St Isaac’s Cathedral, St Petersburg, dominates St Isaac’s Square.

Cathedral from St Isaac’s Square:-

The equestrian statue of Tsar Nicholas 1 which lies in the middle of St Isaac’s Square was shrouded in panelling when we were there, undergoing refurbishment, so I have no photos of my own of that.

Cathedral from west:-

The Cathedral has a pair of massive decorated doors:-

And two decorative friezes:-

I also found this small restrained memorial to the Great Patriotic War (World War 2) by one of the Cathedral’s massive pillars, each of which is a single block:-

I was glad to have gone to St Petersburg in early May. This is the time of year when Russia remembers the great sacrifices it – and the Soviet Union of which it was a part – made during World War 2 (which in Russia is known as the Great Patriotic War.) It is salutary to think that without that sacrifice the war against Germany would have been a much greater struggle for the Western Powers than it was. It is not too great a statement to make that the war in Europe was in fact won by the Soviet Union.

Britain’s contribution to overcoming Nazi Germany is much over-estimated by many in these islands. It really amounted to not losing – or at least not admitting to, and therefore not giving up. From the Normandy landings onwards it was even overshadowed by the US (which of course – British victories at Kohima, Imphal and Burma notwithstanding – won the Pacific War more or less by itself.)

St Petersburg in early May 2019 was covered in banners commemorating the Victory Day in 1945.

1945-2019 Remembrance. (Unfortunately seen through rainy coach windows):-

Corner of Palace Square:-

There are 1941-1945 banners in front of this building in Palace Square:-

Close-up view of banner:-

More banners in Palace Square. (St Isaac’s Cathedral in distance):-

1941-1945 Remembrance Banner, Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg:-

This was the big one. I had been to St Petersburg before – when it was Leningrad, on a school cruise back in the heyday of the Soviet Union when we were shown the bullet holes on buildings’ walls still left over from the siege of the city during the Great Patriotic War (as World War 2 is called in those parts) – but my wife hadn’t, and with her interest in Russian history it was a place she had always wanted to see and was the reason we chose to go on this cruise at all.

The city straddles the River Neva (and a bit beyond) which therefore appears in many of our photographs. It is also home to some magnificent architecture, beautiful palaces from the time of the Tsars (in stark contrast to the conditions in which ordinary folk lived, sometimes ten or more to a room in pre-revolutionary days.)

The Winter Palace, St Petersburg, from across River Neva:-

The Winter Palace is part of the famous Hermitage Museum another part of which – along with a couple of ferries – is seen below:-

Other buildings on River Neva frontage-

I got a closer view of the Naval Academy:-

The Peter and Paul Fortress, lies on an island:-

Closer view seen through rainy coach windows:-

I couldn’t get far enough back to get all of this building in. In St Petersburg terms it’s fairly unremarkable:-

A gilded tower in the city centre. (Note saltire flag in blue on white – St Andrew is Russia’s patron saint as well as Scotland’s, besides other countries.)

Riverfront builidings and St Isaac’s Cathedral beyond:-