Guide in St.Petersburg

Today - July 15 - the great Dutch artist was born. Rembrandt - a genius of light & shade, a master to render human figure & emotions. He created biblical paintings, history paintings, portraits & self-portraits.
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The Hermitage museum in St.Petersburg has the 2nd largest in the world (after Amsterdam) collection of paintings by Rembrandt; it numbers 24 paintings, belonging to all periods of his artistic development.
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Swipe to see some of the pearls of the collection ➡️
Flora, Danae, David & Jonathan, Holy Family, Old Man in Red, the Return of the Prodigal Son.
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The Hermitage has finally opened its doors for the visitors. The entrance is possible via booking online tickets. I hope, soon the borders will be opened for the travelers and you’ll have the chance to see the masterpieces of the museum.

A delightful gothic church... not to miss in St.Petersburg!
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Out of the hundreds churches in St.Petersburg one that stands out due to it’s unique and striking appearance is Chesme Church.
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It was built in the late 18th century to commemorate the victory of the Russian fleet over the Turks. It is believed that at the place where the church stands Russian Empress Catherine II learned about the victory. Some interesting facts:
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♦️Alexander Pushkin had his 3 children baptized in this church
♦️Russian Field marshal Michael Kutuzov prayed for the victory over the French here
♦️after the revolution of 1917 the church was used a labor camp, then as a storehouse
♦️after the WWII it was carefully restored and turned into the museum of the Battle of Chesme; in 1991 it was given back to Orthodox Church and reopened for worship
♦️it is one of the rear examples of the neo-gothic style in St.Petersburg
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Once in St.Petersburg make sure you have it on your must-visit list ✔️

St.Petersburg is well-known for having a big number of palaces. Look to the right - look to the left in the city’s center and it is all palaces that belonged to aristocrats. Nowadays many of them house museums or public organizations like wedding halls, hotels. Opulence unites the palaces, the atmosphere inside sets them apart.
Inside the Yusupov Palace one feels not only the wealth of the owners, but also the warmth of a home... though a big one (120 rooms). Balls, Christmas market, theatrical performances took place there with up to 2000 people visiting at once.
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After the revolution of 1917 members of the Yusupov family left their mansion with no chances to return back. Since then the palace was a House of Teachers, a hospital during the WWII, a sports school was inside, and finally it became the museum. Nowadays we can enjoy luxurious interiors that were carefully restored and preserved by the contemporary artists.
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On the photo ➡️ Moorish room, Main staircase, Tapestry drawing room, and interiors of the female part of the palace.

The suburbs of St.Petersburg - the Tsars Village (Pushkin city nowadays). Only 25km away from St.Petersburg one can find himself in a quiet green place with the richness and abundance of gold like in St.Petersburg. A very well-known site mainly because of the Catherine’s Palace with the Amber room and the story behind it.
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Not only the Palace is to see, also the magnificent Alexander Park with chinese bridges, chinese village, pavilion Shapel and more.
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Once making plans for St.Petersburg, don’t spare time for the suburbs with marvelous gardens.

How many churches are there in St.Petersburg?
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This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Visiting Russia means seeing a lot of churches of different styles. However, one thing they have in common - the domes. But even the domes are of different shapes and colors. I’ll tell you more - all these distinctive features have a certain meaning:
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✝️ Number of domes might be from 1 to 13. The most common churches are with 5 domes where the largest dome stands for Jesus Christ, 4 smaller domes - for Evangelists.
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✝️ Color. The most common domes are gilded ones. They symbolize Eternity and power of God.
Blue with golden stars ⭐️ show virginity and purity of Mother Mary, stars allude to Bethlehem stars, which marked birth of Jesus Christ.
Green domes symbolize holt spirit.
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✝️ Name. The churches are named after saints or religious holidays.
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On the photo is the Assumption Church - a functioning Russian Orthodox Church.
And the answer to the question 👆🏻- more than 200 functioning churches in the city.

Hello everyone!
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Tomorrow - May 9 - is a big day in Russia. On this day we celebrate the victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) which is a part of WWII. The Victory Day is celebrated annually with parade in every city, musical concerts, fireworks.
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This year grand celebrations dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the war are cancelled. No march of troops, accompanied by pieces of military equipment, no veterans watching the event, no ordinary people marching with the photos of the relatives who took part in the war... all this is due to the pandemic and the high risks associated.
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Today the main sights for celebrations are empty, no big preparations.
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Only the Air Force parade will take place with fireworks in the evening 🎆
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On the photos in gallery you can see the way this holiday was celebrated in St.Petersburg in 2019.

Happy International Labour’s Day!
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The holiday that started in 1884 in the USA spread all over the world.
Russia first celebrated the Labour Day back in 1890, decades before the formation of Soviet Union.
From 1917, May 1 demonstrations were an annual occasion with millions of workers attending them all over the country. They would carry slogans such as “All power to the Soviets”, “All power to the Labour Class”, “Peace. Labour. May!”.
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For a very long time this holiday was a symbol of revolution, a struggle between rich and poor classes. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the celebrations of May 1 lost their political meaning. In 1997 the name was changed to ‘Labour and Spring Day’, which is a public holiday when almost everyone in the country has a day-off. Most Russians use this day for gardening and spending time with their families.
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This year is no exception - there will be no public events due to the quarantine - but the dacha season had started already and many people left the cities to spend time in the countryside.
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On the photo my lovely tourists Jeff&Marcia from LA tasting Russian donuts 🍩

Did you know St.Petersburg has several names ⁉️
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The city was named and re-named, and has several unofficial well-recognizable names.
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🔹St.Petersburg. Let’s start with the official one - it was given by the founder of the city - Peter I.
No, Peter I named the city not after himself, though there would be sense, but after Saint Peter.
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🔹 Petrograd. 1914 - beginning of the WWI - and the German sounding names were replaced with the Russian ones. The meaning was the same - the city of Peter - sounded differently.
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🔹 LENINGRAD - renamed in 1924 after Lenin, who was the head of the revolution of 1917. The city retained this name for more than 60 years.
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❗️In 1991 (when Soviet Union collapsed) there was a referendum where citizens voted for the return of the historical name to the city - St.Petersburg.
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❗️What’s interesting - on the plane tickets you will see a short code LED that stands for St.Petersburg. In fact, on the tickets the city is still Leningrad.
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🔹 Piter, SPb - these are short names of the city.
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🔹 Cultural capital - we strongly believe that St.Petersburg is about culture and we can always prove that by naming numerous theaters, museums, events
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🔹Northern capital or second capital. There is a story behind. The city was the official capital of Russia for 200 years. And nowadays it is the second important city in the country. Besides, it is the most Northern city with the population over 1 mln people (population is 5.5 mln).
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Which name you like most of all? Write in comments 🔽

Monument to the last Russian Czar - Nikolas II & his wife Alexandra.
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Some interesting facts:
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👑 Nikolas II became the Czar early at the age of 26
👑 His wife Alexandra - a princess from Germany - was a grand daughter of Queen of UK - Victoria
👑 Being (one of) the richest families in the World, they presented each other with gifts very often. The most famous and expensive - Faberge Easter Eggs. Nikolas purchased 20+ richly decorated Eggs with precious stones for Alexandra
👑 The whole family - Nikolas, Alexandra and their 5 children - were killed in 1918
👑 In 2000 they were canonized by Russian Orthodox Church. Nowadays in many Russian churches you can see icons with the images of the last Imperial family
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To get a good understanding of their life and death, of revolution of 1917, I strongly recommend to watch a Netflix movie The Last Czars.

Hello everyone!
Due to the vast spread of Coronavirus many public places are closed and people stay home. This is a good opportunity to read, learn and do things you’ve never had time for. Russian movies will give a good understanding of Russian mentality, history of the country for the past 30-40years.
Here’s my TOP 5 ⬇️
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✅ Moscow doesn’t believe in tears (1979)
This is a story of a young girl, love, betrayal... With the happy end, of course.
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✅ Everything will be fine (1995)
The story takes place in modern Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed and shows the difference in peoples’ lives, attitude and again the main theme is love.
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✅ Brother - part 1 (1997), part 2 (2000)
This one is about criminal St.Petersburg, travel from Russia to the USA and back.
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✅ Peculiarities of the National Hunting (1995) & Peculiarities of the National Fishing (1998)
Both movies are comedies with a scent of vodka and fun.
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✅ 12 (2007) - this a remake of American movie ‘12 Angry Men’.
The film is a reflection on what freedom and compassion are; the ability to help a completely stranger who is in trouble.
Various and very typical characters are represented in those 12 men.
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What movie is more likely you’ll watch?
Let me know in the comments ⬇️

Hey guys!
The new week is here and there’re some news on Covid-19:
❗️ the official statistics says there’re 65 people in Russia with coronavirus: 34 in Moscow, 6 in St.Petersburg, 25 - other regions
❗️ in many schools children are on remote educational programs
❗️ the International Economic Forum (beg.of June 2020) is cancelled
✔️ what is interesting - there’s no panic in St.Petersburg
✔️ what is unusual - the city looks a bit empty
✔️ what inspires - we all will come over it
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It’s time to stop, to reconsider and reevaluate many things, and, perhaps, to pray for the safe and healthy future 🙏🏻
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On the photo an icon of Alexander Nevsky - patron saint of St.Petersburg - praying in a domestic church. The icon is a mosaic itself and can be seen in the Spilled Blood Church.

Not recommended
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Hello everyone!
Nowadays many tours are canceled/postponed because of the pandemic of COVID-19. And it’s not recommended to take any trips outside your home country or even your region.
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No news in Russia on infected people, no people in masks, no queues in supermarkets. And no tourists in museums in St.Petersburg except for Russian children on the main educational programs.
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Let’s take a very deep breath and wait for the story to change 😉
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On the photo you can see Resurrection Church of the Catherine’s Palace that was opened after restoration in 2019.
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Stay tuned for the update.

Good day everyone!
Touristic season is starting already in St.Petersburg and people are planning their trips and cruises. So, why visit St.Pete? Is there anything interesting to see?
Read the facts below and decide yourself 😊

❇️ The largest cruise ship port in Europe is situated in St.Pete
❇️ The 4th tallest Cathedral in the world is also here
❇️ The famous Amber Room is in Catherine’s Palace (St.Pete)
❇️ 65 rivers and canals - the main river is called the Neva (hint: rivers&canals cruise is a must)
❇️ There’re more than 500 bridges in the city, 21 of them are draw bridges
❇️ About 100 churches - some of them are real masterpieces of art both inside and outside
❇️ Hermitage - one of the world’s largest museums; it ranks among such museums as the Louvre, the Prado, the Metropolitan museums
❇️ And more than 200 museums in the city to suit the tastes of travelers
❇️ Peterhof = Russian Versailles with numerous amazing fountains
❇️ 100 theatres - the most famous is Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre

Discover the best of St.Petersburg with the right guide 👆🏻

Hello everyone!
Good news here!
Since Fall 2019 citizens of 53 countries are allowed to visit St.Petersburg and it’s suburbs with a free electronic visa.
E-visa can be obtained by the citizens of the following countries ➡️ electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/spb_country_en.html
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How to apply?
An applicant should fill in the application form on the website https://evisa.kdmid.ru not earlier than 20 days and no later than 4 days before the intended date of entry.
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And the last thing but not the least!
You will need the proper guide to show you around 👌🏻

Wish you to enjoy your stay in St.Petersburg! In case of any questions, press WA button at the top of the page.
Your guide in St.Pete - Violetta

Guide in St.Petersburg updated their website address.

Merry Christmas Orthodox world!
Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today - January, 7th.
Wish you all peace and love 💕

Good day everyone!
I'm glad to see you on my page - it means you're planning to visit St. Petersburg soon. I'll be happy to guide you in the city of palaces, rivers and canals, gilded domes of churches, theatres and museums.

Do you know that St. Petersburg has been awarded as World's Leading Cultural Destination for several times? I bet this is one of the reasons you're planning to visit the Northern Venice.
Whatever your plans are: whether you want to visit must-see places or feel like a local and stay away from the crowds of tourists? Spend the whole day discovering the world of art at the Hermitage museum or spend time
outside walking in the gardens of Peterhof? With me your wish will come true.

Besides, I follow several important rules during my tours - first, safety - this is the main reason why I prefer to rent a car/van with a driver as it is not safe to drive myself and to talk and show places at the same time. Second comes comfort of the guests - that's why your pace is the pace of the tour. No hustle - enjoy the tour! And the last but not the least is flexibility - you can choose one of the ready-made tours or I can tailor your trip to your special needs.

Please feel free to contact me and lets make your stay pleasant and unforgettable experience!

Guide in St.Petersburg updated their phone number.