On the left we are in Hermitage and if you look closely inside the cage behind us is a medal pheasant in a tree that rotates in a full circle built by a watchmaker as a circulating clock.
On the left is another cathedralThe Kazan and as you can see it is huge. They charge an admission but you can go in virtually anytime of the day if you pay the admission price, even though there may be services taking place.

Millions of dollars are raised each year from tourists.

Catherine the Great Castle-Hermitage

Because of Catherine's desire to be left alone this whole structure is now called the Hermitage Museum. These places are huge display of enormous wealth used for the benefit of

a few.

In the background you see another mansion built and lived in by Catherine the Great. She was a Russian Czar leader after Peter the Great, the build statutes and reverence these great leaders even though there was

significant restrictions and poverty among the working class. One roomin this castle where there is 17 miles of inside hallways to view this castle.

This was a much smaller Castle earlier in her ruling period. Toward the end of her life a relativehad a significant Art collectionbut was struggling financially, so she purchased the collection , added on to this building and brought the art collection had to this castle.

With all of this she would order her meals to one room then ask all all of her maids and serve to leave so she can eat a lone. This is now a public Museum with fantastic displays.

Exterior of St. Isaac's Cathedral

The exteriorof St. Isaacs isthe huge columnswhere they built scaffoldsin rowsand then stood thecolumns upin between the scaffold.The cathedral ismore than 200 years oldbut still in great shapebut showing someblemishes from the harsh weather.

Inside St. Isaac's Cathedral

This St. Isaac's Cathedralas more of a Romantype structure with large pillarsso the roof didn't walk into an onion dome like their traditional cathedrals.The artwork,the rock and marble sculptures,and considerable bronze and brass adorn the insides of these great structures.

St. Isaac's Cathedral-St. Petersburg

One of the more famous cathedralsis St. Isaac'sthese are some of the interior photoswere they clearlyMajor artworkand Major mosaic artwork I'll be difficult

stories. Obviously large expenditures went into these projects And for the ways the worldThey are some of the greatest.

Beautiful St. Petersburg-Russia

In 1703, the Ruler of Russia Was Peter The Great and he was a lover of Holland and its access to the sea. So he went from Moscow to St. Petersburg with the determination that the only way Rush would be great as a nation and to be able to compete with other nations economically they needed a strong seaport He therefore decreed that St. Petersburg was the ideal place for that port to be located on the Gulf of Finland. St. Petersburg therefore is one of the newer cities in this part of the world is this area was surrounded by lakes and high water table. The battle that Peter the Great ordered all of the stonemasons stop building anywhere else in Russia and that further only stone buildings could be built in St. Petersburg.

Many lives were sacrificed, as is consistent with history of these nations to build a new seaport city, which he did. There are modern buildings, but the zoning regulations in St. Petersburg require that the exterior surface of buildings be maintained in their original historic State.

Peter build many significant buildings in his day and then other rulers and starred dictators have continued to pay special attention to St. Petersburg. It is therefore a beautiful city of several million people with some amazing old historic buildings. I had one picture here but it went away during my dictation so I will bring it back page.