Peterhof

I'm very behind with my blog. I've recieved tons of great postcards but I'm short on time to post it.Today another wonderful postcard from Ludmila. I love landscape architecture and my favourite epoque in gardening is Baroque. One of the examples of the style are gardens of Peterhof, located in Peterhof-city located in the federal city of Saint Petersbourg. The palace complexs consist of 20 palaces and 7 parques covering over 1000 h. One of the most interesting elements are water cascades and fountains and that can be seen on the postcard.

Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Another amazing postcard from Ludmila. I was bit lazy and I just copied the text coming from St.Petersburg website. I blame my laziness on donating blood earlier :)

This church is known to Petersburgers as the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood - or even just the Church on the Blood - as it marks the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881. Designed by Alfred Parland in the style of 16th and 17th-century Russian churches, the Church of the Resurrection provides a stark (some would say jarring) contrast to its surroundings of Baroque, Classical and Modernist architecture. Alexander II died of wounds inflicted in an attack by the terrorist group People's Will. Immediately, his heir, Alexander II, declared his intention to erect a church on the site in his father's memory, and moreover to have this church built in "traditional Russian" style - in distinction to what he saw as the contaminating Western influence of Petersburg. Eventually, after Alexander had rejected several architects' designs, Archimandrite Ignaty gave the job to Parland, but made the design himself. The church's final composition drew heavily from St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev. Construction began in 1883, and Ignaty died shortly afterward, leaving Parland to complete the job. No baptisms, funeral services, weddings, or other traditional church services were held in the Church on the Blood, as this was not in Alexander III's plans. However, weekly requiems (for Alexander II) and sermon readings attracted large numbers of worshippers. After the Revolution, the church - despite becoming an official cathedral in 1923 - was looted. It was closed in 1932, and essentially turned into a garbage dump. Rumors abounded that the church would be torn down. Damage from World War II and the Siege of Leningrad can still be seen on the church's walls. After World War II, the church was used as a warehouse for the Small Opera Theatre. The valuable shrine was almost completely destroyed. Four jasper columns with mosaic mountings in them, and a part of the balustrade were all that remained. On July 20, 1970 the church was made a branch of the St. Isaac's Cathedral museum, and eighty percent of the church's extraordinary restoration was funded by profits from St. Isaac's. The decades of deterioration and then restoration culminated in the dramatic re-opening of the church in August 1997, when thousands of eager visitors swamped the church. The project was estimated to cost 3.6 million rubles, but ended up costing 4.6 million rubles, mainly from the extravagant collection of mosaics. The more than 7500 sq. meters of mosaics link Alexander II's murder with the crucifixion. One of the most impressive elements of the church is the extravagant shrine constructed on the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded, which has maintained a special place within the church's interior. It was constructed to Parland's design, and completed in July 1907. Four columns of gray violet jasper serve as the base of the shrine. Rising up the shrine, small rectangular columns unite the carved stone awning and the decorated mosaic icons with images of the patron saint of the Romanov family. The columns are supported by a frieze and cornice and stone-carved pediment with vases of jasper along the corners. The church has an outstanding and varied collection of mosaic icons. Several icons were completed in the traditions of academic painting, modernist style and Byzantine icon painting. The large icon of St. Alexander Nevsky was created according to a design by Nesterov. The icons of the main iconostasis Mother of God with Child and the Savior were painted to designs by Vasnetsov. The mosaic panel Pantokrator (Almighty) which depicts Christ giving a blessing with his right hand and holding the gospels in his left, in the platform of the central cupola was painted according to a design by N. Kharlamov. Parland and Andrey Ryabushkin completed the framed icon mosaic ornaments.

Зимний дворец

Winter Palace- Saint Petersburg

Another set of postcards from Ludmila- I'm really glad that I got in touch with her. That beautiful building is the Winter Palace- former official residence of Russian monarchs. In 1917 it was stormed and that became the symbol of the Russian Revolution. Obviously the Palace is very monumental- the building is 250 m long and 30 m high and it has 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases.There was a huge fire in 1937 due to unknown cause, it destroyed most of the interior of the Palace.

The Winter Palace is home for The Hermitage Museum. The main Hall of the Museum is the Egyptian Hall with mummies :D  The second view  shows The Alexandrian Column which was erected after the Russian victory in the war with the Napoleon. It was named after the Emperor Alexander I who ruled in Russia in 1801-1825. The column is one of the most notable symbols of the city. It was created bu Auguste de Montferrand

Russian mailbox

Private swap from Olga

I simply love that postcard! I fell in love with it the first time I saw it and cos I'm not very patient person I've started searching for someone to swap that card with me. Lucky me I found Olga! Thank you so much for that!

Мост Петра́ Вели́кого

Another beautiful card from Ludmila showing Peter the Great Bridge across the Neva River.  The idea of constructing the bridge in that place was in the air long time before it was built but there had to be a tragedy to start working on it ( sounds like Poland to be honest ). In 1907 the passenger ship Arkhangelk transferring people from one bank to the other sank. Soon after it the construction works begun. The bridge was opened on 26th of June 1909- 200 years from the Battle of  Poltava where the triumphator was emperor Peter the Great and that's why the bridge got named after him.

Wonderful night view from Ludmila

Interesting fact: the bridge itself was manufactured in Warsaw by Rucki Bros and then transported and assembled! According to wikipedia the city rumor has it that one of the clenches in the bridge is made from pure gold, and colored to be the same color as the rest of clenches. It is impossible to verify, since the bridge has more than one million clenches :)

Saint Petersburg

Today the first of many postcards from wonderful city of Saint Petersburg, thanks to Ludmila!

Beautiful postcard from Ludmila

'The most abstract and intentional city in the world' as Dostoyevsky reffered, St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia with the population of over 4 800 000 citizens. Locals calls the city just 'Peter'

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It used to be capital of Russia in years 1713-1728 and 1732-1918. The city is located along the shores of Neva Bay and islands of the river delta.The baroccan and neo-classical buildings of the city center are well preserved. Historic City Center is listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO

The reason why I like the city and I'd love to see it are all the refferences of the city in literature. I'm a book freak and I find russian literature the most interesting. The best book ever written is undoubtly "Master and Margarita" (of course it's my personal opinion). Another really amazing books are "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky and "Anna Karenina" by Tolsoy. 

St. Petersburg was usually claimed to be artificial, messed up, mechanical... The symbol of disorder and the city where status is the most important thing. It's hard for me to understand looking at the beautiful sights from there. Anyway since I've read "Crime and Punishment" I'm dreaming about Saint Petersburg and I hope one day in the future I'll visit it!

Tharr will be more ;)