This sequence starts with a photograph of me and my daughter at the Triumphal Arch on Kutuzovskiy Prospekt in western Moscow. This arch was erected between 1827 and 1834 as a monument to the 1812 victory over Napoleon. Napoleon had sacked Moscow and burned and pillaged much of the city and destroyed or damaged significant structures in the Kremlin. He was later driven from the city and essentially chased all the way back to Paris. This arch was originally built at another location then moved here in 1968.
The first time I was in Russia, I had the opportunity to travel to Pskov where I spent three days. While there, we were taken to the Estonian border to Pechory and Izborsk. On the way to Pechory, we stopped at the memorial in the photograph below. The photograph doesn't really demonstrate how large this is --it's huge. The memorial is of Prince Alexander Nevskiy or "of the Neva," one of the earliest leaders of Russia. He became noted for many things, but primarily for saving Russia from invading Swedish armies from the west in 1240. Many places are named after Alexander Nevskiy, for example, Nevskii Prospect in St. Petersburg and the beautiful Nevskiy Lavra in St. Petersburg.
One of the best-known symbols of St. Petersburg, the Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great. It was unvailed in 1782 and now stands in the center of Dekabristov Square. The rearing horse of the Emperor is seen riding over the Serpent of Treason. The inscription on the wave-like granite base reads: "To Peter the First from Catherine the Second." The statue is well-known to Russians from the epic poem, "The Bronze Horseman," written by Pushkin in 1833. The second time I was in St. Petersburg, I had students gather around the Bronze Horseman and we read portions of Puskin's poem. The Bronze Horseman is shown in the photograph below.
In western Moscow, along Kutuzovskiy Prospekt, is the rather new equestrian Statue of Kutuzov. The name of the Prospekt and the statue commemorates Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov, who was in command of the armies defending Moscow against the advancing armies of Napoleon. Kutuzov, after a meeting with his generals, resolved that Mowcow could not be defended and the city was abandoned to the French. Despite this action, Kutuzov has been given credit for saving Moscow from a more rapid destruction. The photograph below is of the equestrian statue of Kutuzov.
The Former Soviet Union was a country filled with statues and monuments depicting important figures and events of the Soviet era. Once the USSR collapsed at the end of 1991, many of those statues and monuments were destroyed, or at least removed. The photograph below is a statue of Stalin that had been damaged, then removed. The site of this relocated statue is just north of Gorky Park. This location has become somewhat of a graveyard for former USSR statues.
The photograph below is a bust of Karl Marx. It is located directly south and across the street from the Bolshoi Theater. Of course, Marxist theory played an important role in the development of the Soviet Union. What is interesting about this bust is that it was damaged during the time when the USSR collapsed and the new Russia was emerging. If you look carefully, you can see a corner of the granite pillar that was broken.
One of the great national heros of the Soviet Union and now of Russia was Yuri Gagarin. After his 1961 space fight, he was greeted by thousands of cheering Muscovites in what was then called Kaluzhskoy Zastavy Square. Seven years later the square was renamed in his honor, and in 1980, a monument (shown below) was erected; a titanium statue of Gagarin standing at the top of a tall column.
One site that all visitors to St. Petersburg must see is the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery. The name derives from the former village of Piskaryovka. The place was of no significance until the dreadful winter of 1941-42, when it was used for the burial of those who died during the Blockade of Leningrad; from February 1942 it became the city's main burial place. About 600,000 Leningraders died from starvation, disease, shelling, and air raids; 470,000 of them were interred in 186 mass graves at Piskaryovka. The photograph below shows a small portion of the 40-acre memorial complex and three of the mass graves.
In northcentral Moscow, at the VDNKh metro, one finds the 520-acre site of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the USSR. It was once one of the best-known tourist attractions in Moscow and took the form of a constantly changing display of the economic plans and progress of the Soviet Union. The impressive nature of the Exhibition has been lost. While the buildings are still standing and are worth seeing, the entire exhibition is now devoted to the sale of TVs, radios, and other commerical products. It is also possible to buy some good food here, but the historic economic exhibit focus has clearly been replaced by commercialism. The first year I was in Russia, we were taken to the Exhibition by a women who had not been there since her childhood. When she saw what had happened, she was visibly upset. The photo below is the entrance to the Exhibition.
Southwest of the Kremlin along Leninskiy Prospekt, one finds the famous Gorky Park. Opened in 1928, this was the first 'Park of Culture and Rest' in the Soviet Union; with an area of about 740 acres, it is still the largest. The main entrance (shown below) is a massive colonnade. Within the park, one finds extensive walks in attractive riverside surroundings. There are facilities for recreation and entertainment; boating ponds, a cinema, sports pavilions,and a fairground with a large Ferris wheel. A number of restaurants and cafes have been provided. The park is featured in the best-selling thriller of the same name by Martin Cruz Smith.
The most important university in all of Russia is Moscow State University. The newer campus is located southwest of the Kremlin on the south bank of the Moscow River. The impressive, Lenin-style building, is situation on a high bluff and can be seen from most places in Moscow. The 240-meter high, 26-story building, was the tallest of seven skyscrapers erected in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Even today, it is surpassed only by the Ostankino TV Tower, and with its prominent site, it dominates the whole city. It was built between 1949 and 1953. The photograph below is taken looking toward the southwest.
The last photograph in this section is of the front gate to Kolomenskoye, a former royal estate on the right bank of the lower Moscow River. In the 16th Century, this location became a favorite royal estate, and contained the summer residence of the Tsars; the main Church of the Ascension and the nearby church at D'yakovo. Kolomenskoye remains a wonderful place for walking, resting, picnicking,and just relaxing. It is a beautiful site and one where the Moscow River valley can be observed to the northeast. The front gate, shown below, is a white tiered structure with two archways and a high tent roof; the gate dates from 1672 and served as the main entrance to the palace compound.
The photograph below is included for several reasons. First, it is an example of the Italian architectural influence found throughout St. Petersburg. Peter the First (the Great) wanted very much to be more closely aligned with Europe and recruited European architects to help design and build St. Petersburg. Second, this building represents the change that occurred from Imperial Russia to Communist Russia. Originally this building was constructed (1811)as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, but under the Soviet regime, it became the Museum of Religion and Atheism. Now, under Russian "democracy" the building is both a museum and a religious structure. Third, I took this photograph at 12:05 a.m. (five minutes after midnight) on June 16, 1994. Thus, this photograph represents the "White Nights" of the northern Russian summers. One of the most striking features of this building is the great arc of Corinthian columns, 96 in number and four deep, patterned after the colonnade of St. Peter's in Rome.
Another very impressive religious structure in St. Petersburg is St. Isaac's Cathedral, now open as a museum. The building shown below, was begun in 1818 and named after St. Isaac of Dalmatia, a Byzantine monk whose birthday was on the same day as Peter I. The cathedral at one time was the State Anti-religious Museum.
Back in Moscow, one should visit the New Convent of the Virgin and the Novodevich'ye Cemetery adjacent to it. In the cemetery are buried many of the most famous Russians, such as, Gogol, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Rubinstein, Scriabin, and Gromyko. The photo below is the grave of Nikita Khrushchev. What is unusual about this grave is that all of the other Soviet dictators are buried behind Lenin's Mausoleum. Khrushchev was buried in the Novodevich'ye Cemetery and not at Red Square because he died in "political disgrace."
Across the Neva River and directly north of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, is the Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter the Great founded the fortress in May 1703. The most striking building inside the fortress (shown in the photograph below) is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (the sharp spired structure). The cathedral is the burial place of all of the Emperors and Empresses--with the exception of Peter II and Ivan VI. Recently (1998), Nicholas II and his family were buried there.
