English for tourism and cultural science - страница 8

Then you will see Rastrelli Square, Smolny Cathedral and Smolny Institute, where you will be told about events of the Revolution of 1917.

After a drive along Nevsky Prospect you return to Arts Square with its beautiful buildings, housing the Mussorgsky Opera and the Ballet theatre and the Russian Museum.

City tour + Peter and Paul’s Fortress (by bus, with a guide/interpreter; duration – 4 hours).

The tour will take you throughout the historical center of St. Petersburg and includes spectacular views of the Neva river, Griboyedov canal, Moika canal, many bridges connecting the city islands, the Old Holland area of the city and trips to 2 main islands of Petrogradsky and Vasilyevsky.

The tour will introduce you to Nevsky Prospect – the city’s famous boulevard, the Winter Palace, other palaces and churches and to the areas of the city formerly inhabited by Dostoyevsky, Rasputin and numerous Russian princes and counts.

You will then visit Peter and Paul’s Fortress.

The fortress was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. Besides the ancient fortifications, the fortress includes the Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, built in the early 18^>th century. The bell-tower makes Peter and Paul’s Cathedral the tallest building in St. Petersburg (122.5 meters or 404 feet 3 inches high).

The cathedral includes the burial vault of Peter the Great and other Russian Tsars, the museum of Trubetskoy Bastion prison and the expositions: the History of St. Petersburg, History of the Imperial Mint as well as a printing workshop and the museum of space exploration and missilery. It is also possible to walk along the walls of the fortress and observe the fabulous architecture of the surrounding areas.

Today the fortress is one of St. Petersburg’s major tourist attractions and has become the emblem of the city.

Open: Thursday-Monday from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm, Tuesday to 4.00 pm.

Church Tour (by bus, with a guide/interpreter; duration – 3 hours).

During this tour you will get acquainted with the most famous cathedrals and churches of the city starting with St Isaac's Cathedral.

It was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia.

It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, and became one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg.

The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli.

Open: Thursday-Monday from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm.

The next stop will be at the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood (or just the Church on the Blood).

This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1881. Constructed between 1883 and 1907, the church was designed in the spirit of the 16^>th and 17^>th century Russian architecture, inspired particularly by St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow.

The interior of the church, a memorial to the late Emperor Alexander II, was decorated with different shades of marble and several thousand square yards of mosaic.

This has to be one of the city's most beautiful sights and a great spot for taking pictures.