The Grand Palace is meant to look like Versailles... and it does
honour of being shown around the museum by the director — a rare privilege.
Make sure you don’t miss the Michelangelo statue Crouching Boy. He’s bending down and pulling a thorn out of his foot. It’s not as well-known as David, but it’s so real that you can feel his pain.
Mary’s favourites are the Dutch rooms, featuring huge collections by the likes of rembrandt and van Dyck.
What we couldn’t work out, and the director was silent on the issue, was how much of the contents are stolen. The russians looted museums and galleries across Europe at the end of World War II.
I sometimes look at a picture and wonder whether it should be in Germany or poland or the former Czechoslovakia. But, unsurprisingly, when you raise the subject, people don’t (or won’t) say anything.
outside the Hermitage in palace square — where key events of the october revolution of 1917 took place — the first thing that hits you is the colour. The buildings are resplendent in a mix of gold, red and green.
At night, it’s wonderfully lit. The locals complained about the cost — until they saw the effect it had on tourism.
Crossing the Neva river is the palace Bridge. Many married couples go there to have their photograph taken. It’s quite charming watching them queuing up to be snapped: it’s almost compulsory.
We’re usually in st petersburg in July (I still take a couple of sweaters, though it’s generally warm), however I’m told by aficionados that you should go in January, because you really will have the palaces and museums to yourself.
If that’s the case, you’ll need layers of extra clothing, though, even then, it’s not really cold by russian standards — only minus 10c or thereabouts. A bit like Cambridge.
I did buy a russian hat, known as an ushanka, which also feels at home in Cambridgeshire. It’s beautifully warm, covers your
ears and goes under your chin.
Peter the Great wanted the Peterhof Palace — actually a series of palaces, including the Grand Palace, and now a Unesco World Heritage Site — to be a mini Versailles, and he certainly succeeded.
They’ve spent millions of roubles repainting the main buildings in green and red with gold leaf — it looks magnificent.
AND
that’s before you even get inside. You can walk around the grounds for several hours just admiring the fountains.
Another absolute must-see is the Amber Room. You’d be very foolish to go to St Petersburg and not visit it. Quite simply, it’s unique.
It’s located in the Catherine Palace — once the summer residence of the Tsars — about 20 miles (a short car or bus journey) south of St Petersburg in the town of Pushkin.
Of course, the original room
was dismantled in World War II and disappeared, so you’re looking at a reconstruction. But what a reconstruction! Even for aficionados, who would know?
It’s a huge, square room decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors: simply breathtaking. You can see why the original was considered the ‘ eighth wonder of the world’.
Like everywhere else, it’s incredibly crowded, but visit the palace, be patient and you’ll reach the room eventually.
Outside the Catherine Palace are some of the finest gift shops I’ve ever been to. They do sell touristy things, but you’ll also find genuinely good craftsmanship at reasonable prices. Over the years, we have purchased several amber mementoes.
Ironically, given my love for St Petersburg, my book Heads You Win — which opens with a KGB assassination — is not being published in Russia.
Its hero, Alexander Karpenko, born on the fifth floor of one of the brutal Communist- era tenements that still circle the city, is forced to flee after his father is killed for defying the state.
Even though it has already being published in 11 languages in 15 countries, Russia has passed on this one, despite publishing many of my other books.
We tried 11 publishers, but none would consider it, which is a source of great sadness.
That said, I’m in good company. The highly respected British historian Antony Beevor has seen his books barred in parts of the country after writing brilliantly about World War II atrocities committed by Russian soldiers. I suspect the reason for my
de facto ban is my portrayal of the repressive Moscow regime and its efforts to hinder Karpenko, plus my final sentence, which would not go down well in the Kremlin.
Russians do seem to like strong leadership. The truth is, they’ve got a modern Tsar in charge at the moment and, although he is ruthless, that clearly suits many of them. despite this, I hope I will one day return to St Petersburg. I often think if I could only visit one city again in my life, it would have to be there.