Our ship, The Viking Sergei Kirov, arrives in Saint Petersburg's Salt Pier where it becomes
our floating hotel for the next several days.

The Smolnyy Convent was founded in 1748 by Czarina Elizabeth for young noblewomen to be educated. The central building is a cathedral flanked by two convent wings.

St Isaac's Cathedral  was designed in 1818 by August de Montferrand. Nearly 100 kilograms of pure gold were used to cover its golden dome which dominates the city skyline (R). When built, it was the largest cathedral in Russia. During the Soviet era, this church was designated a museum dedicated to atheism.  St Isaacs "saint isaac's cathedral"  "Saint Isaac"

The nameplate of the cruiser Aurora (L). On 25 October 1917 at 940 pm, this cruiser signaled the beginning of the Russian Revolution by firing a single shot from its deck gun (R). Shortly after firing, the Winter Palace was stormed and the provisional government taken into custody. The ship is now a museum.

The Church On Spilled Blood, also known as the Resurrection Church of Our Savior, was built on the spot where Czar Alexander II was assassinated on 1 March 1881 (thus the 'spilled blood'). Commissioned by his successor, Czar Alexander III, the foundation stone was laid in 1883. This is one of my most favorite buildings in Russia. Jerrold Patz   

Additional pictures of the Church On Spilled Blood. We circled this building several times to try to get good angles on the building, pictures without overhead wires or other obstructions. In all, we took over 100 pictures of this one building.

These Rostral Columns are in front of the Naval Museum and were originally used as lighthouses to guide ships through the busy port of Saint Petersburg. The columns were decorated with protruding ship' prows to commemorate naval victories. The figures at the base represent four of Russia's great rivers - the Neva, Volga, Dneiper, and the Volkhov.

View from the Winter Palace across Palace Square. In the center (R) is the Alexander Column commemorating the defeat of Napoleon in 1812. The curved area (L) is the Guards Headquarters and General Staff Building. The arch is crowned by Carlo Rossi's 16-ton sculpture of Winged Glory.

The Hermitage Museum is housed inside one of the Winter Palace buildings. The pictures show (L) the main staircase and (R) a detail of the wall ornamentation.

Two additional views within the Hermitage, the second largest collection of art in the world (after Paris's Louvre). (L) a view of the almost endless corridors and archways and (R) some of the gold-framed statuary.

The main entrance to the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (L) housing tombs of the czars and their families. (C) three czars with Peter the Great being the furthest. (R) A detail of the tomb and a bust of Peter the Great, founder of Saint Petersburg.

Additional interior photos of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. (L) a detail of the ceiling, (C) the final resting place of the last Czar Nicholas II, his family and some close servants, and (R) the main altar of the cathedral.

Catherine's Palace is located in Tsarskoye Selo ("czar's village", also called Pushkin) outside of Saint Petersburg. Here we see the main gate (L), a detail of its gold
ornamentation (C), and (R) one of the wings of the palace.

The gold and ornamentation were overwhelming. There was so much gold that it began to appear to be ordinary. (L) a ballroom, (C) a gilded doorway flanked by two ceramic heaters, and (R) a detail of the gold feet on the heaters and a chair.

Naimah took a picture of us in one of the gold-framed mirrors. At the bottom, you can see our blue, hospital-like, shoe coverings.  Jerrold Patz,

Surreptitious pictures from within the recreated Amber Room. An eye-popping
display of hundreds of square meters of Baltic amber with colors ranging from
honey to dark syrup.

The grounds of the palace are massive. It includes several pavilions (L), outbuildings, bathhouses, etc. There was even signage (R) for us to find our way. (C) Naimah poses in front of the main section of the palace.