For The Love of Travel

I’m seeing two of the Museum of Four Cathedrals today.

Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood – funded by the Imperial Family, the church was constructed over 24 years, between 1883 and 1907, during the reign of Alexander III. The church was built as a memorial to the slain Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who was mortally wounded on the site in 1881. It was closed by the Bolsheviks in the 1930s, but reopened in 1997 after 30 years of restoration work.

Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg’s other structures. The city’s architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Saviour on Spilled Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The church contains over 7500 square metres of mosaics – according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.

St Issac’s Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Issac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great. The Cathdrals bronze doors, covered in reliefs by Ivan Vitali, are patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Gihberti! Granites and marbles from all parts of Russia decorate the interiors.

Booked in for a meal @ Mansarda Restaurant – with views over St Issac Cathedral.

And if that wasn’t special enough, the restaurant was preparing for a concert that night by singer Elena Temnikova (one of 3 members of the group Serebro, which represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007). She came to do a sound check accompanied by 4 burly security dudes, and as I was about to take her pic, got a firm “nyet” from one of her security team, so once more, complied. A bit naughty, because we guests had to listen to interminable  “odin”, “dva”, “odin”, “dva”…. (one, two, one, two etc). You’d reckon the least one could do is take a pic….but ”nyet!”

St Petersburg is built on 33 islands, separated by picturesque canals and rivers, and linked by dozens of drawbridges and bridges – 350 across the city.

After arriving on the train from Velikiy Novgorod, dropped stuff at hotel and went to join drawbridge cruise on the Neva River –  saw magnificent illuminated monuments and buildings on the river’s embankments like the Hermitage Museum complex, the Kunstkamera museum and Peter and Paul fortress. The opening of the Palace Bridge on Vasilievskiy Island and Trinity Bridge were spectacular!!

Overnight train from Moscow to Velikiy Novgorod – the birthplace of mother Russia. Prince Rurik, from the Varangian tribe, came here with his troops in the 9th century after being called in by the Slavs to rule. He started the Rurik dynasty that stood at the head of the Russian state for over 700 years and  gave the land a new name of ‘Rus’.

Beginning from the 12th century, Novgorod ‘chose princes of its own free will’, i.e. princes were invited to ‘work as contractors’, with the limit of their responsibilities specified and cost of service negotiated. If a prince did not meet its expectations, he would be shown out.

Over centuries, Veliky Novgorod was a link between medieval Europe and Rus (Old Russia).  Long before Tsar Peter the Great set about ‘opening the window to Europe’,  Veliky Novgorod had became a centre of international integration and trade. Many West European monarchs and nobles wore exquisite fur coats and hats made of Novgorod rare furs like ermine and sable, and strutted around in their leather boots tanned by Novgorod masters of the trade. Russian wax candles flickered on giant altars of major European Gothic cathedrals.   

So I went for a walk around the Kremlin – the compound was originally the site of a pagan burial ground upon which the first bishop of Novgorod, built a Cathedral upon his arrival in the area in 989 or so.

The current fortress was built between 1484 and 1490, and within its red-brick fortress walls is the 5-domed, 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral.

Nearby, the Millennium of Russia monument erected in 1862 by Alexander 11, to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Russia. 129 figures representing monarchs, generals and artists during different periods of history. 

 The most important events in Russian history are linked to the ring of Novgorod monasteries and convents surrounding the city, and to famous heroic deeds of their saint founders. Prince Alexander Nevsky prayed on his knees for a victory over the Teutonic knights in St George Cathedral of St George (Yuryev) Monastery. 

The lives of many prominent Russians are closely connected with the lands of Novgorod, for example, Dostoevsky created his prose and Rachmaninoff was musically inspired.