Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение
Средняя общеобразовательная школа №653
С углубленным изучением иностранных языков (хинди и английского)
The Spirit of Two Capitals: St. Petersburg and London
Дух двух столиц: Санкт-Петербург и Лондон
Соловьева Татьяна Владимировна
Санкт–Петербург – 2013
Contents
Introduction page 3
Part one
Places to Visit
• Churches: - Peter and Paul Cathedral 4
- Westminster Cathedral 5
- St.Isaac’s Cathedral – St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Museums: - The Hermitage – The British Museum 6
- The National Gallery 7
- The Kunstkamera – The National History Museum 8
• Parks and Gardens: - The Summer Garden – Hyde Park 9
Part two
Shopping
• Oxford Street, Selfridges – Apraksin Dvor 11
- Gostiny Dvor
• Camden Market – Polyustrovskiy, Yunona, Grazhdanskiy Markets 12
• Spitalfields – Sytniy, Sennoy Markets 13
Conclusion 14 Sources 15
Introduction
This time we decided to compare two cities – London and Saint Petersburg. We want to know what is similar and different in these two great capitals.
We all live in changeable and difficult times. People try to look back and analyse the historical events and the contemporary situation.
Everybody should know the history of Saint Petersburg, its architecture and art. The history and culture of our city is inseparably connected with the history and culture of all our country as Saint Petersburg was the capital of Russia for more than two centuries (1712 – 1918).
But studying in our school and learning English means to know the history of the Country and its Capital City, to know the sights of modern London and to improve our English in this way. Modern London is not one city that has steadily become larger through the centuries; it is a number of cities, towns, and villages that have, during the past centuries, grown together to make one vast urban area. London dominates the life of Britain. It is the chief port of the country and the most important commercial, manufacturing and cultural centre. There is little heavy industry in London, but there is a wide range of light industry in Greater London.
We live in St. Petersburg and are never tired of admiring its streets and squares, its palaces and gardens, its bridges and embankments. Like London, St. Petersburg has its own Spirit and this is the reason why I decided to call this project “The Spirit of Two Capitals”. Comparing these capitals, we can surely say that anyone who has ever visited London and everyone who has ever been to St. Petersburg will always treasure the memories of these two beautiful capitals and look forward to another visits with joy and excitement.
Places to Visit
Churches
St Isaac’s Cathedral
A small wooden church was built on Peter’s order on the place where the Bronze Horseman stands now. Then the church was replaced in 1727 by a stone building. This building was destroyed by fire and a new church far from the Neva was erected. The present version of the Cathedral, the fourth one was built within 40 years from 1818 to 1858. St Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the tallest and the most magnificent edifices of the city (101.8 m). The Cathedral is decorated with 112 granite monolithic columns. The Cathedral is also famous for its mosaic pictures, made by Russian masters. About half a million people serf from different parts of Russia, took part in its building. (P.1, 2)
P.1 
P.2
Similar church in London – St Paul’s Cathedral.
St Paul’s Cathedral
Р.3
St Paul’s Cathedral (Р.3) was built by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666. From the top there is a good view of the City of London. The interior of the Cathedral is very beautiful. It is full of monuments. The most important is the one dedicated to the Duke of Wellington. After looking round you can climb 263 steps to the Whispering Gallery, which runs the dome. It is called so, because if someone whispers close to the wall on one side, a person with his ear close to the wall on the other side can hear what is said. As for Christopher Wren, he found his fame only after his death. He was buried in the Cathedral.
Peter and Paul Cathedral
Our city took shape around the Peter and Paul Fortress. First it was a Fortress then the Fortress was a section of a Historical museum. Millions of people from different parts of our country and abroad come to our city to see the tallest building in Saint Petersburg and the most interesting place in our city. All the Russian tsars beginning from Peter I were buried here.
The Cathedral was built in 1733 the Italian architect D. Trezzini. It is the tallest building in Saint Petersburg – 121,5 m (400 feet) high. (P.4, 5)
P.4
P.5
Similar church in London – Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous churches in London. It is very near to the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Abbey is a fine Gothic building. It is the work of many hands and different ages. The oldest part of the building dates from the eighth century. It was a monastery – the West Minster. Since then the Abbey remains the most French of all English Gothic churches, higher than any other English church (103 feet) and much narrower. The towers were built in 1735-1740. The Abbey is famous for its stained glass. Since the far-off time of William the Conqueror Westminster Abbey has been the crowning place of the kings and queens of England. The Abbey is sometimes compared with a mausoleum, because there are tombs and memorials of almost all English monarchs, many statesmen, famous scientists, writers and musicians. (Р.6)
P.6
Museums
The Hermitage
The State Hermitage is the largest museum in our country and the second largest museum in the world. (P.7) The Hermitage comprises five buildings.
- The Winter Palace;
- The Small Hermitage;
- The Old Hermitage;
- The Hermitage Theatre;
- The New Hermitage.
In 1852 the Hermitage was opened to the public as a museum of the certain days.
In the museum you can find and admire a lot of works of world famous painters such as Picasso, Reynolds and Gainsborough. Here you can see the oldest an richest collection coins, handicrafts.
The Antiquities Department contains a collection of monuments of the culture and art of Ancient Greece and Rome.
The Department of West-European art represents a collection of world famous paintings, sculptures, engravings, drawings and objects of applied art.
French paintings and sculptures of the 15-20th centuries occupy two floors.
The Department of the History of Primitive Culture shows the development of primitive cultures on the territory of the former USSR from the beginning of the old Stone Age (Paleolithic) to the formation of the first states.
The Oriental Department was founded in 1920. The largest exhibition is the Culture and Art of the Peoples of Central Asia.
The Department of the History of Russian Culture was set up in 1941, but many of the exhibits had been in the Hermitage for a long time. They illustrate very fully the important stages of the history of Russian culture and life.
P.7
Similar museum in London – The British Museum.
Similar art gallery – The National Gallery.
The National Gallery
The most famous is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, (Р.8). It has been in this building since 1838 which was built as the National Gallery to house the collection of Old Masters Paintings offered to the nation by an English private collection. You can see paintings by Turner, Constable, Goya, Van Dyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens and Titian.
P.8
The British Museum is one of the largest museum in the world. There are thousands of exhibits and over 5 km of galleries. The museum has regular special exhibitions for example ancient Roman and Greek art, the Egyptians and the Anglo-Saxons. (Р.9, 10)
Р.9
Р.10
The museum has regular special exhibitions for example ancient Roman and Greek art, the Egyptians and the Anglo-Saxons.
The Kunstkamera
The Kunstkamera is the first Russian museum. (P.11, 12) The green and white dome-capped building was built in 1718 by Peter I as the Academy of Arts and Sciences. The first Russian astronomical observatory was installed in the tower, there still is a globe 3 metres in diameter. The Kunstkamera is the cradle of Russian science. Rare books, minerals, maps in the museum have been collected from Peter’s times.
The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography found a home here, too. It contains unique examples of pre-historic art, remains of Neanderthal man and skeletons of the Mesolithic Age. There is the exhibition of life and culture of Africa, Asia, Australia and America.
P.11
P.12
Similar museum in London - Natural History Museum.
The Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums. (P.13, 14) The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 70 million items within five main collections: Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons, and ornate architecture — sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature — both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast which dominates the vaulted central hall.
P.13
P.14
Parks and Gardens
The Summer Garden
The Summer Garden is oldest in the city, was laid in 1704. (P.15) Peter the Great dreamed of creating a garden more beautiful than that at Versailles and planted its first trees himself. It originally had dozens of fountains and sculptures brought from abroad. There was a hothouse for exotic plants and rare birds. Swans swam in a canal.
Peter the Great used the gardens as a place for festivities called “assemblies”. Sometimes the guests were required to arrive in rowing or sailing boats.
Famous railing fenced off the Summer Garden from the Neva Embankment. It is one of the finest examples of artistic work in the world.
The Summer Garden with its ancient oaks, limes is a popular place of recreation.
Peter’s Summer Palace is located in the garden. (P.16) This two-storey modest stone building was Peter the Great’s residence. The top floor was occupied by Catherine I and the ground floor by Peter. The palace is one of the oldest structures in St Petersburg.
Similar a garden in London - Hyde Park.
P.15 
P.16
Long ago Hyde Park was far from being a resort place. In Henry VIII’s reigh it was enclosed and became a royal hunting ground conveniently close to St James’s Palace for His Majesty. Elizabeth, too, followed the chase there. It was not until the coming of Charles II, when fun and games were the order of the day, that the park became a resort for the fashionable and frivolous. Today you will find Hyde Park less fashionable than of old – mostly bacause elegant lounging is out of fashion. But there are still riders on the Row on a fine morning, and you will have a chance to catch a glimpse of the Household Cavalry, the sun flashng on burnished breast-places, on their way from Knightsbridge Barracks to Whitehall. You may row on and swim in the Serpentine, and take open-air refreshment in the cafes you’ll find amongst the trees. You may watch the model yachts on the Round Pond and the kites that soar above it, and delight with the children in Peter Pan. People relax on the glass and skate and cycle on the parts. (Р.17)
Р.17
Shopping
If we earlier reviewed the history, landmarks and shopping only in London, this time we will compare history, landmarks and shopping in two cities – London and Saint-Petersburg.
London is world famous for its shopping. Oxford Street is London’s main shopping centre. Selfridges is a well-known department store on Oxford Street (P.18). The most famous shop in London is Harrods (P.19). It’s in Knightsbridge.
P.18 
P.19
Saint-Petersburg is also famous for shopping. Main shopping centres in St. Petersburg are Apraksin’s (P.20) and Great Gostinyy yards (P.21). There are about 60 department stores and about 400 shops in all the city.
P.20
P.21
There are also hundreds of markets in London. They sell all kinds of things: food, clothes, jewellery and so on. The two best known markets in London are Portobello Road and Camden. Portobello Road is in West London and Camden Market is in North London.(P22-23)
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P.22
P.23
There’re also hundreds of markets in London. They sell all kinds of things: food, clothes, jewellery, music and furniture. The 2 best known markers are Portobello Road and Camden (P.24).
P.24
In Saint-Petersburg, there are about 70 markets in all the city. The best known markets are Polyustrovskiy, Yunona (P.25), Grazhdanskiy and book shop «The Culture House of N.K.Krupskaya» (P.26).
P.25 
P.26
Other popular markets in London are Spitalfields, Greenwich and Petticoat Lane (P.27-28).
P.27 
P.28
There are many other popular markets in Saint-Petersburg, such as Sytnyy, Sennoy and many more.
Conclusion
In conclusion I’d like to say that every year more than a million tourists visit England and Russia with there capitals London and St. Petersburg. In fact tourism is an important industry. Most visitors come in the summer months, when they can expect good weather. In July and August, streets of London and St. Petersburg are full of the sound of French, Italy, Japanese, Arabic and German.
Tourists usually spend a few days in London, and of course, never forget to come to our unforgetable city. The main tourists places are crowded with coaches and ice-cream sellers.The greatness of the past is still to be seen in their old streets and squares. You can enjoy a cup of coffee at the lakeside café! In London and St.Petersburg there is something for everyone! They are the most exciting cities in the world! Come and see for yourself!
I love you, citadel of Peter’s
I love your elegant austerity of line.
Your broad Neva, whose gracious waters
Mid granitу – clad embankments shine…
A.S. Pushkin
Sources
1. All London. Editorial Escudo de Oro, SA, 1994
2. Britain in Brief. M., Prosveschenie, 1993
3. Bromhead P. Life in Modern Britain, Longman Group UK Limited 1992
4. Buckingham Palace. Headway & Law Publishing Group Ltd, London, 1993
5. Gilbert M. The Dent Atlas of British History. JM Dent Ltd, 1993
6. Green B., Sorrell A. Prehistoric Britain. London Lutterworth Press, 1971.
7. Illustrated Guide to Britain. Drive Publication Limited London, 1984
8. Randle J. Understanding Britain. A History of the British People and Their Culture. Lingual House Linguaphone Institute Ltd, London, 1986
9. The Spirit of St. Petersburg. A.P.Vaks, E.P.Afonina, « Мир и семья – 95»,1997
10. Leningrad. A Short Guide. Kann P. M.,1963
11. The Hermitage. Voronikhina L.N.Spb, 1992
