Faith · Monarchies · People · Saint Petersburg
Alexander I was born on 12 December 1777, the year of the great flood in Saint Petersburg, which afflicted hundreds of thousands of people and killed thousands. The Emperor died on 1 December 1825, 12 months and 12 days after the second-largest flood in the city's history.
Archive · Books · Mores · People · Saint Petersburg
You will come quite unexpectedly, Clattering loudly down the corridor – Oh, how much meaning is attached To a gait, a smile, a glance! How sweet to be kissed before everyone. With a greeting that seems heartless, To hearken with a shackled heart To dear, indifferent words. Literal translation "Clattering
NB! · Archive · People · Saint Petersburg
Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · People · Saint Petersburg
Henri Rousseau, Matisse, Picasso: Sergey Ivanovich Shchukin devoted 20 years of his life to acquiring paintings from the finest French artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Cubists and Fauves cost the merchant 1 million francs; today its value is estimated at
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Saint Petersburg
An exhibition by the practising National Geographic photojournalist Gerd Ludwig, “The Long Shadow of Chernobyl”. He is the only foreign photojournalist to have received permission to photograph in the most dangerous zone at the site of Reactor No. 4. Where: Saint Petersburg, Rosphoto Museum When: 7 August-22 September The
Archive · Books · Society · Saint Petersburg · Humour
One peasant shook his fist at the criminals; he was seized, on the supposition that he was against the police. One woman was seized: she had waved a handkerchief. I inform the author of these lines, from 4 April 1881: there is still a great deal of comedy here, you
Archive · Museums · Science · Saint Petersburg
The Lomonosov Museum's collection was assembled with the help of other academic institutions, the Hermitage, the Russian and Historical Museums, and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. In 1946-1948, 343,950 roubles were spent on acquisitions, and for this sum 254 items were bought, illustrating Lomonosov'
Archive · Museums · Science · Saint Petersburg
All the scientific institutions of the Academy of Sciences were born in the Kunstkamera. And in its very centre, in the circular hall, stands what is perhaps the key exhibit: the round table at which the academicians sat in session. It came to the museum from the Manuscripts Department of
Museums · Observations · Science · Saint Petersburg
My favourite part of the Kunstkamera is the Lomonosov Museum. The collection of objects connected with the life of the great scholar and with his age is housed in the tower in the central part of the building, which was restored to its historical appearance only in the 1940s, almost
Museums · Saint Petersburg · Ethnography
This stunning outfit is the attire of a Yupik warrior from Saint Lawrence Island, in the south of the Bering Strait. Early nineteenth century. The armour protecting the back is of sealskin; the parka, mittens, trousers and boots are of leather and reindeer fur. Below: a Yupik military breastplate of
Faith · Society · People · Saint Petersburg
The widow intended to have the funeral service for Alexander Sergeyevich held in Saint Isaac's Cathedral, but was refused: the priest regarded the duel as a suicide and declined to bury the poet. Other churches refused too. Far too many believed that Pushkin had in effect quit this
NB! · Architecture · Faith · People · Saint Petersburg