6 DAYS / 5 NIGHTS - ST-PETERSBURG - THE NORTHERN PERL

Arrival to St.Petersburg. Transfer to the hotel. City Tour including visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress, the oldest building in town. The cathedral of the Fortress, though plain on the outside, has a magnificent baroque interior. Most of Russia's Romanov rulers are buried here (4 hours).

 

(optional) In the evening we suggest unforgettable performance at one of the former imperial Opera and Ballet Theatres of Saint Petersburg - Mariinsky Theatre (former Kirov Opera and Ballet theatre), Musorgsky Theatre, Alexander Theatre, etc.

Hermitage. The exposition of this richest museum of the world is always in movement, besides there is Golden Treasury, which is not included in ordinary ours.

Gatchina and Pavlovsk. Two summer residences built for the most mystical tsar Paul I, the only son of Catherine the Great.

Yusupov Palace visit. One exposition of this mansion reveals the life of aristocracy in Saint Petersburg, telling about one of the richest men in Russia, Price Yusupov, another excursion goes down to the secret apartment of his son, Felix, where on night of December, 17, 1916, his highness with conspirators killed Rasputin.

Dostoyevsky Museum, visit to the apartment of the great author, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, where he spent his final years or/and Nabokov Flat Museum - where Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita was born and had lived before emigration. The interiors show combination of Art Nouveau, baroque and antique styles (duration 2 hours).

Cathedrals of Saint Petersburg: visit to Alexander Nevsky Lavra (Monastery) or Savior on the Blood Cathedral. The church "Savior on the Spilled Blood" or "Resurrection of Christ" was built in 1883-1907 by the architect Parland in so-called "Russian style" on the spot where a terrorist from the revolutionary organization People's Will mortally wounded Tsar Alexander II on March 1, 1881, by tossing a bomb at his feet.

 

The Alexander Nevsky Lavra functions nowadays as an orthodox monastery belonging to the St Petersburg eparchy. At the same time its unique arquitectural ensemble of 18-19cc is one of the most museums of St.Petersburg. From the very beginning, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra became a most significant sepulchre of the Russian Empire. It was used for the burial of the court nobility, members of the Imperial Family, prominent state, military, clerical and art figures. The monastery sacristy had priceless sacred and historical objects in its disposal, including ancient manuscripts, holy relics, crosses, icons in precious settings. Thus, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, equally with Kunstkammer, can be considered to be one of the first museums in Russia.

 

Transfer to the airport or railway station. Departure from St.Petersburg.