Palace Square
Palace Square, under restoration for St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary.
Palace Square
Palace Square, under restoration for St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary.
Two very important events occured on Palace Square. The first of these events was "Bloody Sunday," the catastrophe that initiated the Revolution of 1905. On the morning of Sunday, January 9, 1905, thousands of striking workers, including their wives and children, marched into the square to present a petition for relief to Nicholas II. They were met by soldiers, who began firing on the crowd almost immediately, killing hundreds of the demonstrators.
Bolsheviks on Palace Square
After the revolution of 1917 and abdication of Nicholas II, a provisional government assumed control under the leadership of Aleksandr Kerensky and made the Winter Palace their headquarters. Within a few months the Bolshevik Party decided to assume power. On the night of October 26 they staged an armed coup d'etat, storming across the Palace Square and seizing the Provisional Government as it met within the Winter Palace.
At the center of Palace Square is the Alexander Column, which was erected in 1833 as a monument to the defeat of Napoleon in 1812. It is surmounted by an angel of peace.
The Winter Palace
A view of the Winter Palace from Palace Square
Myself in front of the Winter Palace/Hermitage
From the 1760s the Winter Palace, located on the banks of the Neva River, was the main residence of the Russian Tsars. The Winter Palace, together with four more buildings, houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from Berlin. Nowadays, the Hermitage has about 2.7 million exhibits.
A Real Russian Bear
If you visit the Hermitage you will have the chance to have your picture taken with an authentic Russian bear, provided you pay a few rubles, of course. The bear in this picture is enjoying a delicious snack of Russian ice cream in a cone. The bear's owner wasn't looking when I snapped this picture, but when he saw one of my friends take a picture he yelled at him for not paying. Whatever, the guy was being mean to the bear anyways.