For more information visit the official stopover site at www.petersburg2009.ru
KEY DATESEstimated Yacht arrivals: 27/06/2009
25th June 2009 1800hrs Race village official opening ceremony
26th June 20091000hrs Race village is open2000hrs-2300hrs City celebrations. An evening party in the Race Village
27th June 20090900hrs – 2300hrs Race village openExpected yacht arrivals 1800hrs – 1830hrs (Timings TBC) Leg 10 Prize Giving Ceremony 2000hrs – 2300hrs Open air party ‘Welcome to St Petersburg’, with host DJ’s, live bands and fireworks
28th June 20090900hrs - Race village open1200hrs – 1330hrs The overall Prize Giving Ceremony for the Volvo Ocean Race2000hrs - Closing Ceremony
KEY DATES Estimated Yacht arrivals: 27/06/2009
Tour guide Maria Sedova stood outside the beautiful cathedral in St Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt, Russia’s most famous street, and proudly pointed in both directions of the five km-long artery that cuts through the centre of this historic port city.
“Here,” she said, “there is history on every street corner”.
But here also on this broad early 18th century avenue, and only a few hundred metres away from the cathedral, was a crowded McDonald’s Restaurant, one of more than 20 that have opened in the city in the last 15 years. There are plans for nearly 50 more by 2010.
St Petersburg, the country’s heart and soul, is a city on the move. President Vladimir Putin’s cosmopolitan home town, while embracing its famous and regal past as the country’s capital for more than 200 years, is a city moving forward and typifies Russia’s rapid march away from the stranglehold of the Soviet era.
Hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists flock to Russia’s second city every year to drink in the culture and visit the famous palaces, museums and churches.
St Petersburg was founded by the great Czar, Peter the Great, whose grand design – he hated Moscow - was to build a Baltic port as his window on Europe and make it his new home and capital.
Peter personally supervised construction of the city, and imported engineers, architects, shipbuilders and businessmen to realise his dream of a Venice of the North, a city of canals.
The Winter Palace was begun in 1762, built in the Baroque style by Peter the Great’s daughter Elizabeth Petrovna.
From the 1760s under Catherine the Great, it became the main residence of the Czars until the capital moved back to Moscow.
Today of course the palace and four adjoining buildings with their magnificent location on the banks of the Neva, houses St Petersburg’s most famous attraction – the Hermitage Museum. The green and white three-storey building boasts 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 117 staircases and more than 1,000 lavishly decorated halls and rooms.
It was Catherine who went on a buying spree of paintings from Europe to start the collection which has now grown to more than 2.7 million exhibits, a vast range of art and artefacts from all over the world which date back to Ancient Egypt. While Catherine limited access to her friends and nobles, the collection is now a must for visitors to St Petersburg.
Food
You can forget about the bad old days of pickled cabbage, potatoes and little else, St Petersburg has a wide range of local and international eating places, from top quality five-star restaurants to budget fast-food cafes.
The current food fad with the locals is Japanese sushi, but the hundreds of restaurants boast multinational fare ranging from Armenian and Azerbaijani, Chinese and Thai, to French and Italian.
If you like food at the extreme, you could of course venture on board the Letuchy Golandets (Flying Dutchman), a large replica wooden galleon near the fortress, with a fantastic view of the Hermitage, which offers an amazing mix of Russian and Latin-American cuisine. It also has a wine list which ranges from just over US$10 to a US$5,400 Bordeaux (Petrus Pomerol 1994). Down below in the hold there is a fitness centre to run off the meal taken above!
And then there’s the nightlife – bars, clubs. So after taking in the opera, the theatre or a concert – and St Petersburg is Russia’s cultural capital – you can venture out to dance and drink or vicariously watch Russia’s youth party into the night. Two cult favourites among the ex-pats and local students are The Idiot (poor old Fyodor) and Cynic Bar.
So, with a combination of culture and cosmopolitan, it is no surprise that Oleg Zherebtsov, the St Petersburg businessman behind the Russian entry in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, confidently predicts that St Petersburg will host a spectacular finish in the summer of 2009.
“It is fitting that the finish is in St Petersburg because the founder of the city, Peter the Great, was also the founder of the first Naval Academy here way back in the early 1700s.” he says.
Appropriately, the first sporting event recorded in the city was a rowing event. “We are looking at a new age of sailing in this country,” Zherebtsov said.
For more information on the St Petersburg stopover site, visit www.petersburg2009.ru
10 places to visit in St Petersburg
St Petersburg offers so many cathedrals, churches and museums, it is almost impossible to draw up a short must-see list.
Nevsky Prospekt – The 5 km artery of the city cannot be avoided unless you fly over the city. This broad avenue is the main thoroughfare and Russia’s most famous street. If offers historic churches, cathedrals, squares, bridges, canals, hotels, shops, restaurants and clubs.
Hermitage Museum – No point in visiting St Petersburg if you don’t go to the city’s most famous attraction. Remarkably there are nearly three million works of art housed in five connected buildings, dominated by the Winter Palace. If you are into numbers, the museum boasts 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 117 staircases and 1,057 halls and rooms.
Peter and Paul Fortress – The city’s cradle and its first settlement. Now a tourist complex permanently open to the public, it houses the Peter and Paul Cathedral, including the tombs of Peter the Great and most of his successors. It also has a number of museums, galleries and spectacular riverside views.
St Isaac’s Cathedral - Fully restored, it is one of the world’s largest cathedrals. Designed in the early 18th century as a tribute to Peter the Great, the climb to the top of the dome provides an unsurpassed view of the city on a clear day. The interior is adorned with gold trim, mosaics and paintings.
Church of the Saviour on the Spilt Blood – This church would look more at home in Moscow than in the European centre of this city. However, it is one of its most beautiful landmarks. The church’s awkward name stems from the 1881 terrorist murder of Alexander I on the spot where the church was built. During the Soviet era, it was used to store vegetables.
The Mikhailovsky Castle – The city’s only castle, while architecturally interesting it also stands as witness to the story of the short, dramatic reign of Emperor Paul I, son of Catherine the Great. Poor old Paul waited 40 years to ascend the throne, then, after building the castle as a fortress to protect himself, he was assassinated in 1801 four years, four months and four days into his reign - and 40 days after his castle’s inauguration. Four was not his lucky number. The building is now the largest museum of Russian art.
Astoria Hotel – Of all the hotels to visit and/or have a meal, this luxurious establishment with its unrivalled setting in St Isaac’s Square also has a history that bears testament to the city’s courage during the 900-day siege by the Nazis in the Second World War. Legend has it that Hitler sent out invitations for a celebratory reception in anticipation of his capture of the city. The hotel staff are still waiting. Authentic Russian cuisine at its finest in the Davidov Restaurant.
The Summer Garden and Peter the Great’s Summer Palace – A masterpiece of Russian landscape art, the garden was laid out at the beginning of the 18th century shortly after the birth of the city. It originally boasted 250 sculptures by Italian masters but only 89 have survived which are in the Russian Museum (see above). The gardens are home to Peter the Great’s Summer Palace, the Coffee House and the Tea House.
The Bronze Horseman – A monument to the city’s founding father, Peter the Great, built as a tribute by Catherine the Great and unveiled in 1782. The famous equestrian statue was the work of Etienne Maurice Falconet, except the head which was sculpted by his pupil, 18-year-old Marie-Anne Collet. The horse can be seen trampling a serpent, which has been variously interpreted as representing treachery or vanquishing the Swedes in the Northern War.
The Bread Museum – Now for something completely different, the museum is the only one of its kind in Russia and was opened in 1988. It is not surprisingly devoted to bread, the mainstay of Russian life. It traces the history of the staff of life from Ancient Egypt to bread making throughout Russian history. Not to be missed are the gargantuan Soviet era bread making machines.
Getting here By Plane: There is one airport in St. Petersburg, Pulkovo airport. The airport is located to the south of the city. Please note there are two terminals in Pulkovo airport Pulkovo 1 (Domestic, CIS and some international flights) Location: 18 km south from the city centre General number: +7812 704 3822, 24 hours Lost and found: +7812 331 4244, 24 hours Pulkovo 2 (International flights) Location: 17 km south from the city centre Information: +7812 704 3444, 24 hours Lost and found: +7812 324 3787, 24 hours
Arriving - Passport control and collecting your luggage can take 1 hour at busy times - As long as you don't bring drugs, weapons or billions of Euros you don’t need to fill in the ‘Customs and Currency Declaration Statement’. Just choose 'Green Channel' - If your luggage is lost, you will need to go to the Lost Luggage office and file a report - Airport taxi’s are available and can cost anything from 1500 RuR, 50 Euros or 50 US$ - Public buses and fixed route-minibuses are available to the city center (costing approximately~ 30 RuR) - Commuting time from the airport to the City Center and Race Village will take approximately 1 hour. Traffic can be unpredictable
Departing - Remember to tell the driver which terminal you are going to (in most cases it’ll be Pulkovo-2, but check to be sure) - The general recommendation is to get to the airport 2 hours prior to your flight departure
By Train: There are four train stations in St. Petersburg which operate long-distance trains. All of them are connected with metro stations and definitely have taxi services. Locations are various
By Bus: There are several pick-up\drop-off points in the city and most of them are located in the city center or close Central Bus Station Address: Naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala 36 Most Buses from the Baltic states Baltiisky Station (“Baltiiskaya” metro) Most Buses from Finland: Nevsky prospect (city main road)
By Car: Several motorways lead to the city from several ends Drive on the right 60 km per hour in the city. And of course permits and registrations are required
By Boat: Cruise ships and also private vessels anchor at the main Sea Passenger Terminal (the western part of the city) 20 minutes away from the city center