The ancient cities of Russia

St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as “the window to Europe”. Since 1712 till 1918 St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia. It is rightly considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It impresses one by the combination of monumental architecture with the strict planning of its broad streets and squares, parks, gardens, canals and buildings forming a single harmonic pattern. The most char­acteristic part of the city's architecture is the Neva embank­ment area where one finds such fine architectural monuments as the Smolny Institute, the Field of Mars, the Palace Square, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral and many other historical buildings, castles and palaces.

St. Petersburg is a city of great cultural importance. There are about 50 museums and more than 30 theatres and concert halls in St. Petersburg.

The tourists following the route mentioned above will spend 3 days in St. Petersburg. The guide-interpreter will meet them in the airport and help them to get accommodation in the hotel («Russ» or «Palace of Youth»). The tourists will be offered dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The next day after breakfast the group will go for a city tour by coach and visit the world-famous Hermitage — one of the most outstanding art museums in the world. It is the largest museum in Russia and it is known through­out the world for its collection of art treasures: paintings, sculptures, pieces of primitive and ancient cultures and ma­ny other things.

In the afternoon the tourists will have spare lime to explore the city on their own. In the evening the tourists will dine in the hotel restaurant.

On the third day after breakfast the group will go on a coach excursion to one of the former tsar's residences in the suburbs of St. Petersburg: Petrodvorets, famous for its parks, fountains and the Great Palace; Pushkin, where the pearl of Russian architecture — Catherine's Palace is situ­ated in the marvelous park or Pavlovsk, one of the most beau­tiful St. Petersburg's environments, the summer residence of Russian emperor Paul the First. The excursion includes a visit to one of these palaces.

After the excursion the tourists will be taken to the railway station from where they will leave for Pskov by our "retro-train". In the train the tourists will have dinner. This day and during the whole journey the skilled dining-car staff will provide them with delicious and diverse meals including dishes of Russian and European cuisine.

After visiting St. Petersburg which is actually a Euro­pean city the tourists will move to the genuine ancient Rus­sian towns Pskov and Novgorod. Both of them are about a thousand years old.

The first town to visit is Pskov which is situated on the banks of the river Velikaya (Great) not far from the Pskov Lake 260 km to the south-west of St. Petersburg. For ma­ny centuries Pskov was an important frontier, an outpost of Russian lands in the north-west. There are many medieval churches and houses in Pskov. The survey tour of Pskov in­cludes a visit to the Kremlin (the fortress). The Kremlin and the buildings within its boundaries date back to the 12^!h — 13^th centuries. The most prominent of the buildings is the mag­nificent 17^lh century Trinity Cathedral. It functions nowa­days and the tourists are going to visit it.

Due to its favourable geographical position Pskov was a centre of trade and many wealthy merchants had their houses built in the city. In the afternoon the tourists are vi­siting the museum Pogankiny Palaty, which used to be the house of a wealthy medieval merchant. The visitors get acquainted with the way of life of well-to-do citizens.

The next day the tourists are travelling by coach to little ancient towns of Izborsk and Pechory not far from Pskov.

Izborsk is half a century older than Pskov. The Izborsk stone fortress was built on the hills in the 14"' century. It played an important role in the Russian-Levon War. German Knights from the Baltic lands (Levon Knights) could not conquer it and the joining territories. The tourist, will visit this fortress. There are splendid views of environments from the fortress hill.

In Pechory the tourists will visit the functioning Pc-chory Monastery which was founded in 1473. It was one of the few functioning monasteries in the Soviet period of Russian history. In the 15^lh century the monastery situ­ated in a ravine was surrounded by high and broad stone walls with mighty towers and since then the monastery and the fortress went together.

The monastery is well restored and carefully looked after by the monks. Bright colours of the buildings' walls, blue domes of the Assumption Cathedral with white stars shining on them, colorful flower beds covering the territory — all this makes an unforgettable impression. The tour­ists will probably have the opportunity to have dinner in the monastery dinning-hall. Besides watching the monastery from within the tourists will have a splendid view of it from a comfortable site on the neighbouring hill.

In the evening the tourists will leave for Novgorod (the English equivalent of the name is New City) which is-more than a thousand years old. It is located at the cross­ing point of trading routes linking East and West. Nov­gorod has become a "window into Europe" long before St. Petersburg. In the period between the 12^th and the end of the 16^th centuries Novgorod was an independent city, a boijar republic ruled by elected head (posadnik) and popu­lar assembly (veche).

There arc many ancient buildings, mainly churches in Novgorod. The oldest part of the Kremlin (Detinets) dates back to the beginning of the 1 l^th century, while the principle Novgorod Cathedral of St. Sophia, the oldest stone church in the northern area of Russian Lands was erected in the middle of the 1l^th century.

There are many small white ancient attractive churches scattered throughout Novgorod. A city tour gives the opportunity to see most of them and to observe the Krem­lin and the monuments within including the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the monument to the 1000"¹ Anniversary of the Foundation of Russia.

After dinner in the restaurant Detinets which is situ­ated in one of the old buildings of the Kremlin the tourists will go on excursion to the Granovitaya Palata, once the cen­tral Hall of the Novgorod boijar republic where ancient arms, jewelry, objects of domestic utilities and archeological find­ings are exhibited.

On the last day of the tour the tourists are visiting Desyatinny Monastery which was founded in the 13^lh century by Alexander Nevsky's mother Feodosia.

After visiting all those places of interests the tourists will come back to St. Petersburg.

7. Places of Interest.