ART TREASURES OF ST PETERSBURG
Art Treasures of St Petersburg will appeal to anyone who has ever wished to deepen his or her appreciation of Peter the Great’s legendary capital.
Seemingly impervious to the ravages of time, siege and communist levelling, St Petersburg retains much of its pre-revolutionary magnificence. The focal point of our eight-day tour will be that museum without compare, the Hermitage, occupying six stately buildings on the banks of the River Neva. As well as reviewing the Hermitage’s unsurpassed collections of Old Master and 20th century canvases, we will venture deep inside the museum’s storage chambers, the Staraya Derevnya Depository, where we will admire a wealth of rarely-seen treasures, ranging from imperial wardrobes to regal carriages.
A number of treats await us outside St Petersburg, not least Rastrelli’s Konstantinovsky Palace, one of 18th century Russia’s most beautiful historic monuments - and now known as “Putin’s Palace”. Just south of St Petersburg lies Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin), where the Catherine Palace was transformed into a Baroque masterpiece for the empress Elizabeth by Rastrelli before being remodelled for Catherine the Great by Charles Cameron. Cameron also worked on Pavlovsk, just a few miles away, with its English park and Temple of Friendship.
Back in St Petersburg we will inspect the log cabin where Peter the Great lived whilst planning his embryonic capital and the fortress where he is buried alongside his imperial successors.
We stay throughout at the Sokos Olympic Garden Hotel, a deluxe modern hotel located close to the centre of St Petersburg. Some dinners will be enjoyed at local restaurants.
The leader of this tour, the art historian and former curator Colin Bailey, PhD, FSA, FSAScot, has been visiting St Petersburg for over fifteen years. “The ‘art treasures’ in the tour’s title”, Colin reports, “reflect the peerless collections of paintings and sculptures on view in St Petersburg’s galleries as well the city’s magnificent 18th to 20th century architecture. These two elements combine to make St Petersburg one of Europe’s most visually compelling destinations”.
Itinerary
Day 1Depart Heathrow 0940 on British Airways for St Petersburg, arriving 1605. Transfer to Sokos Olympic Garden Hotel for seven nights.
Day 2Morning lecture: History of St Petersburg through its Architecture followed by orientation tour: St Nicholas’s Cathedral, Strelka, Kazan Cathedral, Nevsky Prospekt, Log Cabin of Peter the Great, Peter and Paul Fortress (birthplace of St Petersburg).
Day 3Morning lecture: History of Hermitage Art Collection followed by first visit to Hermitage: Gold Room, Italian paintings (from Simone Martini to Bernardo Bellotto).
Day 4Morning lecture: Highlights of Russian Painting in Russian State Museum followed by Russian State Museum (world-class collection of art housed in Mikhailovsky Palace). Afternoon: Depository of State Hermitage Collection.
Day 5Whole-day excursion to Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo): Baroque Catherine’s Palace (recently-restored amber room) and park (lunch included) followed by Pavlovsk (English park and Temple of Friendship) and Chesma Church.
Day 6Whole-day visit to Hermitage: Dutch and Flemish paintings (from Robert Campin to Rembrandt), Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Picasso and Matisse collections. Evening: dinner at Behind the Scenes restaurant followed by optional performance at Mariinsky Theatre.
Day 7Menshikov Palace, Yusupoc Palace, Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Tikvin Cemetery (tombs of Russian writers and composers).
Day 8Monument of Siege of Leningrad, Konstantinovsky (former President Putin’s restored palace) at Strela. Depart St Petersburg 1705, arriving Heathrow 1745.
Cost includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, breakfast, dinner & four lunches, excursions & admissions.
Not included: visa, travel insurance, single room supplement £280, optional ballet at Mariinsky Theatre (contact ACE for tickets).
