For example, hardly anyone guesses that inside the gilded sphere crowning the Admiralty spire are reports on the periodic repair of this entire structure. Paper inside, not anything else…
Another fact confirming the intelligence and foresight of Russian tsars (unfortunately, not all). After the construction of the Winter Palace in the 18th century, a lot of construction debris accumulated on the adjacent square (later called Palace Square). An original solution for cleaning the area was thought up by Emperor Peter III. He announced that any person could take here for household needs whatever he wished. It took only a few hours for the citizens to 'clean up' the square.
And the Alexander Column? It, having a height of 47.5 m and weight of 700 t, is not secured by any invisible threads and stands thanks to the precise calculations of architect Montferrand. Who, by the way, specially walked around his creation to convince citizens of the structure's safety. And on the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral is the highest circular observation deck in St. Petersburg. Its height is 43 m.
The already mentioned Montferrand designed another St. Petersburg landmark – the monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square. It rests on only two points – the horse's hind legs. The monument is facing the cathedral and its tail to the palace. This fact caused Nicholas I's daughter to refuse to live in the palace, by the way, given to her as a wedding gift.
And the Peterhof fountains – aren't they a miracle? Since the time of Peter I, pumps have never been used for their operation. Water from the Ropsha Heights feeds the fountains by gravity. When designing the water conduits, Russian hydraulic engineer Vasily Tuvolkov used the principle of communicating vessels. Since then, modernization has only affected the pipeline – the wooden one was replaced with a metal one.
And finally, two more facts from the 'most-most' series. In St. Petersburg, a world record for metro depth is recorded – 70-80 m here is the norm. The length of the escalator installed at the 'Ploshchad Lenina' metro station is 150 m. Another record is entered in the Guinness Book – the length of St. Petersburg tram tracks is 600 km. Another 80 km and this number will equal the distance to Moscow!
Of course, it is better to see all this. So for those who have not yet been to St. Petersburg, we recommend visiting Peter's city, the 'cradle of the revolution', the Northern Palmyra…
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