Last Day

Our last day has come along quicker than I’d hoped.  However, we are lucky to have a full day here before the ferry heads back to Helsinki, Finland, at 7pm tonight.

We opted for a guide on our last day.  We had met a lovely sailing couple from the UK while touring through the Åland Islands and they gave us the name of a guide they used.  They said his prices were reasonable and his knowledge extensive.

Vladimir collected us from the hotel for a civilised 11am start to our day.  He delighted us for the next five hours with his insights, including sharing his experience of the Soviet regime, before dropping us to the ferry.

The first stop today was still in the city center, at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, as we had run out of time to visit here over the previous two days.  Vladimir came into the Cathedral with us and shared his knowledge.  In times gone past it was a requirement to have a guide as part of your stay in St Petersburg, but not anymore.  I highly recommend a guide as you will learn things that make the experience more fulfilling.

Many people we spoke with hired guides, however when comparing costs Vladimir was by far the best value for money, very likable, and most flexible.  Nothing was a problem for him, even when I changed times on him.  Plus his communication was prompt and efficient.  If you want the name of our guide please send me an email and I will happily send you his details privately.  We don’t want to swamp the lovely chap.

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, also known as Isaakievskiy Sobor, is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city.  It is the largest orthodox basilica and the fourth largest cathedral in the world.  This cathedral is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron Saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the first day of that saint.

When checking these facts, as I often do, I came to realise that you won’t find Saint Isaac’s Cathedral on the list of largest churches in the world because it doesn’t offer weekly worship meetings, the criteria for which to be called a ‘church’.  Saint Isaac’s is more of a museum today and boy what a beauty she is.

Boasting fifteen, yes fifteen, different shades of granite this church/museum appears to have been built with little regard to cost or expense.  The sheer opulence is to be marvelled at.

Building commenced in 1818 and during its 40 year construction, some 40,000 people died.  The reasons behind the 40,000 deaths was a mystery until the culprit was finally discovered – mercury evaporation poisoning.  Over half a million people had a hand to play in her building, possibly by slave labour, which wasn’t abolished in Russia until the 19th century.

During the many wars Russia battled, this cathedral, as well as others of significance, was covered with camouflage nets to hide it from the air.  Although ground forces did in fact damage one side, which is still obvious today, the building remained relatively unscathed.

With an area of 4000 square meters, the cathedral can accommodate up to 12,000 people. St. Isaac’s Cathedral, as well as almost all Orthodox churches, is five-domed. On the porticoes of the drum of the dome there are 72 solid granite columns installed weighing from 64 to 114 tons. For the first time in construction, columns of this size were raised to a height of 40 meters. Inside the church there is a video showing this ground-breaking system.  It took over 45 kilos of pure gold for gilding of all the domes of the cathedral.

Vladimir tells us that each of the marble columns comes from one piece of rock.  I have never seen so many vivid coloured marbles in one place in all my life; let alone in a church, for which I’ve lost count of the number we’ve frequented throughout our travels.