Day 2 in St Petersburg
Today was our second full day in St Petersburg. We had two planned visits for the day, first a visit to the Fabergé Museum and then after lunch a trip to see the Alexander Nevsky Monastery as well as the Necropolis Of Art Masters, which is situated in the grounds of the Monastery.
After a relatively comfortable stroll for 30 minutes we reached the Fabergé Museum. This is a privately owned museum which was established by a fellow by the name of Viktor Vekselberg in order to repatriate lost cultural valuables to Russia. The museum is located in the center of Saint Petersburg, on the shore of the Fontanka River, in the magnificently restored Shuvalov Palace, just a couple of minutes’ walk from Nevsky Prospekt, one of the busiest shopping avenues in St Petersburg. The museum’s collection contains some 4,000 works of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. A highlight of the museum’s collection is the group of nine Imperial Easter eggs created by Fabergé for the last two Russian Tsars. These eggs are connected to the rule and personal life of the last two Russian emperors — Alexander III and Nicolas II.
Although I did not think I would like this place so much, I have to say that this museum is very much worth a visit.
Leaving the Fabergé Museum, we headed east towards the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, about 50 minutes walk away. This beautiful monastery complex, which was named after the patron saint of St Petersburg, contains cemeteries where many of Russia’s greatest literary and cultural figures are buried. This place is currently a working monastery. It is also the burial place of some of Russia’s most famous artistic figures. Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky are buried in this cemetery.
Whilst we had, earlier in the day, planned to take the bus back to the hotel, as the temperature raided and the weather cleared, we decided to walk back, stopping at a nice café for afternoon tea. I have to say that the Russian make terrific cakes.
For dinner we decided to eat at an Indian restaurant close to our hotel, a great choice indeed.
Please see more photos of today’s journey here
Another great day in Russia.