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If you have already been to St. Petersburg and its major attractions – or if this is your first visit and you’d like to take some more unusual excursions — I would like to suggest some places that are not usually included in the standard tours.
Stieglitz Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts
The Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts was founded in 1878 at the Baron Stieglitz school of Technical Design. Shtieglitz was a court banker, sometimes referred to as the “King of St. Petersburg’s Stock Exchange.” He was also very fond of Arts. Initially, Shteieglitz wanted to create a museum just for the students of this school, but this collection evolved into one of Europe’s richest collections of decorative and applied arts with over 30, 000 exhibits, most of which were transferred to the Hermitage following the 1917 revolution.
At present, the museum displays examples of Russian and Western European Art (16th-20th centuries) as well as Soviet Applied Art and industrial design. There are remarkable collections of Russian tiled stoves (18th century) and Soviet textiles.
St. Petersburg Lomonosov Porcelain Factory
The Lomonosov Imperial Porcelain Factory was founded in 1744 in St. Petersburg by decree of Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great’s daughter. In the beginning, this manufacturer specialized in producing small items such as snuff boxes for Empress Elizabeth, which she used to present to her court favourites and send as diplomatic gifts.The hour of glory for the royal porcelain factory came when Catherine the Great ordered it to manufacture luxury tableware sets for the court. Some of these sets contained over a thousand separate pieces!
The products of this factory are represented in the collections of many of the biggest museums of the world. Collectors and art lovers buy these porcelain sets at Sotheby’s and Kristi auctions for incredible amounts of money.
Currently, the masters of this factory are still creating hand-made and hand-painted porcelain, continuing the traditions of their famous Russian predecessors.
On the first floor of this factory there is the Factory Shop where you can purchase pieces of their work.
The Museum Of Russian Vodka
If you ask in any country of the world “What Russia is associated with?” the answer is most likely to be “with vodka!” And indeed, vodka is one of the most famous drinks and a mainstay of Russian culture. Living in a severe Northern climate, the Russians always loved to drink a glass of vodka accompanied by good ‘zakuska’ (appetizers) “to warm up.” Vodka still plays a big part of modern Russian life, for better or for worse — with it people commemorate the most important events such as weddings, departure for a long trip, a birth of a baby.There were even periods in Russian history when a bottle of vodka was a kind of national currency, used to pay for all sorts of small services, even preferable to cash payments. On the whole, vodka in Russia is a unique cultural phenomenon that has been the focus of even scientific research studies.
It is interesting to note that Russians were not always vodka drinkers, as many people think. Vodka appeared only in the middle of the 15th century.The word “vodka” was noted in the 17th century and is most likely to be a derivative of “voda” (water). Before that, other names were used, such as ‘bread wine,’ ‘burning wine,’ and ‘bitter wine.’
Too tired after the excursion? There of course is time to sample different brands of vodka and to find out about the traditional drinking toasts -“Na Zdoroviye!’
Museum of the Political History of Russia
A political history museum has existed in St.Petersburg since 1919. It was first housed in the Winter Palace and known as the Revolution Museum — quite a symbolic meaning, as this site was the former residence of Russian Tsars.
In 1955 the museum was given two splendid mansions situated on Petrogradskaya side of the city.
One of the mansions had belonged to famous prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre, Matilda Kshesinskaya. The name of the great dancer was always cloaked in romantic gossips. According to story, there was a secret underground passage between the mansion of Kshesinskaya and the Winter Palace, situated on the other bank of the Neva. The Emperor was said to be deeply in love with the first dancer and, it was rumored, was a frequent visitor. In March 1917, Kshesinskaya left Russia for good and the Bolsheviks occupied the abandoned house. The famous balcony of the building served as a tribunal for Lenin’s speeches on more than one occasion.
The exhibition includes documents, leaflets, photographs, revolutionary banners from 1917, and various personal belongings of eminent figures of the Communist Party and members of the revolutionary movement. New expositions have been recently created and still enjoy popularity: “Democracy or Dictatorship? The political parties and Russain power from Monarchy to Perestroika,” “Russia’s New Times,” and “Power and Society” are among the more recent exibits.
The Museum of Musical Instruments
The museum of musical instruments was opened by Baron Stakelberg in the Sheremetyev Palace’s gallery wing. This palace is located on the site which Peter I presented to his field-marshal, Count Boris Sheremetev. Starting in the late 18th century, the palace was one of the centers of St. Petersburg’s theatrical and musical life. Counts Sheremetyev kept a splendid theatre, run by serfs, which was well known in the capital. The palace also recalls the romantic lovestory of count Nikolai Sheremetev and the brilliant serf singer Prascovya, who later became Countess Sheremeteva.
The exhibition recounts the history of the Sheremetyev family, and contains a collection of musical instruments numbering over 3000 pieces. A set of horns that formed a single orchestra (a peculiar Russian cultural phenomenon) is of particular interest. The display also features more than 400 flutes (including some from Alexander I’s collection), Amati and Stradivary violins, a spinet from 1532, instruments once owned by Glinka and Tchaikovsky, as well as other rare items.
Backstage Tour of the Mariinsky Theatre
Why just see a performance at the world famous Mariinsky Theatre when you can also explore backstage? You will see how a performance is engineered, the rooms where the dancers and singers prepare, and how the scenery is made.The tour can be combined with a performance, followed by late dinner in the similarly-themed “Backstage” restaurant.
Konstantinovsky Palace
Better known as the “Palace of Putin,” this presidential residence was recently renovated at great cost (allegedly over $300 million) with the help of 5, 000 workers in just 12 months. Originally built in the 18th century for the Romanov family, it was the center of the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the city (2003), and in 2006 the location of the G8 Summit.
Of the palace’s fifty rooms, several are open to the public when no state functions are taking place. A balcony here affords a breathtaking view of the huge park and canals leading to the Gulf of Finland.
Even the wine cellar has been reconstructed and now holds a wide array of wines, among them Hungarian Tokay wines, as it did when this was a royal residence.
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