Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bronze lamps creates an eeriness matched by the sound of a metronome (the
only sound heard by Leningraders on their radios throughout the war save for
emergency announcements), showing that the city's heart was still beating.
Twelve thematically assembled showcases feature items from the war and
siege. An electrified relief map in the centre of the room shows the shifting front
lines of the war.
Finally, if all this Soviet architecture makes you yearn for something a little
more traditional, then wander back north past the House of Soviets to the beau-
tiful
Chesme Church
(
Чесменская церковь
; ul Lensoveta 12; admission free;
10am-7pm; Moskovskaya)
, one of the city's most wonderful buildings. This red-
and-white Gothic beauty looks not unlike a candy cane, with long, vertical white
stripes giving the impression that it's rising straight up from the earth like a
mirage and shooting upwards. Designed by Yury Felten, it was built between
1777 and 1780 in honour of the Battle of Chesme (1770). The church's remote
location is due to the fact that Catherine was on this spot when news arrived of
her great victory over the Turks. Ever capricious, Catherine ordered that a shrine
be built on the spot to preserve this great moment in Russian history. It now
seems particularly incongruous with its surroundings, as Stalin's ill-fated city
centre has since grown up around it.
