Enjoy Your Stay in the World's Finest City

 TOWER BRIDGE 

 

Under Construction

Designed and constructed in the 1880s, the bridge opened for public use in 1892 to handle the population explosion in London’s East End. Spanning the Thames in this region posed a huge challenge for city planners as its downstream location threatened to disrupt the river traffic of London’s busy port. It took over 50 designs and eight years to find a satisfactory design. Though it appears to be constructed of stone, the bridge's framework is constructed of more than 11,000 tons of steel. The granite and stone was added to the bridge’s exterior to prevent the modern structure from clashing with the nearby Tower of London and other historic architecture.

  

Steamy Situation

During its original construction, Tower Bridge was considered the most impressive and advanced of bascule bridges. At the time, the hydraulics used to open the bridge were powered by steam yet still able to complete the feat within one minute. In 1976, the steam-powered pumping engines were replaced by ones powered by electricity and oil.

 Open Sesame

Tower Bridge is the only bridge on the Thames that can be raised and lowered to allow ships to pass. Supposedly, witnessing the Tower Bridge opening brings good luck because it's such a rare occurrence. Visitors can ensure their luck by checking the Bridge Lift Times on the official Tower Bridge website.

Un-walked Walkways

The high-level, open-air walkways spanning between the tops of the two towers were originally designed so that pedestrians could still cross the bridge even when it was raised. However, most preferred to wait for the bridge to close rather than trudge up the stairs. As a result, these passages were closed in 1910, just eighteen years after their construction.
In 1982, the walkways were fully enclosed and again opened to the public as a museum that houses the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Not Falling Down

For many, the famous nursery rhyme “London Bridge is Falling Down” conjures up images of the Tower Bridge. These individuals assume the rhyme refers to the raising and lowering of the bridge, but they are mistaken. The real London Bridge was located approximately a mile to the west of where Tower Bridge was constructed.
Throughout the centuries, a number of bridges have been constructed on the site of the actual London Bridge, some of which did fall into disrepair before being replaced. One of these bridges was sold to an American entrepreneur by the name of Robert P. McCulloch in 1968. McCulloch reconstructed the bridge as a tourist attraction in the desert city of Lake Havasu, Arizona.

Bridge Parties

 

Most bridges in the world are not ideal locations for throwing parties, but guests at a Tower Bridge event do not have to worry about dodging traffic. Within the bridge’s towers and the walkways above are several event spaces with spectacular views that make Tower Bridge one of London’s most popular venues.

 

SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TOWER BRIDGE

Tower Bridge has a fascinating history, which is explored in full in The Tower Bridge Exhibition. Here are a few interesting facts you may not have known:

• 1910 - the high-level walkways, which were designed so that the public could still cross the bridge when it was raised, were closed down due to lack of use.

• 1912 - during an emergency, Frank McClean had to fly between the bascules and the high-level walkways in his Short biplane, to avoid an accident.

• 1952 - a London bus driven by Albert Gunton had to leap from one bascule to the other when the bridge began to rise with the number 78 bus still on it.

• 1977 - Tower Bridge was painted red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. (Before that, it was painted a chocolate brown colour).

• 1982 - Tower Bridge opened to the public for the first time since 1910, with a permanent exhibition inside called The Tower Bridge Experience.

Riga Bourse Art Museum

Riga Bourse Art Museum [Mākslas muzejs Rīgas Birža]

 The former Riga Stock Exchange has been successfully renovated and transformed into this wonderful museum, which is incredibly modern by Latvian standards. Inside you’ll find an excellent collection of 17th-century Chinese, Japanese and Delft Blue porcelain from the Netherlands, three centuries of silverware from the Baltics, Russia and Germany as well as some lesser-known, but no less impressive paintings by Dutch masters of the Golden Era. Although the lighting could be better in the main hall, you can find some real gems in the exhibit of paintings including a winter landscape by Monet and a bronze of lovers by Rodin. An Eastern gallery is also available, which includes everything from Egyptian mummies to priceless Southeast Asian artefacts. If you’re curious about the ugly brown hue of the building, it’s supposedly the original colour of the monumental Venetian Palazzo style edifice when it was unveiled in 1855.

St Petersburgh

Church of the Spilt Blood

      The church stands on the spot where a revolutionary, Grinevitsky, on March 1, 1881, killed Emperor Alexander II. The building of this temple-monument was begun in 1883, and it was consecrated in 1907. The building itself is a veritable textbook on the history of Russian architecture from the end of the 16th Century and the beginning of the 17th Century. Here you will also find the world’s largest mosaic covering (as well as mosaics created to sketches by Mikhail Nesterov and Viktor Vasnetsov) and a marble floor. The Savior on the Blood currently operates as a museum.

      The Church of Resurrection (Savior on Spilled Blood) was built as a historical and memorial center of all Russian people. The Cathedral was built in the memory of Emperor Alexander II, and his reforms, and served a symbol of repentance of the Russian people.

     The Savior on Spilled Blood is also a historical monument to the tragic events of March 1, 1881.

The Cathedral should not be perceived as simply a cult building; its idea is broader and deeper. The image of the Savior in this Cathedral reflects not so much the cult aspect, but the political, historical, artistic, stylistic importance of the monument, and underscores its importance for the city.

     The territory adjacent to the cathedral is one of the oldest areas of St. Petersburg, its historic downtown, which was formed in the first third of the 18th century. It was during this period that the city communications system was formed with Bolshaya Konyushennaya Ulitsa and Malaya Konyushennaya Ulitsa serving as thoroughfares between the Royal Stable and Nevsky Prospekt. Because the church is located in the very heart of the city, its surroundings are of highest value. The historical and cultural environment here is extremely rich, represented by such treasures of world spiritual culture as the Russian Museum, the Maly Opera Theater, the Grand Philharmonic Hall, and churches of various confessions. The Cathedral is probably the only building in the city that stands out so much in its architectural and spatial environment with its silhouette, composition, and rich decor.

The cathedral boasts a luxurious and rich decor, ornamental architraves, frames, corbels, ceramic tiles, and colored glazed tiles. Five cupolas of the church, some 1000 square meters in area are covered with jewelry enamel. The belfry is decorated with mosaic coats-of-arms of cities and regions of the Russian empire.

      It would seem that the peculiar architecture and decor of the Church of Resurrection would become a dissonant element in the environment. It did, however, enter quite harmoniously into the city landscape, mostly due to reconstruction in this part of St. Petersburg according to the projects of engineers G.G. Krivoshein, N.N. Mitinsky, and N.A. Zhitnevich, and architects A.A. Parland and R.F. Melzer.

      A broad wooden bridge was laid in 1892 across from the belfry of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The bridge was like the Blue and Kazan bridges over the canal, forming a block stone paved area in front of the entrance to the church.

An arch of a railing, made according to the project by Parland, bordered the southern, eastern and northern sections of the square. It consisted of 52 links with a stylized plant ornament, made on the Winkler Plant in 1903 - 1907. A sidewalk made of coping stones and a granite base was built on the southern and northern sides of the cathedral. Flowerbeds and lawns decorated the eastern side of the square.

      The Church of Resurrection had never been conceived as purely a center of religious life. Even church leaders thought of this church as a memorial and symbol.

Here is what highly educated Orthodox thinker Rev. Fr.N. Antonov wrote about this: "This Church of Resurrection and the district around it should be made into a conglomerate of what is artistically related to Emperor Alexander II; first and foremost in the area of painting and art overall".

      Antonov viewed the vestry of the Church on Spilled Blood as a museum as well, and even suggested to expand this museum through a possible addition of another smaller building in Mikhailovsky Gardens. He also offered a sensible idea of organizing a museum of sorts in the garden, where he suggested installing statues of Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century, and, most importantly, a statue of Emperor Alexander II himself among them.

Antonov and his associates wanted to see the Church of Savior on Spilled Blood as a hermitage of Russian national music culture, the center of religious choir performance and spiritual vocals. Back at the time the church was not seen as an active church as everyone understood its exclusive artistic value. Every of these suggestions could still be implemented today. In fact it is a ready program for revitalizing the cathedral.

On October 30, 1930 the Central Executive Committee by Order No. 67 ordered to close the Church of Resurrection. Over a long period of time this cathedral and monument, which first had been a court church and then a congregational church was not needed as the center of spiritual education, as it had once been.

In November 1930 the Secretariat of the Central Soviet of Political Convicts transferred the dilapidated church to the museum section. However, the former political prisoners found themselves incapable of managing the grandiose building and keeping it in good order. Over a certain period of time the cathedral stood vacant. It was thought to benefit the new masters of the land who believed that the Savior on Spilled Blood was of no historical or artistic value. A campaign started that called for its demolition.

          In November 1931 the Regional Committee for Cult Affairs decided that that the Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral should be disassembled in parts. After remaining on the agenda for some time the resolution was later cancelled.

The issue rose again in 1938. The action was planned for 1941. It seemed at the time that the fate of the church, just like the fate of many other churches in Russia, was decided. But after the WWII started, demolition experts were sent off to the front right before they were set to begin. During the blockade the Savior on Spilled Blood served as a morgue where bodies of famished Leningraders were delivered.

        After the war the cathedral was leased by Maly Opera Theater who made it into a stage set storage. Destruction of the building continued. The building, which did not serve its direct purpose stood with broken windows, gaping holes in the roofing and the cupolas caused by splinters, through which moisture accumulated inside the building.

        1956 was another critical year in the fate of the church, when the city authorities once again decided to demolish the church in order to build a new street. The new campaign of tearing down religious buildings continued for over ten years.

It was only in 1968 that the Cathedral was granted protection of the State Inspection of Landmarks of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning. In 1970 director of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum G.P. Butikov persuaded the city bosses and then the officials of the Ministry of Culture that the church had considerable historical and artistic value. He also petitioned to make the church a branch of his museum, carry out restoration and, in the future, open a museum there.

The executive committee of the Leningrad City Soviet adopted decision No. 535 on July 20, 1970, in accordance with which a branch of St. Isaac's Museum and Cathedral was opened in the building of the former Church of Savior on Spilled Blood. The memorial church was transferred onto the balance of the museum on April 12, 1971.

         By that time the Church of Resurrection was in a critically dilapidated condition and required immediate restoration.

Restoration could not begin without an initial large volume of construction and engineering operations. Simultaneously the research staff of the museum studied archival materials on the Savior on Spilled Blood not only in Leningrad, but also in Moscow, Sverdlovsk, and Barnaul. To determine the state of the decor of the church and offer recommendations on restoration, contracts were settled with institutes and research laboratories.

Restoration itself started only in 1980.

The first stage of restoration was completed by August 19, 1997, when Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral and Museum opened its doors to visitors. The exposition of the cathedral centers on architecture and the decor of the building.

Specificity of the museum collection led to expositions of religious art, which smoothly combine artistic, informational, and memorial value.

          The exposition of the Savior on Spilled Blood serves as the media for learning Russian history and culture. The objective of the museum is to present the historic and artistic value of the Cathedral, and make our contemporaries feel a part of Russian historical and cultural tradition.

The Cathedral of Resurrection is the only surviving monument to Alexander II in the city.

The tragic events of March 1, 1881 found their reflection not only in the ciborium of the church, but also in the building of the vestry, which has for several years housed the exhibition dedicated to Emperor Alexander II (1818 - 1881), the assassinated nonarch.

        The next objective of the Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral and Museum is to restore the former status of a historical memorial.



Latvian National opera

Latvian National opera

      The building of Latvian National opera has been built as the first German theatre. It was built on the embankment of the city channel, on the place, where city fortifications used to be. The construction works continued form 1860 until 1863. The author of the project is Ludvig Bonstedt. In the June of 1882 the inner rooms of the theatre have burnt. The renovation works have started in 1885 and finished in 1887. During the renovation of the theatre the biggest (that time) electro station was built near it. It was connected with the boiler-house of the central heating. The chimney of this boiler-house survived until today, as a deco element. 

      During the World War I, the theatre has been closed and begun its activity as a German city theatre only in 1917. From the 1919 Latvian opera owned it, and at the end of the year the theatre is given a new name - Latvian National opera. During the soviet times form 1994 the opera is known as The Theatre of opera and ballet of LSSR. In the year 1990 the theatre is again know as Latvian national Opera.

Old Riga

Old Riga is the historical and geographical centre of Riga, located on the right bank of the Daugava River. Old Riga comprises a fairly small interior fortification system area (built during XIII-XVIII centuries), where unique middle-aged architectural monuments are concentrated.

One can enjoy the aura of an ancient city in the narrow streets. Unique complexes of residential houses and sacral buildings are found here – Riga Cathedral, construction of which started in the 13th century, Gothic style St. Peter’s Church, St. Jacob’s Cathedral which houses the Seat of the Roman Catholic Church, St. George’s Church, called the White Stone Palace, the beautiful Synagogue of Old Riga, the yard of the Convent of the Holy Spirit, the Dannenstern House, the complex of residential houses “The Three Brethren”, Riga Castle, and others.

During medieval times, Riga was a mighty harbour and was a member city of the Hanseatic League which joined the traders of the Baltic Region and North Germany. The Large and the Small Guild, as well as the reconstructed House of the Blackheads recall the Hanseatic times.

These were built by the Guilds of craftsmen and artists buildings in a growing city. Old Riga is a masterpiece of architecture which has retained the atmosphere of old times and has adjusted to the 21^st century tourist flow – numerous comfortable hotels, restaurants, and places for recreation are found here. Old Riga is as lively at midnight as during the daytime.

One could easily stroll about Old Riga’s meandering streets and ancient alleyways for days, but for most travellers time is at a premium and a long journey is a luxury few can afford. With this in mind, we’ve prepared a condensed walking tour which includes many of Old Riga’s best sights.

Begin at the Freedom Monument on the edge of Old Riga and the famous Laima Clock. Walk up to the top of Bastion Hill for views and then walk across ZA Meierovica (Basteja) until you reach the red brick Powder Tower and the Museum of War next door.

Next walk down Torņa. The Jacob’s Barracks on the right side of the street is home to many trendy shops and cafés and remnants of the Old City Walls are visible on the left side. Walk left through the Swedish Gate and immediately make a right on Trokšņu, one of Riga’s narrowest streets. Go left then straight between St. James Church and the Saeima (parliament).

Make a left on Klostera to find the Three Brothers ahead. Take a peak inside to see how medieval Europeans once lived. Go right on Mazā Pils to Pils laukums where you’ll find Riga Castle which also houses the History Museum of Latvia.

Next walk up Pils to Cathedral Square (Doma laukums) and take a tour of Riga Cathedral, the largest house of worship in the Baltics, its Romanesque cloister and the Riga Bourse Art Museum.

Walk down Tirgoņu and proceed to Kaļķu. Make another right there and walk to the House of Blackheads, the new town hall, the Latvian Riflemen Monument and the Occupation Museum of Latvia, which is a must see.

Next walk down Grēcinieku in the opposite direction of the River Daugava to the Mentzendorff House. After a short tour of the house continue down Grēcinieku and make a left on Skārņu. You can take a look at St. John’s Church on the right or walk to the entrance of St. Peter’s on the left and take the lift up to the top of for excellent views. On Skārņu you’ll find dozens of souvenir vendors.

Walk into John’s Courtyard (Jāņa sēta) and emerge on Kalēju. Go left until you reach Livs’ Square (Līvu laukums) which is home to the Great and Small Guildhalls, the Russian Drama Theatre and the Cat House.

This concludes your condensed walking tour of Old Riga. You can relax with drink at one of the cafés here and take in the atmosphere of Riga’s most popular square. It’s also a good place to buy local souvenirs like amber jewellery, hand-made crafts and paintings.