On 24th February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This unjustified attack violates the UN Charter, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Until such time that Russia ends this aggression, I will not visit Russia and would encourage my readers to do the same.
From my travels in Russia, I know that the current aggression and conflict will not have universal support among its people. However, tourism facilitates the transfer of money, and in this case, it will fund the aggression against Ukraine. I visited Russia a number of years ago and this post is an account of my time there plus the travel advice relevant for that period. Please review travel guidelines to Russia provided by your government.
The writing was on the wall for the Russian royal family prior to the 1917 revolutions when their trusted confidante, licentious mystic Rasputin, was elaborately murdered at the Yusupov Palace in late 1916 (poisoned, shot, beaten and drowned).
For a background on the history and sites associated with Imperial Russia have a look at my post Romanov St. Petersburg post. This post will also explain why St. Petersburg changed its name to Petrograd in 1914.
While the post-February revolution Provisional Government began the slow task of putting the wheels of democracy in motion, it didn’t deliver the immediate needs of St. Petersburg’s population: food and withdrawal from World War I.
COMMUNIST TOUR ST. PETERSBURG
To see the sites associated with this next phase of city’s history, I undertook a communist tour of St. Petersburg during my visit facilitated by Petersburg Free Tour although the tour didn’t include the Smolny Institute. Their free tour comes equally recommended and covers all eras of the city’s history.
THE RETURN OF LENIN
FINLYANDSKY RAILWAY STATION:
The arrival of exiled revolutionary Vladimir Lenin at Finlyandsky railway station in April 1917 is a pivotal moment in Russian and world history. His subsequent rhetoric combined with his Bolshevik following led to the October Revolution (November in the Gregorian calendar), arresting and overthrowing the Provisional Government.
The locomotive that Lenin arrived in is on permanent exhibit at Finlyandsky railway station.
CRUISER AURORA:
On the night of 25th October 1917, the Cruiser Aurora, docked in St. Petersburg’s harbour, fired a signal shot to the revolutionaries that began the assault on the Winter Palace.
The Cruiser Aurora is still docked in the harbour and is now a museum. The nearest metro station is Gorkovskaya.
SMOLNY INSTITUTE:
Lenin was now in charge and used the Smolny Institute as his base until 1918 when he moved the capital back to the safety of inland Moscow. The abdicated royal family were subsequently executed.
Lenin’s faction was renamed the Communist Party and when Lenin died in 1924 St. Petersburg was renamed for a second time in 10 years, going from Petrograd to Leningrad in memory of the Communist leader.
STALIN ERA
Subsequent political manoeuvres brought Stalin to power who engaged in ridding Leningrad of Lenin’s intellectual followers. Worse was yet to come for Leningrad as the Nazis lay siege to the city from mid 1941 to early 1944. Over a million city dwellers died from starvation during the blockade.
SOLOVETSKY STONE:
Stalin continued with his purges post-WWII until his death in 1953. The Solovetsky Stone, a boulder of granite from the Solovetsky labour camp in the White Sea, is a monument to prisoners of political oppression. Located on Troitskaya Ploschad it was unveiled in 2002.
BACK TO ST. PETERSBURG
Leningrad’s population began ridding the despised fallen communist regime from their lives by electing to return their city to its original name of St. Petersburg in 1991. Like the rest of Russia the city went through a state of post-communism flux.
St. Petersburg has had an extraordinary influence in world culture and politics, and discovering this legacy made for an interesting holiday.
For a practical travel guide to the city, check out my Visiting St. Petersburg post. Further information can be found on my Russia Travel Tips post.
Arrivals Hall 