Baltic Memories - 2017 - St Petersburg day 2

The Peacock Clock

The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

On the second day of our tour of St Petersburg we visited the Hermitage Museum, which was founded in 1764 and has over 3 million items but only a small portion are on display. and is the second largest museum in the world and has the largest collection of paintings in the world.  Quite impressive!

The Peacock Clock was made by an Englishman  for Catherine the Great.  It is a working clock but only once a week so unfortunately we didn't see it moving, but it was still an amazing clock and very beautiful.

The Crouching Boy

The Crouching Boy

 The Crouching Boy  is a sculpture by Michelangelo and is the only artwork by Michelangelo in the Hermitage Museum.

The Three Graces

The Three Graces by Antonio Canova was another beautiful sculpture in marble of the daughters of Zeus.

The Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Winter Palace was built for Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great.

The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood

Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood

Another beautiful church and one that is recognised by its colourful "onion domes".  It was actually built on the site of the assassination of Alexander II in 1881.

Mosaic interior

Beautiful mosaics

The exterior in the rain

 Lunch at the Golden Line Restaurant, St Petersburg

Lunch at the Golden Line

The Golden Line

St Petersburg

St Petersburg

Entrance to the Golden Line Restaurant

Raining in St Petersburg

Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral

Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral

Interior of Peter and Paul Cathedral

 Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia was buried in the Cathedral.

Interior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral

This fortress was established by Peter the Great in 1703 and rebuilt in stone between 1706 and 1740.

The Cathedral was closed in 1919and turned into a Museum in 1924 and is still officially a Museum although religious services resumed in 2000.