Beautiful Sunday sunset over the Neva River: Kunstkamera and Palace Pier

This frosty winter day ended with a beautiful sunset. I was supposed to cross the Neva River on the Palace Bridge, but along the way I stopped several times to take another photo of the Kunstkamera. The golden colors of the sunset made this cityscape even more delightful than usual. The ice in the Neva was covered with a thin layer of fresh snow, and this pure white canvas seemed to absorb the colors of the sunset like watercolor paper. The Neva's fairway added a textured strip of pounded ice to this landscape. Every few hours this fairway is refreshed by a small icebreaker that breaks the ice. It is believed that this reduces the load on the bridge supports and makes them more durable.

Kunstkamera (the name is derived from the German word Kunstkammer) is the first Russian museum of antiquities, rarities and curiosities, it was established by Emperor Peter the Great in 1714. The Kunstkamera building was built especially for this museum. The dome of the building is topped with an armillary sphere, which symbolizes the solar system. Interestingly, the armillary sphere was lost in a fire in 1747, and for 200 years the building stood without its crowning symbol. Only in 1947 the sphere was restored according to historical drawings. Since this happened relatively recently, many photos of the Kunstkamera without the sphere have been preserved, and anyone can notice how the building's appearance has been transformed after its complete restoration.

I walked down from the Palace Bridge to the Palace Embankment, to the Palace Pier. This parade descent to the river was built near the entrance to the Winter Palace, the main imperial residence. But for the construction of a bridge across the Neva, this wharf had to be moved a few dozen meters, and now it is located in front of the Admiralty. In summer it is one of the main berths for pleasure boats and motorboats. The main decoration of the pier is two sculptures of lions on granite pedestals. Originally this pier was also decorated with porphyry vases, but later the vases were moved to the neighboring Petrovskaya pier. I continued my walk along the Neva River and soon came to Petrovskaya Pier and saw these vases.

But first I walked past the monument to Emperor Peter the Great. This monument is called "The Tsar Carpenter". This monument is modeled by the sculptor Leopold Bernstam. The sculptor created five models of monuments dedicated to different episodes in the life of the emperor, three monuments on these models were made and installed, about the other two I have not found information. The full name of the monument on the Neva embankment "Peter I is trained in the city of Saardama in Holland shipbuilding in 1697".

The Tsar Carpenter monument was erected on a high pedestal near Palace Pier in 1910. There was a lot of criticism about the choice of the installation site, and after a few years the monument was dismantled. An additional reason for the demolition of the monument was the change of ideology and the beginning of the Monumental Propaganda Plan. The modern monument was made after 100 years, it is located a little bit in the back of the embankment, on the section of the boulevard between the piers. The pedestal of the monument was made low, and now the monument looks very appropriate and organic on this section of the embankment. This bronze sculpture is made from a replica installed in the city of Zandam and presented to the city by the Dutch government. Emperor Peter the Great lived and studied shipbuilding in Zandam in 1697.

Meanwhile, I had reached the Petrovskaya Pier with the Porphyry vases. I turned back to take another look at the Kunstkamera building and the Palace Bridge, and then took a few steps back to get a piece of the embankment boulevard in the frame. A hovercraft is traveling along the Neva. It moves near the opposite shore, and the small figure of the boat is poorly visible, but the snow, which becomes a cloud after the boat passes, is clearly visible. The hovercraft patrols the waters of the Neva and watches for trespassers who venture out onto the ice, even though it is forbidden.

Petrovskaya Pier (Peter's Pier) with Porphyry vases on cast-iron pedestals is located near the main monument to Emperor Peter the Great and is named in his honor. To be more precise, the name of the wharf was derived from the name of the square - but the square changed its name many times, while the name of the wharf remained unchanged. The monument to Emperor Peter the Great, called the Bronze Horseman, can be seen in one of the photos, but the sunset is already fading and the monument is hidden in the shadow part of the frame.