PETROGRAD 



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PETROGRAD 



islands formed by the branches of that water- 

 way. The land is low, and formerly, in times 

 of high water or in case of a strong 

 wind, the city suffered from floods, but this has 

 been remedied by the construction of canajs 

 and a high, granite embankment along the river. 

 The various parts of tho city are connected 

 by about 120 bridges, most of which span nar- 

 row canals. The Nicholas, the Troitsky and 

 tho Alexander bridges are the finest specimens 

 of architecture in Petrograd. 



The main part of the city is divided by 

 three long avenues which radiate from the 

 Admiralty, the center of the city. These are 

 the Nevsky Prospekt, the Voznesensky Pros- 

 pekt and the Gorokhovaya Ulitza. The Nev- 



city are Peter's, or the Senate Square, with tho 

 colossal equestrian statue of Peter the Great, 

 and bordered by the buildings of the Senate 

 and the Holy Synod; the Palace Square, in 

 which stands the Alexander Column, a tall 

 shaft of red granite surmounted by the figure 

 of u:i angel: and the Field of Mars, a mili- 

 tary parade ground. 



Important Eui! dings. At the southwest cor- 

 ner of the Admiralty is the Cathedral of Saint 

 Isaac, the most magnificent church in the city. 

 It is built in the form of a Greek cross, and 

 rising from the center is a great golden dome. 

 The columns of its porticoes, of polished red 

 granite, are over fifty feet high. Within the 

 cathedral are massive columns of porphyry, 



PETROGRAD, AND ITS POSITION IN RUSSIA 



sky Prospekt is the principal thoroughfare of 

 the city and one of the handsomest avenues in 

 Europe. It is about 130 feet wide and four 

 miles long. A part of the way it is lined 

 with elegant shops, where the life of the capital 

 is revealed in its most animated and pictur- 

 esque aspect. Among the most important struc- 

 tures on the avenue are the Cathedral of Our 

 Lady of Kazan, with its semicircular colon- 

 nade of Corinthian columns, the Duma (or City 

 Hall) , the Imperial Library, the Alexander Thea- 

 ter, the Anitchkov Palace, a monument to 

 Catharine II and the Anitchkov bridge over the 

 Fontanka, a waterway 150 feet wide. 



Along the bank of the Great Neva, one of 

 the arms of the Neva, extend palaces, costly 

 private residences and the imposing Admiralty, 

 surrounded by a beautiful garden. Here also 

 are the Ministry of Marine building and the 

 Marine Museum, which is nearly 1,600 feet 

 long. The principal squares in this part of the 



malachite and lapis lazuli. The Cathedral of 

 Our Lady of Kazan, an imitation of Saint 

 Peter's, is notable for its richly-decorated in- 

 terior. On an island in the Great Neva is the 

 ('athednl (jf Saints Peter and Paul, containing 

 the tombs of the Russian rulers. 



Petrograd is noted for its palaces; of these, 

 the Winter Palace, northeast of the Admiralty, 

 is the most widely known. This is the largest 

 and in many respects the most celebrated royal 

 palace in the \\orld, and was the residence of 

 the czar until his abdication in March, 1917. 

 It is the work of three empresses, Anna, Eliza- 

 beth and Catharine II, and contains a bewil- 

 dering assemblage of apartments adorned with 

 many paintings and sculptures of great value. 

 When fully occupied the Winter Palace has 

 accommodated 6,500 people. Adjoining the pal- 

 ace is the Hermitage, one of the leading art 

 galleries of the world, containing a priceless 

 collection of paintings and Greek and Roman 



