My Russian Life: St. Petersburg at Night

Most people who visit St. Petersburg, especially for non-business related reasons, come here during the summer. It is the "White Nights", when we have only 4-5 hours per day of partial darkness. The weather is nice (at least for this part of the world!), the days are long, and there are people everywhere having a good time. But what you miss when you come during the summer is seeing the city buildings lit up.

To me, the city is much more beautiful at night. Maybe it's because you don't notice the dirt! Here are some recent photos that I've taken while walking home in the evening. The streets look deserted, and they are as compared to the summer time, but it's still pretty safe as compared to a lot of cities.

Here are a few pictures of the Winter Palace, which is one of the main buildings within the Hermitage Museum. The Hermitage is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. It was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764. The Winter Palace was the official residence of the Russian monarchs from 1732 until the 1917 revolution.

In the square

Cool entrance doors

View of the Hermitage from Nevsky Prospect, near the Neva River

I'm loving this picture of St. Issac's Cathedral & the Astoria Hotel. The Astoria Hotel has an important spot in history; Adolph Hitler was planning to throw a victory party at the hotel, assuming that Leningrad (what is now St. Petersburg) would fall to the Germans during WWII. The hotel still has the letter requesting the party, and the invitation.

Russia did NOT fall to the Germans. The siege of Leningrad lasted from September 1941 to January 1944 - 872 days - with over 1.2 million casualities out of 3 million residents. If you are interested in history, it's an amazing story to read & provides some insight into the Russian people & their culture.

Picture of the Senate Building near my apartment

St. Petersburg City Hall building. During the day, it's jammed with people & cars, lots of activity and politicians milling about.

A view of St. Isaac's Square (Исаакиевская площадь). You can see the statue of Nicholas I. The building is an apartment & office building

The Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great) at night. Love it!

This is the Admiralty Building. Peter the Great was obsessed with building a strong Navy. Built in 1704, it's been damaged quite a bit over years - most of the statues were damaged in the mid 1800's for being "Pagan" per the Orthodox clergy, and the building suffered from bombing during WWII. Today, the building is used as the Naval headquarters for the city & as a school for Naval cadets.