Breakfast
at
the
Astoria
Hotel
.jpg)
The
most
luxurious
hotel
in
St
Petersburg
,
the
five-star
Hotel
Astoria
is
a
symbol
of
elegance
and
comfort.
With
an
unbeatable
location
in
St
Isaac's
Square
in
the
heart
of
St
Petersburg
,
Hotel
Astoria
is
situated
opposite
the
beautiful
St
Isaac's
Cathedral
and
is
within
walking
distance
of
the
Hermitage
Museum
.
As
with
all
Rocco
Forte
hotels,
the
Hotel
Astoria
reflects
its
location
and
history
with
a
meticulously
designed
interior
that
creates
an
authentic
Russian
ambience
complete
with
all
the
contemporary
facilities
that
you
would
expect
from
a
luxury
hotel.
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City
tour
including
Peter and
Paul
Fortress, St
Isaac’s
Cathedral
Peter
and
Paul
Fortress.jpg)
Czar
Peter
was
obsessed
by
the
notion
that
if
he
built
a
navy
and
created
a
secure
entrance
to
the
sea,
Russia
would
govern
the
waters
of
the
Baltic.
But
only
if
King
Charles
XII
of
Sweden
were
first
rendered
impotent.
The
Northern
War,
a
series
of
bloody
battles
that
began
in
1700
against
the
Kingdom
of
Sweden
,
raged
for
twenty-one
years,
and
nearly
bankrupted
Russia
.
In
the
third
year
of
the
war
Peter
made
a
great
show
of
brazenness
on
land
seized
from
the
Swedes.
Galloping
along
the
bank
of
the
River
Neva
on
27
May
1703,
the
czar
(at
seven
feet
two
inches
in
height
he
must
have
cut
an
imposing
figure
astride
his
horse)
signaled
to
his
men
to
halt.
Dismounting,
he
plunged
his
sabre
into
the
earth
and
proclaimed,
“Here
shall
be
a
city!”
He
commanded
that
just
off
the
riverbank,
on
the
islet
called
Hare
Island
,
a
fortress
be
built
to
protect
the
envisioned
city.
The
island
itself,
located
at
the
widest
part
of
the
Neva
and
supposedly
named
because
of
a
vast
rabbit
population,
was
just
large
enough
to
accommodate
Domenico
Trezzini’s
design
of
a
stone
fortress.
The
fortress
walls
were
built
close
to
the
island’s
banks
to
prevent
an
attacking
enemy
from
landing
on
the
beach
and
gaining
a
foothold.
In
the
centre
of
the
island
Peter
decreed
the
erection
of
a
cathedral
dedicated
to
Saints
Peter
and
Paul.
The
gold
spire
that
surmounted
the
cathedral
audaciously
proclaimed
the
birth
of
the
new
city
,
and
Peter’s
disdain
for
Sweden
’s
King
Charles.
Standing
on
Hare
Island
for
three
centuries
to
defend
St.
Petersburg
,
the
fortress,
named
afte.jpg)
r
its
cathedral,
has
never
been
attacked
or
even
fired
on.
After
losing
its
status
as
a
military
defense,
the
fortress
was
converted
to
a
political
prison,
and
an
infamous
one.
Inside
the
Peter
and
Paul
Cathedral
are
interred
all
the
Romanov
emperors
of
Russia
from
Peter
the
Great
to
Nicholas
II.
When
previous
arrangements
are
made,
visitors
are
treated
to
a
special
carillon
concert.
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St.
Isaac’s
Cathedral.jpg)
In
the
nineteenth
century
St.
Isaac’s
was
the
main
cathedral
of
the
Russian
Empire.
The
design
was
among
many
sketches
submitted
by
the
most
talented
European
architects
of
the
day.
Emperor
Alexander
I
and
his
advisers
chose
the
drawings
of
a
French
architect
called
August
Ricard
de
Montferrand,
who
arrived
in
St.
Petersburg
to
start
construction
at
the
age
of
thirty.
He
completed
his
chef
d’oeuvre
at
the
age
of
seventy,
and
expired
less
than
a
month
after
the
cathedral
opened.
In
the
annals
of
construction
St.
Isaac’s
holds
so
many
firsts
that
it
is
tedious
to
list
them.
Because
of
St.
Petersburg
’s
marshy
foundation
ground,
Montferrand
spent
the
first
five
years
laying
a
base
of
five
thousand
vertically-placed
thirty-foot
pilings—sufficient
to
support
the
structure’s
massive
weight.
The
dome,
the
world’s
third
largest,
is
actually
a
double-dome,
inside
which
workmen
inserted
120
thousand
clay
pots
to
create
unique
acoustics.
.jpg)
St.
Isaac’s,
which
can
accommodate
a
crowd
of
over
ten
thousand
without
feeling
cramped,
is
once
again
the
property
of
the
Orthodox
Church
and
now
serves
as
both
a
museum
and
holy
cathedral.
Ascending
the
stairs
to
the
top,
visitors
reach
the
colonnade
at
the
base
of
the
dome,
from
which
there
is
a
matchless
view
of
the
city.
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Check in to your hotel - (Some will be staying at the Pushka Inn Hotel and some will be staying in the Rachmaninov Antique Hotel - registrants for the post meeting tour will be notified by email)
Lunch
at
the
Aquarelle
Restaurant
The
restaurant
"Aquarelle"
appears
as
a
fusion-replica
among
the
strict
architecture
of
the
city.
Literally
gliding
over
the
smooth
water
surface,
a
transparent
three-deck
construction
wakes
up
memories
of
a
Chinese
ship-tower
or
a
Spanish
caravel
stern.
The
restaurant
looks
like
magic!
Especially
in
conjunction
with
the
Rostral
Columns
of
the
Basil’s
Island
…
The
strained
back
of
Birzhevoy
bridge
joins
these
three
objects
to
a
single
ensemble
that
fits
St.-Petersburg
landscape.
Restaurant
"Aquarelle"
is
famous
for
its
essential
openness
and
laconic
interiors.
Almost
invisible
furniture
decorates
visitors'
movements
inside
an
illuminated
organism,
creating
a
bewitching
shadow
theatre.
The
body
of
"Aquarelle"
is
the
first
glass
studio
that
doesn't
hang
over
the
crowd
near
subway
stations.
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Tour
of
Catherine
Palace
.JPG)
The
palace,
originally
a
In
1892 the
millionaire
merchant
and
textiles
manufacturer
Pavel
Tretyakov
presented
his
private
museum of
Russian
art to the
city of
Moscow.
His
brother
Sergey
also
donated a
number of
works and
the
gallery's
collection
has been
expanding
ever
since.
Today the
Tretyakov
has the
largest
and finest
collection
of Russian
art in the
world.
The
building
has a
striking
facade,
designed
by artist
Viktor
Vasnetsov,
with a
bas-relief
of St.
George and
the dragon
at its
center.
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