St Petersburg Further Distractions
Far from being a mainstream tourist attraction, Piskarivskoye Memorial Cemetery is a place of pilgrimage for the dwindling survivors of the 1941-44 siege of Leningrad. A visit here is all the more poignant for this reason. Below large grassy mounds, under the gaze of a massive bronze of Mother Russia, lie the mass graves of 500,000 St Petersburg citizens who starved to death in the Nazi blockade. The story of the suffering and endurance of the city is powerfully told in the Memorial Halls.
Nepokorennykh prospekt 72
Tel: (812) 247 5716.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Free admission.
Kreyser Avrora (Cruiser Aurora)
Launched in St Petersburg in 1900, the Cruiser Aurora played a significant role in the major events of Russian history in the first half of the 20th century. After serving in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the cruiser fired the shot at the Winter Palace in 1917 that signalled the storming of the palace and the beginning of Bolshevik rule. The Aurora was sunk during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941 but raised again 1944, and refitted as a museum in the 1950s. Inside you can see the crew's quarters and the gun that fired the historic shot, but the exterior with its huge chimneys and mounted guns is just as impressive.
Naberezhnaya Petrovskaya, opposite the Nakhimov Navy School
Tel: (812) 230 8440.
Opening hours: Tues-Thurs, Sat and Sun 1030-1600.
Free admission.
Muzyei Antropologiy i Etnografii imena Petra Velikovo - Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology - Kunstkamera)
The oldest state museum in all of Russia, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology is centred on the cabinet of curiosities assembled by Peter the Great during his grand tour of Europe. Although the museum has numerous exhibits on people and cultures from around the world, the collection of physically abnormal foetuses preserved in alcohol is what draws in the crowds. The collection is best for visitors with an intense scientific curiosity, as well as a strong stomach.
Naberezhnaya Universitetskaya 3
Tel: (812) 328 1412.
Website: www.kunstkamera.ru
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1100-1900, closed last Tues of the month, ticket offices close 80 minutes before closing time.
Admission charge.
Tours of St Petersburg
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