Islam, as it would enable them to continue drinking alcohol
> 
> ......




Well when you are looking at an endless parade of cold wintery days and nights, maybe the priority is to find something to fill the time.  Getting loaded goes a long way towards passing time I guess!


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## Cookie

Debby said:


> Well when you are looking at an endless parade of cold wintery days and nights, maybe the priority is to find something to fill the time.  Getting loaded goes a long way towards passing time I guess!



I've always understood that life in Russia has always been so dreadfully hard for the ordinary citizens, one thing that helps get them thru the day is their vodka. During WWII, the troops had run out of food but never vodka. It's not only a good way to pass the time, but a way to keep warm and deal with life's miseries.


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## 911

Great pictures. I have often thought about going there and to Africa on a photo safari. Where in Russia would you suggest for a first-timer?


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## merlin

911 said:


> Great pictures. I have often thought about going there and to Africa on a photo safari. Where in Russia would you suggest for a first-timer?



It depends what you want really, Moscow is the capital, with the Kremlin, Red Square and a few historic churches and monasteries, its good if you want to go clubbing and dance through the night and shop till you drop, with a big city buzz. But it’s also one of the most expensive cities in the world.

St.Petersburg is a cultural city with a lot more sights for exploration and photography, it’s also a lot calmer and the people are more pleasant. It is a European city though, designed by Peter the Great,and the architecture modelled on the cities he visited, and the canals of Venice, and it is only 300 years old. 

Moscow is more Russian and over 600 years old, though not many of the old buildings are left, most being demolished to build huge shopping malls and blocks of luxury flats.

If you go at all, I would fly into one go by train between the two and fly out of the other.

A link giving more differences http://is.gd/MVCvj9

I have never been to Africa, that would be a great place for photography I imagine


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## rendova

What an gorgeous city. I've always wanted to visit there.
The photos are spectacular.


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## Temperance

Just beautiful Merlin, thank you.


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## merlin

!!!


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## merlin

!!!


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## KingsX

Cookie said:


> I've always understood that life in Russia has always been so dreadfully hard for the ordinary citizens, one thing that helps get them thru the day is their vodka. During WWII, the troops had run out of food but never vodka. It's not only a good way to pass the time, but a way to keep warm and deal with life's miseries.




I know drinking to excess is a Russian stereotype... but how accurate is it ?

Alcohol excess is dangerous, especially for babies born to mothers who drink  [fetal alcohol syndrome related birth defects.]

Since Russia has a demographic problem anyway,  one would think the government would promote healthy babies.


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## hearlady

Nice! Thank you.


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## jujube

Beautiful pictures, Merlin.  St. Petersburg is somewhere I've always wanted to go.


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