Square, Plaza sights in St Petersburg
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A
Dvortsovaya Pl (Palace Sq)
It is no secret where St Petersburg’s heart lies. Although it’s no longer the hub of the city, there can be little doubt that the vast expanse where Nevsky pr meets the Neva River and Dvortsovaya nab is simply one of the most striking squares in the world, still redolent of imperial grandeur almost a century after the end of the Romanov dynasty. For the most amazing first impression walk from Nevsky pr, up Bolshaya Morskaya ul and under the triumphal arch. The square’s most impressive building is the incredible green, white and gold Winter Palace (Zimny Dvorets), a rococo profusion of columns, windows and recesses, topped by rows of larger-than-life statues. A resid…
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B
Pl Dekabristov (Decembrists’ Sq)
Centred on the famed statue of the Bronze Horseman, pl Dekabristov (Decembrists’ Sq) is named after the first attempt at a Russian revolution – the Decembrists’ Uprising of 14 December 1825. The Decembrists were young officers who were inspired by radical ideas from France during the Napoleonic campaigns and wanted to introduce constitutional monarchy. Ineptly, they set up their protest on the same day as the swearing-in ceremony of the new tsar, Nicholas I. After repeated attempts by Nicholas’ ministers to reason with the rebels, they were fired upon. Many officers and bystanders died as a result. Most of the leaders later ended up on the gallows or in Siberia. The domin…
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C
Sennaya Pl
St Petersburg's Haymarket was the city's filthy underbelly immortalised by Dostoevsky, who lived in the neighbourhood and set Crime and Punishment here. Until a recent face-lift, the square was overloaded with makeshift kiosks and market stalls, which made it a magnet for the homeless, beggars, pickpockets and drunks. Despite a big clean-up effort by city authorities in time for the tercentennial in 2003, Sennaya pl retains a fundamental insalubriousness. Be on your guard walking around here at night.
The peripatetic Dostoevsky, who occupied around 20 residences in his 28-year stay in the city, once spent a couple of days in debtors' prison in what is now called the Senio…
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D
Dvortsovaya Ploshchad
The monumental Dvortsovaya ploshchad is one of the most impressive and historic spaces in the city. Stand well back to admire the palace and the central 47.5m Alexander Column named after Alexander I and commemorating the 1812 victory over Napoleon. It has stood here, held in place by gravity alone, since 1834. It was in this square that tsarist troops fired on peaceful protestors in 1905 (on a day now known as Bloody Sunday), sparking the revolution of that year. At least once a year, in summer, the square is used for free outdoor concerts; the Rolling Stones and Roger Waters have played here.
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E
Pl Iskusstv (Arts Sq)
Just a block east of the Griboedov Canal is the quiet pl Iskusstv (Arts Sq), named after its cluster of museums and concert halls. In the 1820s and 1830s, Carlo Rossi designed this square and the lovely Mikhailovskaya ul, which joins it to Nevsky pr. A statue of Pushkin, erected in 1957, stands in the middle of the tree-lined square. The square is surrounded by the Shostakovich Philharmonia, Brodsky House-Museum, Mussorgsky-Mikhailovsky Theatre, Russian Museum and Museum of Ethnography.
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F
Pl Ostrovskogo
Commonly referred to as the Catherine Gardens, after the enormous Catherine the Great statue at its centre, Pl Ostrovskogo is the scene of many a chess, backgammon and sometimes even mah-jong game. The square was designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s and 1830s. At the empress’s heels are some of her renowned statesmen, including her lovers Orlov, Potemkin and Suvorov.
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