St Petersburg - Siege City

We were there four days and saw all the main sights but what interested us both most - and to our shame - was something we barely knew about before - the terrible suffering endured in this city during WW2.

I know all about the London blitz from my mother's experience living through it, and POW camps from Dad's ship being torpedoed by the Germans and him spending months in an Italian camp in Somalia. But - the siege of Leningrad - just words. Yes, the art of the Hermitage was wonderful (when we could get a glimpse through the crowds), the beautiful decorations of the Catherine Palace and the Peterhof were amazing. 

But it was the story of the preservation - and what I didn't realise - the restoration of so much of this that really took our breath away. Nearly 3 years of starvation when the population couldn't get food in - apart from the 'Road of Life' across frozen Lake Lagoda - where even then huge numbers of trucks sank through the ice - brought the city to breaking point - until the siege ended 70 years ago. No wonder May Day is so enthusiastically celebrated today. So many people dead, so many buildings bombed, so many national treasures lost. I had no idea how much damage the Nazis inflicted. 

If it weren't for stashing what they could in the Hermitage, thankfully spared from destruction, it would have been even worse. We got a close look at a precious theatre in the Hermitage where we saw a performance of Swan Lake one evening. Thank heavens that escaped! The Catherine Palace - razed to the ground - with the amber room stolen by the Nazis, never to be seen again.

The Peterhof Palace - mostly blown up and left without a roof and barely a wall standing. All the trees in the grounds cut down - wanton destruction.

But the most amazing discovery was the quality of the reconstruction. Somehow, with all the financial problems Russia has over the years, they got the money together to repair so much of the damage and to train artisans where none existed any more. Amazing - and all credit to them. The facade and gardens of the Peterhof Palace with all those fountains were over-the-top but totally wonderful.

And the reconstruction of the Catherine Palace as it looks now.

The parks were full of colourful wedding parties and exuberant high school students celebrating their graduation. What a change! Seventy years later - the city has bounced back magnificently.