DAYS 1-2. ARRIVAL Arrival St.Petersburg: The Cold War and the "Second Russian Revolution" are now long over. Get set for a fascinating visit to that part of the former Soviet Union called Russia.
The Aeroflot (or American flag carrier) jet makes the night a short one, and soon you are landing not far from the Arctic Circle, in a city which was first called St. Petersburg, then Leningrad, and St.Petersburg once again. The city of the czars! Meet your passports-appointed Intourist representative and continue to your centrally-located hotel, settle in and then set out to explore the city with your escort.
Meals included: Dinner
Overnight: St. Petersburg.
DAY 3. ST.PETERSBURG CITY SIGHTSEEING
A city tour introduces the historic center of St. Petersburg, a city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See the avenue known as Nevsky Prospect, Kazan Cathedral, the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, Palace Square with the Winter Palace (which was the main imperial residence under the Czars), the Hermitage, the Almiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theater (renamed Kirov Theater during the Soviet era).
On the other side of the Neva River, you will see the University, Menchikov Palace, the Fortresss of Peter and Paul, the Cabin of Peter the Great (dating back to 1703, when the Czar was building his dream city), and the heavy cruiser Aurora, whose guns rang out loudest in 1917, during the "first" Russian revolution.
You'll see the heavy cruiser Aurora, whose guns rang out loudest in 1917, during the "first" Russian revolution. Local Guide • A full-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of St. Petersburg, will accompany your group. Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan • Visit the impressive Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, begun in 1801 in the Neo-Classical style and modeled after Rome's Basilica of St. Peter. During the Soviet era, the cathedral was deconsecrated and its housed the Museum of Religion and Atheism. It is once again an active Orthodox Cathedral, with "Atheism" removed from the name of the museum's collections it still holds. Peter and Paul Fortress • Enjoy a visit to the Peter and Paul Fortress, built by Peter the Great to protect the area along the Neva River from the Swedes. Later, the fortress became the city's garrison and political prison, which housed famous inmates including Dostoyevsky, Gorkiy, Trotsky, Lenin's older brother Alexander and even Peter the Great's own rebellious son, Alexei. St. Isaac's Cathedral • Enjoy a visit to St. Isaac's Cathedral, whose gilded dome dominates St. Petersburg's skyline. Once the largest church in all of Russia, St. Isaac's is big enough to accommodate 14,000 standing worshippers. The Cathedral was converted into a museum in the 1930's. Visitors can admire exquisite exterior facades and inspirational sculptures, icons and paintings. Entrance is included to the observation point at the base of the dome, known as the Colonnade, for a spectacular view of the city.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: St. Petersburg.
DAY 4. EXCURSION TO PETRODVORETS, HERMITAGE MUSEUM The Palace of Versailles is magnificent, but Petrodvorets, built by Peter the Great as a summer retreat, is greater still, as you will discover on a visit here today. Its construction, begun in 1704, extended for decades. See the Upper and Lower Parks' spectacular fountains and waterworks (the Sea Canal is connected to the Gulf) as well as the elaborate palace dreamed by the Russian monarchs.
Hermitage Museum • Today, visit the museum of all museums, the Hermitage! Lavishly decorated and fastidiously maintained since the days of Catherine the Great, these large, gold-leafed rooms contain works of art of inestimable value.
Much of this art is European, imported by an admiring Russian aristocracy.
Meals included: Dinner
Overnight: St. Petersburg.
DAY 5. EXCURSION TO PAVLOVSK AND PUSHKIN, OVERNIGHT TRAIN TO MOSCOW: Travel to Pavlovsk, a town located nineteen miles south of St. Petersburg which grew around one of the most extravagant palaces in Russia. Grand Palace • Visit the golden-colored Grand Palace, situated on a bluff overlooking the Slavyanka River and surrounded by a splendid 1,500 acre park. The last of the imperial summer palaces to be built in the late 18th century, it includes a Neoclassical dome supported by 64 columns, a Throne Room, Knights Hall and Greek Hall, all decorated with paintings, bas-reliefs, gilt, marble and Gobelin tapestries. Travel to Pushkin • Travel to Pushkin, a town founded in the 18th century as a royal residence named Tsarskoye Selo. It now bears the name of the poet Pushkin, who studied in this city from 1811 to 1817. Catherine Palace • Visit the sumptuous Catherine Palace, begun in the 1750s by the Empress Elizabeth and later enlarged by Catherine II the Great. See how its striking blue and white façade extends nearly 1000 feet from the Agate Pavilion to the five-domed Palace Church. Inside, the lavish interior includes the "Golden Enfilade," a series of palatial rooms starting with the Great Hall (also called Light Gallery because of its large windows on either side), and the famous Amber Room added by Catherine the Great in 1770.
It took skilled craftsmen twelve years and several tons of amber to create this room's original amber panels from 100,000 pieces of amber, carved then perfectly fitted together along with semiprecious gems and mirrors.
Dismantled by the Nazis during World War II, the amber panels were shipped to Germany, and their location remains a mystery to this day. (The value of this "lost treasure" was estimated at 142 million dollars in 2000.) The restoration of the Amber Room to its original condition was completed in 2003.
Overnight train to Moscow • Pick up the pace tonight with an exciting ride on the famed Red Arrow, the overnight train which links St. Petersburg to Moscow.
Railway trains are different in Russia. To begin with, the railway tracks are farther apart than in Western countries, and the railway coaches are thus wider and more spacious, with purple curtains and oriental rugs on the inside, occasional silver samovar, and crisp white sheets on the sleeping berths. (One of these is reserved in your name.)
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Aboard train.
DAY 6. MOSCOW CITY SIGHTSEEING City sightseeing includes Red Square (with Lenin's Tomb on one side, and the equally well-known GUM department store on the other), St. Basil's Cathedral (built by Ivan the Terrible in the 1550s to commemorate the capture of the city of Kazan), Tverskaya Street (formerly Gorky Street), and the Kremlin.
In town, you will also see the Bolshoi Theater, the forbidding façade of the Loubianka (once the headquarters of the KGB), the narrow streets of the old Kitaï-Gorod district, the banks of Moskva River and the Duma (Federal Assembly). Then motor up to the Vorobiev Hills (Sparrow Hills, formerly called Lenin Hills), the site of Moscow State University, from which you'll enjoy a panoramic view of the city. Local Guide • A full-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Moscow, will accompany you today. St. Basil's Cathedral • On a visit to St. Basil's Cathedral, the universally recognized symbol of Moscow, get a close-up view of its extraordinary ensemble of multicolored and seemingly random steeples, pinnacles and onion-domed towers. Yet, the cathedral is designed according to a classic Greek cross pattern, with chapels arranged around the main sanctuary, all with superb interior decoration. Originally white with golden domes when it was built in the 1550s, St. Basil's was later painted with a riot of colors that accentuate the unique characteristics of the towers, arranged to symbolize the flames of a bonfire.
You will see the Novodevichy Convent, also known as the Smolensky Monastery. Founded in 1524, it is beautifully preserved and on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Ride on the Moscow Metro • Your city tour includes a visit to the Moscow Metro, inaugurated in 1935 as a state-of-the-art urban transportation system and dubbed The People's Palace. Stations were decorated by the best artists of the time, with materials brought in from different regions of the Soviet Federation. The Moscow Metro now counts 145 stations and you will visit the most beautiful, which are decorated with marble, granite, onyx, paintings, mosaics or majolica tiles.
Meals included: Breakfast on route, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Moscow.
In town, you will also see the Bolshoi Theater, the forbidding façade of the Loubianka (once the headquarters of the KGB), the narrow streets of the old Kitaï-Gorod district, the banks of Moskva River and the Duma (Federal Assembly). Then motor up to the Vorobiev Hills (Sparrow Hills, formerly called Lenin Hills), the site of Moscow State University, from which you'll enjoy a panoramic view of the city. Local Guide • A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Moscow, will accompany your group. The Kremlin • A walk within the Kremlin provides a fascinating close-up view of the luxurious palaces built by the Czars and still used as government offices. You'll also see three of the most important cathedrals in all of Russia: the Cathedral of the Dormition, where the Czars were crowned, the Cathedral of the Annunciation with its nine golden domes, and the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel, where the Czars were buried. Cathedral of the Dormition • A visit is included to the Cathedral of the Dormition, the most important church in Russia.
Travel to Suzdal via Sergiev Posad • Your coach takes you forty miles north of Moscow to Sergiev Posad, which was renamed Zagorsk during the Soviet era. For the last 500 years, this city has been the most important pilgrimage center in Russia. And, oddly enough, it has also developed a reputation as a toy-making center. The first wooden dolls, known as matryoshka, were made in this town, and production continues to this day. Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius • Most visitors are drawn to Sergiev Posad by the Troitsa Sergieva Lavra, or Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius, which you will visit. This outstanding architectural ensemble serves as the residence of the Russian Patriarch and as the administrative center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Founded in 1340 by Sergiy of Radonezh (who became Russia's patron saint), the monastery is once again open for worship and its school of theology again attracts many students. Such is the importance of Sergiev Posad that UNESCO has placed it on its list of World Heritage Sites. Cathedral of the Assumption • You will visit the blue-domed Cathedral of the Assumption (Uspenky Sobor), built in the 16th century by Czar Ivan the Terrible. Travel to Suzdal • Travel to Suzdal, along a road lined with villages that evoke times gone by with their fairy-tale diplay of gabled roofs. Look for the banyas, Russia's popular version of the sauna.
Meals included: Breakfest, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Suzdal.
DAYS 8. SUZDAL GUIDED WALKING TOUR, KIDEKSHA, BOGOLYUBOVO, VLADIMIR, MOSCOW Explore Suzdal, which became the religious center of medieval Rus after the fall of Kiev. Its wealth of monuments, towers, domes, churches and monasteries illustrate the development of Russian architecture from the 12th to the 19th centuries. Suzdal Kremlin • Visit the Suzdal Kremlin, where you will see remnants of the first stone church, built in the 12th century, the main belfry and the snow white Archiepiscopal Palace. Nativity Cathedral • Dominating the Kremlin is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God, which you will visit. This monumental building with five domes was begun in the 11th century. Travel to Moscow via Kidekcha, Bogolyubovo and Vladimir • Explore Suzdal, which became the religious center of medieval Rus after the fall of Kiev. Its wealth of monuments, towers, domes, churches and monasteries illustrate the development of Russian architecture from the 12th to the 19th centuries. Travel to Kidekcha • Travel to Kidekcha, a small village located three miles from Suzdal which was in the 12th century the residence of Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy, also known as George I of Rus. Church of St. Boris and St. Gleb • Visit the Church of St. Boris and St. Gleb, built on order of Prince Dolgorukiy. One of the oldest churches in this region of ancient monuments, it its dedicated to the princes Boris and Gleb, children of Vladimir the Great, who were the first Russian Orthodox saints to be canonized after they were murdered in 1015. Church of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Nerl photo stop • Stop on a small hill for a view of Bogolyubovo's Church of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Nerl, which dates back to 1165. This is perhaps the most famous monument in the Vladimir region, due to the elegance of its architecture, its location on a meadow overlooking the River Nerl and its connection to the Byzantine icon revered as The Virgin of Vladimir (now in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow). Half-day city sightseeing • Discover Vladimir's rich history through its striking monuments. Start at Golden Gates, the city gates built in 1164, from which you can see the two cathedrals built during the same period. Local Guide • A half-day local guide, well-educated and speciallytrained on the history and culture of Vladimir, will accompany your group. Cathedral of the Assumption • Visit the Cathedral of the Assumption, which stands on a hill by the Klyazma River and is known for its fine gilt, majolica tiles and frescoes. Dimitri Cathedral • The Dimitri Cathedral, which you will visit, is considered to be one of the most outstanding cathedrals in the country with the exceptional high reliefs carved on its façade and the outstanding frescoes and mosaics. Travel to Moscow • Travel to Moscow.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Moscow.
DAY 9. DEPARTURE Depart Moscow • Da sveedanya! The time has come to say good-bye to Russia. Memories of a strong and courageous people will animate your reports to friends and family.
Meals included: Breakfast
