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live inside the Kremlin.
From St. Petersburg 3rd Day: Saint Petersburg Visit of the St Basil’s Cathedral, a highly repre-
sentative symbol of Moscow. The church stands
Proof of the extravagance of the imperial gover-
to Moscow nors of Russia can be found in the fact that the on the east side of the Kremlin triangle and the
7 days Romanovs did not create just one, but two subur- towers above Red Square, beautifully colored in
ban residences in Carskoe Selo and Puskin which,
its entirety. Visit also the 3 cathedrals with gold-
in terms of size and excess, even surpass Ver- en domes: the Cathedral of the Dormition, the
1st Day: Saint Petersburg sailles. Visit of Catherine’s Royal Palace in “Tsar- Cathedral of the Annunciation and finally the Ca-
Arrival in St. Petersburg, the world’ s most north- skoe Selo” the village of the Tsars, about 25 km thedral of the Archangel Michael.
ern metropolis, the second largest city in Russia from St. Petersburg, today called Pushkin. The
in terms of size and population (approx. 5 million majestic palace has one of the longest facades in 6th Day: Moscow
inhabitants), as well as the most important port the world (more than 350 meters). Morning dedicated to the visit of the Novodevi-
in the country. The construction dates back to 1700, impressing chy Monastery (Novodevichy or “monastery of
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) on the spectacle of the “Great Waterfall” with water the new virgins”), one of the richest and most
the Neva delta, where the river flows into the bay features produced by 64 fountains and 37 stat- powerful convents in Russia.
with the same name, part of the Gulf of Finland, ues designed by Peter the Great. Inside there are Tsar Ivan the terrible here had the widows of the Business Proposals in Russia
it was for a long time the capital of the Russian original furniture and settings such as the study unfaithful and executed boyars locked up and
Empire, and is considered today as the Russian of the Tsar. The uniqueness is the famous Amber forced them to surrender their wealth and their
cultural capital. This was the capital and in 1914, Room, a luxurious room of the Tsar composed of lands to the convent. In the monumental ceme-
at the behest of Tsar Nicholas II, it was renamed a set of panels and furniture made of a thousand tery of the monastery are buried important polit-
Petrograd. It maintained its name until January splinters of amber. ical figures such as Khrushchev, Yeltsin and Raissa
26, 1924 (5 days after Lenin’s death) and then up Curiosity: In the animated film “Anastasia” (20th Gorbachev, poets and writers such as Gogol’ and
until September 6, 1991 it was renamed Lenin- Century Fox, 1997), Catherine’s Palace is mistak- Chekhov, composers, musicians and artists.
grad. enly represented as the residence of the impe- In the afternoon visit to the prestigious Tretjakov
rial family. In order to raise funds for the recon- Gallery, whose ancient section houses the pre-
2nd Day: St. Petersburg struction of the palace (which continues to this cious icons of the famous monk Andrej Rublev.
Morning visit to the Hermitage Museum, a true day), the administration rents the Great Hall for Among his memorable works is the icon of the
pride of the city of Peter, and the General Staff a number of high-level events, such as the Elton Trinity, with angels with human faces that revolu-
Palace with the Impressionists’ collection. John concert and the exclusive party with celeb- tionize the classically Hieratic Byzantine iconog-
rities such as Bill Clinton, Whitney Houston, Tina raphy.
Curiosity: In French “hermitage” means “solitary Turner, Sting or Naomi Campbell. Little curiosity: the ancient icons have only left
place”, “hermit’s home”. That’ s why he called the walls of the Tretyakov museum once, in 2009,
it Catherine II (called “the sovereign art lover”) 4th Day: St. Petersburg - Moscow when they were exhibited at the exhibition in
that part of the palace where wonderful mas- Departure on the morning train to Moscow. Bergamo.
terpieces were kept. Only the Empress and the The high speed train connects the 2 cities cover-
courtiers could enjoy these masterpieces. Cath- ing 720 km in about 4 hours. 7th Day: Moscow - Return back home
erine Il wrote about the Hermitage collection: From the window you can explore the villages Before leaving, visit of the Moscow Metro (also
“All this is admired only by mice and myself”. and countryside of Greater Russia. Moscow, the known as the People’s Palace), inaugurated in
The museum contains one of the most important capital, the most populous city in Europe and the 1935, at the time of Stalin.
collections in the world, over 2,900,000 pieces, main economic and financial center of Russia. It Curiosity: it is one of the largest and busiest in
including paintings by Leonardo, Raphael, Rem- has a concentric layout with several rings. The the world. It has 12 lines, 197 stations, 44 of
brandt. most important tourist areas are enclosed within which are considered cultural heritage. It is 329
A visitor once asked the guide-girl: “Please tell the first two, the ring of boulevards (Bulvarnoe km long. The deepest station, located 84 meters
us how much all the collections of the Hermitage Koltso in Russian) that delimits the old town with below ground level, is the Victoria Park station
could cost”. The girl stood there for a moment the Kremlin and the outer one of the gardens (Park Pobedi), which also has the longest esca-
and said, “But could you tell me how much the (Sadovoye Koltso). lator, 126 meters. The architectural design of the
sun costs?” metro has developed stations containing mar-
The Palace of the General Staff, once the head- 5th Day: Moscow ble and bronze statues, mosaics, bas-reliefs and
quarters of the Army General Staff, is located on Visit of the city with the most touristy places: friezes. The average passing frequency of a train
the Palace Square, on the corner of the Nevsky from the Red Square (whose name comes from is 90 seconds (in the most central stations even
Perspective and in front of the Winter Palace and the Russian adjective “krasnyj”, i.e. red, which less).
Alexander’s Column. The Empire-style building originally had the meaning of “beautiful”) with Before heading to the airport: walk along the
has a 580-metre long facade, divided by an im- the Gum Stores and the Lenin Mausoleum, cross- pedestrian street Stary Arbat (old Arbat), a land-
posing Triumphal Arch surmounted by a victory ing the lively and rich Tverskaja Street, until the mark of the artists and originally inhabited main-
chariot symbolizing the military successes of the soviet era via Gorkij and nowadays renamed ly by craftsmen. It is a pedestrian street about 1
Russian Empire against Napoleon. as in the ancient times when it served as a link km. long, located within the historic center and
Curiosity: after the construction of the building, between Moscow and Tver’, the Bolshoi The- in addition to representing a piece of history of
it was decided to devote the efforts to the com- atre, the Manege Square with the characteris- the capital, today is the shopping street par ex-
pletion of the arch. According to one of the many tic changing of the guard, the Altar of the Un- cellence. Return back home.
legends, Nicholas I doubted the solidity of the known Soldier, the ‘’ Hill of the Swallows ‘’ from
Triumphal Arch. In order to definitively convince which you can enjoy a charming panorama of the Mosca - Moscow
the emperor, the architect personally climbed city. In the afternoon visit of the territory of the 445
over the arch with all the workers involved in the Kremlin, center of power since the twelfth cen-
occasion after the end of the work. tury, surrounded by mighty walls interspersed
Continuation of the panoramic tour of the city: with towers recognizable by Moscow also by the
the Square of the Rostral Columns and on the name: tower of the Saviour, Senate tower, tower
Neva Riverfront with its palaces, the Champ of the Trinity and Kutaf’ja tower, the most solid
of Mars, the famous Nevsky perspective or the and wide (a popular name for a chubby peasant).
main street of the city, celebrated by poets and
artists, the Winter Palace Square with the Alex- Curiosity: the word “Kremlin” means fortress or
andrian column, St. Isaac’s Square and the Admi- fortified city, it used to be the residence of the
ralty with its high golden spire, the Fortress of Pe- Tsar, and today it has two main functions: to
ter and Paul, the first nucleus of the city with the house the main museum of Russia (the Kremlin
baroque cathedral with the chapel of the tombs Armoury) and to serve as the official workplace
of the Romanov family. of the President, even if the President does not
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