Cultural Russia

Late in the evening we fly via an intermediate station to St. Petersburg.

Early morning arrival in Saint Petersburg and after leaving our luggage for storage (rooms are allocated at 2 pm), we will start the acquaintance with a panoramic tour of the old imperial city. Among the well-known attractions are Nefsky Avenue with the palaces of the Russian nobles, the Anitska Bridge with Claude’s ethereal bronze horses, St. Isaac’s Square with the homonymous church, the Winter Palaces, the Church of Cesme, the complex of the former monastery Smolny and the … old mosque built with Timurid architecture in the style of Samarkand!
In the afternoon, rest at your hotel for a few hours and go out again in the evening to Nefsky Avenue where the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan dominates.

In the morning we will board a hydrofoil boat and sail down the Neva River and the Baltic Sea to the spectacular Peterhof. Peter the Great’s dazzling palaces made Versailles look like an ordinary royal residence. We will wander through the gardens with the golden statues and jets, explore some of the endless rooms that make it up and end up in one of the royal chapels. But we are not done. We are returning to St. Petersburg and get ready for a big surprise. While the whole world knows the famous Hermitage, few suspect what lies behind the walls of the Russian Museum that plays the role of the National Gallery. Stunning projects that take your breath away! Among them are “The Toad in the Eleusinian Mysteries” by Semiradsky, “The Last Day of Pompeii” by Bryulov, “The Volga Boatmen” and “The Cossacks Write a Letter to the Sultan” by Repin as well as “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” by Greek Archippou Kouintzi (or Chrysochoeides).

The Scythian Treasures are the famous “secret” of the Hermitage that we will visit today. With a special ticket and from a different entrance we will go to the basements of the Winter Palace where these amazing burial gifts are kept. Then we will head to the main museum and together with other visitors we will visit the palace rooms that house top works of Western European art. Among them Canova’s ethereal sculptures “Three Graces” and “Eros and Psyche”, “The Lautier” by Caravaggio, “Danae and the Golden Rain” by Rembrandt and of course the two rare paintings by Leonardo da Vinci depicting the Virgin Mary with the Divine Infant. In the afternoon we deliberately left it free for you to put your own stamp on the discovery of St. Petersburg or to seek out a Ballet performance at the Mariinsky.

The exploration of the historic cities of the Volga begins today. Wherever you look on the map you will not find the city of Stalingrad anywhere. Whichever modern history book you open, Stalingrad takes center stage as it was the scene of one of the most shocking battles of World War II. Today we arrive in the city that got the indifferent name of Volgograd and immediately head to the monument to the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad. Here stands the giant 85-meter statue “The Motherland Calls” one of the largest statues in the world. Then we go to the museum complex of the Battle of Stalingrad and end up at the granite stairs that adorn the Volga riverside.

We temporarily leave the Volga and head into the interior of Southern Russia. In Elista we are facing a paradox! Here in the territory of Eastern Europe, lost in the steppe of southern Russia, a small …Mongolia is emerging! Indeed, the Mongolian Kalmyks from nomads in the 17th century evolved into dependents of the Russian Empire with a permanent settlement in this region of the world. The Dalai Lama personally inaugurated the great Buddha Shakyamuni Buddhist Temple that dominates Elista, the capital of the Mongolian Republic of Kalmykia. We will take a guided tour inside, visit other parts of the city and explore the products sold by the smiling broad-faced Mongolians in the Central Market.

“God loves Caviar”! The title of the film fits perfectly with where we are today. It is here in Astrakhan that Ioannis Varvakis, after helping the Russians in Orlovika, in burning the Turkish fleet in Cesme, acquired privileges to exploit the Caspian caviar that ended up on the plates of the crowned and nobles of Europe. Our afternoon tour will reveal to us the multi-ethnic face of Astrakhan starting with the impressive 16th century Kremlin, the city’s canals and bridges. We will see the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the Islamic mosque – which reminds us that here are the borders between Europe and Asia – and the big market frequented by Tatars, Kazakhs, Koreans and Russians. Another surprise awaits us here. The monument of Ioannis Varvakis, common benefactor of Greece and Astrakhan.

Full-day boat excursion on the waterways of the gigantic Volga Delta, Europe’s largest river. From our floating base in the heart of the Delta we will take speed boats out to the lakes and reed beds of the river observing the swans, falcons and cormorants that find refuge in the river waters. At noon we will taste fish and other Caspian delicacies and in the afternoon we will return to Astrakhan.

From the Volga Delta to the Volga Bend. With a short flight we will find ourselves in Kazan, the legendary capital of the Tatars and today one of the most beautiful cities in Russia. Here the Volga coming from the west turns at a right angle and takes a southerly direction. Kazan, was the old capital of the powerful khanate of the Golden Horde, the only state left from the old empire of Genghis Khan that survived until the 16th century.

On our morning tour of the capital of Tatarstan – as the federal state is called on the territory of Russia – our interest will be focused on the old core of the city, where the impressive Kremlin is located at the confluence of the Kazanka and Volga rivers. We will also see some of the city’s churches and we will not miss taking a picture in front of the large mosque in the market.

Early in the morning we board in a hydrofoil and traveling along the Volga we will reach a masterpiece called Sviazhsk. This small town is on the UNESCO list thanks to the immense architectural wealth of the 18th century. From here we continue by road to… Venice and Amsterdam! At least that’s what one would think when suddenly facing the paradoxical city of Yoskar Ola. Walking along the city built around the artificial lake we will see its transformations until we reach the Cathedral of the Annunciation where everything is made again… Russia!

In the morning we depart by road for historic Nizhny Novgorod (not to be confused with St. Petersburg’s Veliky Novgorod). Place of exile for dissidents that also “hosted” Andrei Zakharov. The city has long been known as Gorky. Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

On our morning tour, we will visit the Kremlin that dominates the hill at the confluence of the Volga and Oka, where, among other things, we will see the Church of the Dormition (Uspensky) and the exquisite work of the Nativity of the Virgin that Stroganoff gave to the city. Then we will cross to the opposite bank of the Oka and see the merchants’ palaces and the Saint Alexander Nefsky Cathedral.

With the express train we will go to Moscow, the largest capital of Europe with 14 million inhabitants and a world center of culture and art. That same afternoon we will take the Metro and walk from Theater Square where the Bolshoi is located, to the Kremlin walls in Red Square.

Full-day tour of Moscow starting from the Kremlin’s treasure rooms where among the amazing relics stand out the crown and scepter of Ivan the Terrible, the throne of Tsar Alexius with 800 diamonds and the baubles of St. Petersburg jewelers Faberge. Then we will drive through Moscow and see the Novodevichy Convent and the old Arbat Street.

In the morning we will visit the Metropolitan Church of Sotiros, built on pedestals, the most luxurious church of Orthodoxy! Opposite, at the Art Museum, the so-called “Treasure of Priam” that was excavated in Troy by Schliemann awaits us. In the same space we will see some of the best portraits of the Fayoum. Then we will take the Metro and with the guide we will stop at some of the most famous stations, decorated with sculptures and mosaics. In the evening try to find a ticket for some opera at the Bolshoi.

Before we leave Russia we have one more surprise in store for you. Actually… two. We will go to places that foreign travelers almost never set foot in. First, the unexpected private church of the “Point of the Blessed Mary” awaits us in the old farm of the Golitsyn boyars. Then follows the newest acquisition of the Russian church, “The Church of the Resurrection” of the Army. An apparently “heavy” building that up close reveals supreme art based on Art Nouveau standards, Byzantine Hagiography and amazing metalwork that elevates the senses. In the evening we fly back to Athens.

Arrival in the early hours of the morning in Athens.