St. Petersburg is known as the cradle of the Russian revolution and being the country's capital, it had always attracted all kinds of revolutionary movements and activities and witnessed all the turning points of the Russian history. This tour provides you with a fascinating opportunity to look at the history of St. Petersburg from a different perspective.
A transfer from the pier through the city center brings you to your first stop, the Memorial Apartment of Sergey Kirov, the head of the Leningrad party organization from 1926 to 1934. Kirov was very popular in the Soviet Union and his acquired power and influence nearly rivaled Stalin's. In 1934 he was assassinated by a young party member, Leonid Nikolayev, who was later shot, along with 13 suspected accomplices. Stalin, claiming that a widespread conspiracy of anti-Stalinist communists planned to assassinate the entire Soviet leadership, used the assassination as a pretext to institute the Purge trials in which prominent Bolsheviks were accused of conspiracy to remove Stalin from power. In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev suggested that it was Stalin himself who had engineered Kirov's assassination.
Kirov's apartment gives a good insight into the life and death of this highly interesting individual. The flat is located in a regional government building and has some very nice furniture and bearskins. Several personal items are also on display here, such as the cap Kirov was wearing when he was assassinated, complete with bullet holes, and his shirt with cut-marks around the heart. Doctors who had rushed to the scene of the assassination gave him injections and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in an attempt to revive him. They labored for two hours before finally concluding that he had died instantly as a result of being shot through the head.
From Kirov's Museum, you will next travel to the Museum of Russian Political History which is housed in the former mansion of famous Russian ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. In February 1917, it became the seat of the Council of Soldier's and Worker's Deputies. It was here in April 1917 that Lenin gave his famous political speech from the balcony of the mansion. The speech is known in history as the April Thesis - a program of peaceful transition from the bourgeois democratic revolution to the socialist one. Your tour of the mansion includes a visit to an exhibition on the revolution of Russia and its Politics. Afterwards, you will travel back to the pier where your tour concludes.
Please note: This tour includes approximately 90-minutes of moderate walking/standing; however, there are many stairs to negotiate at each venue and no elevators. The tour is not available to wheelchair guests and not considered suitable for those with mobility concerns. Weather appropriate clothing and flat, comfortable walking shoes are suggested.