Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Akhmatova's death. The location is no coincidence - Kresty Prison was where Akh-
matova herself queued for days in the snow for news of her son after his multiple ar-
rests during Stalin's terror. The inscription on the monument comes from her epic
poem 'Requiem' (1935-40), in which she describes life during the purges. It reads:
'That's why I pray not for myself/But for all of you who stood there with me/Through
fiercest cold and scorching July heat/Under a towering, completely blind red wall.'
HIST
HISTORIC B
ORIC BUILDING
UILDING
SMOLNY INSTITUTE
(
Смольный институт
; pl Proletarskoy Diktatury 3; by appointment only 10am-6pm Mon-
Fri; Chernyshevskaya)
Built by Giacomo Quarenghi between 1806 and 1808 as a
school for aristocratic girls, the Smolny Institute was thrust into the limelight in 1917
when it became the headquarters for the Bolshevik Central Committee and the Petro-
grad Soviet. From here, Trotsky and Lenin directed the October Revolution, and in
the
Hall of Acts
(Aktovy zal) on 25 October, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets
conferred power on a Bolshevik government led by Lenin. The Smolny Institute
served as the seat of power until March 1918. In 1934, the powerful Leningrad Party
chief Sergei Kirov was assassinated in its corridors, on orders from Stalin, sparking
the city from here.
PARK
ARKS & G
S & GARDENS
ARDENS
FLORAL EXHIBITION HALL
(
Выставочный зал цветы
; Potyomkinskaya ul 2; adult/student R30/20; 11am-8pm Tue-
Sun, 2-8pm Mon; Chernyshevskaya)
One of the finest ways to momentarily escape
from a St Petersburg winter is to head for the Floral Exhibition Hall, an indoor tropic-
al paradise just northwest of the Tauride Gardens. There's also an impressive
Butter-
fly House
(adult/student R180/120)
on the premises.
MMUSSEUUM
CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST
(
Храм Иоанна Богослова
; ul Nekrasova 31; 9am-6pm; Mayakovskaya)
This ex-
traordinary building has one of the most striking exteriors in the city - its Byzantine
facade is totally incongruous with the rest of the street, although few people seem to
notice it, hemmed in on both sides by other terraced buildings on ul Nekrasova. The
