Palace Square is bordered by the General Staff Building (shown here)
on one side and the Hermitage on the other.
It's a strange feeling to stand in the middle of this vast
open space, the site of a revolution that shook the world.



This is the triumphal arch that takes you into the square.



And a closeup of the same.



Located in the former Winter Palace, the Hermitage is one of the world's great art musuems...



...and I was there!




The square at night.



The Alexander Column commemorates Russia's victory over Napoleon.
It weighs 600 tons and is totally free-standing.
They say people were afraid to walk under it when it was
installed, but it hasn't fallen over yet.




Around St. Petersburg / Around St. Petersburg (II) / Around Moscow / Church on Spilled Blood / Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg /
The Kremlin and Red Square / Moscow Churches / Night Train to Moscow / On the Neva / Palace Square / Peterhof / Peter and Paul Fortress /