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TRAVEL/TOURS ADVERTORIAL www.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 2016 55 Below: The Winter Palace with St Isaac’s Cathedral in the backgroundand carriages wait outside, making you feel as though you’re in a Tolstoy novel.You can approach this dazzling edifi ce from the Palace Square or catch a glimpse of it across the Neva River from the Peter and Paul Fortress, St Petersburg’s original citadel, built on the 750m-long Zayachy Island in 1703. While Moscow and many other Russian cities were built around a medieval fortress known as a kremlin (a word that’s now become synonymous with the Russian state), this is St Petersburg’s closest equivalent.Today the Peter and Paul Fortress is the main site of the State Museum of St Petersburg History. Visitors can meditate on the lives of the Russian tsars buried in the fortress’s cathedral and on the writers and agitators once incarcerated in its grim prison cells, from Leon Trotsky and the army offi cers behind the Decembrist uprising, to Fyodor Dostoevsky, another of the city’s historical inhabitants.Other obvious stops on any visitor’s itinerary include the art collection at the Russian Museum in the splendid Neoclassical Mikhailovsky Palace; and the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 and capped by the traditional spiralling candy-coloured domes that look as though they belong in a fairytale. Writers and activists aren’t the only innovators who have been inspired by St Petersburg’s crystal-clear skies and its dynamic, outsider spirit. Ballet pioneers like Nureyev and Baryshnikov and classical composers such as Tchaikovsky and Prokofi ev owe much of the credit for their world-changing art to St Petersburg’s conservatories, dance companies, orchestras and great theatres.One of the most moving chapters in the history of St Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) was the 900-day siege it endured during World War II. Dmitri Shostakovich, who was born and raised in the city, wrote a symphony dedicated to Leningrad during this time, and it was performed there while the siege was still going on, and broadcast in public through loudspeakers. A classical concert, opera or ballet performance is still the perfect way to round off a day of culture in St Petersburg, and among the many world-class options to choose from is the great Mariinsky Theatre, a venue once frequented by the writer sometimes referred to as the ‘Russian Shakespeare’, Alexander Pushkin. Its ballet company and orchestra date back to the 18th century, housed in a building with green and white ornamentation in the same frosted wedding cake style as the Winter Palace.It’s crucial to understand St Petersburg’s rich history in order to properly engage with the spirit of the city, but it’s also worth appreciating the ways in which its restless energy persists today. Thousands of pieces of brilliant contemporary art can be found at the private museum Erarta, and a glimpse of raw creativity at work can be found at Taiga, a creative space in a rented 19th-century mansion. Just a stone’s throw from the Hermitage Museum, it hosts everything from small galleries and design stores to a photo laboratory, book shop and radio station, and serves as a reminder that St Petersburg’s future is set to be just as culturally exciting as its past. ■Follow in Pierre Bezukhov’s footsteps and enjoy Just You’s eight-day tour of Moscow and St Petersburg, featuring some of the iconic locations used in the recent BBC adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic War and Peace. The itinerary includes the Kremlin, the Borodino Battle Museum Panorama, Leo Tolstoy Museum Estate, Hermitage Museum, Peter and Paul Fortress, Fabergé Museum and Catherine Palace and gardens. Prices start at £1,899 including fl ights, transfers, single occupancy room, welcome dinner, tour manager and local guides. Call 0844 567 8847 or visit www.justyou.co.uk for details.A TOUR OF WAR AND PEACE Images: Shutterstock.