Russia - Day 2 St Petersburg

Day 2-May 31 St Petersburg

Temp 38 and rainy off and on. Our guide told us the there had been a hurricane in Moscow 2 days ago and 150 people were in the hospital.

Off to Hermitage museum which is the second largest museum in Europe and consists of five buildings The museum was beautiful with its 365 rooms and 11 miles over looking the Neva river.-This was the winter palace where Catherine the great lived.  In 1754 she started collecting works of art. She started with the collection with 255 paintings from the city of Berlin and instead of collecting just one, she would collect the whole collection. The palace was open to the public in 1852 and has a collection of over 3 million works of art today such as Da Vince, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Monet for just a few. There are 50,000 people that visit every day.

                                                               The outside of the Hermitage

Walking up the Grand staircase.

The Staircase was built in 1762 with gold leaf- ceiling painted of Greek gods. The 2 ton chandelier was the first to be electrified in the country. There had been a fire in 1837 in the Hermitage which had started by the stove.  They rebuilt it which took 100 years  but with different materials., Columns are made of paper-mache and gold and this museum has some of the best floors in Russia which are made of 18 kinds of woods. This 2 ton chandelier was the first one to be electrified in the country.

We aren't allowed to bring in water bottle because a few years ago a person asked which was the best and most valuable painting in the museums and then when told he threw sulfuric acid on the painting . It took 12 years to restore.  

Peter the Great was founder of the city in 1703. He reigned from May 1682 at the age of 10 to February 1725. He was 6'8" tall and expanded Russia into a huge European powered and brought the culture into a more modern age. In 1724, Peter crowned his second wife, Catherine as empress, positioning her to reign. He died less than a year of a bladder infection.

                          A stroll into the many rooms. I think this is the greeting room.

This gold bird moves around His head turns, his eyes move,his feathers flap up and down,and his claws tap.  He is a clock that chimes! One of the many presents given to Catherine.

 Room after room of paintings.

 The museum had many pieces of art work to offer as well as the beauty of the walls and rooms.

 Another amazing art piece was the "vase" that was 15 feet made of jasper found in Siberia. The piece was brought in first and then the museum was built around it.

The outer and inner coffins of
Pa-Kesh, priest of god Amun.
wood paintings -Late dynasty xxv
late 8th-mid 7th century BC!
I can't get my head around how old this guy is and to think that he is so well preserved for us to see.

At night we were off to the Russian Ballet of Swan Lake at the Hermitage.

So we end the day with this wonderful evening and await another adventure tomorrow.
Ciao :)