Keep pace with the revolution: SPbU’s historians to hold excursions at the International Cultural Forum 2017
On the 100-anniversary of the Revolution of 1917, SPbU’s historians have created museum itineraries in St Petersburg. These excursions around the city of three revolutions will held as part of the section on Education at the St Petersburg International Cultural Forum in November 16-18, 2017.
The Revolution of 1917 brought radical national and global changes. Within several months, the Revolution dismantled monarchy, followed by another overthrow, and all power was given to the Soviets, which immediately resulted in the Civil War.
After 100 years, we can gain an insight into how the Revolution erupted and what consequences it had by reconstructing the course of events and understanding the role of the people who had started the Revolution. During the excursions by SPbU’s historians, you will be walking around the city-museum, along its streets and squares that were the scenery of the revolutionary events.
The excursions from the cycle “Museum Itineraries” will be held as part of the St Petersburg International Forum 2017, and they are available to anyone. There are 11 excursions that focus on how the Revolution progressed and how the city lived in the early 20th century.
Ten days that rocked the world
The excursions at the Peter and Paul Fortress, Palace Square, and Kadet Line in 1917 focus on the events happened at the heart of the city in 1917. Peter and Paul Fortress is not only a cradle of our city. But also a prison where three generations of Russian revolutionists were jailed. It is particularly concerned with what role the military post of the fortress played in the October Revolution and how the Winter Palace was bombarded from the Naryshkin Bastion.
Some of the excursions will show the Revolution’s symbols, Palace Square, and Winter Palace. One of the excursions will tell about little known, but not less important, place of the Revolution: Kadet Line. You will know about where the First All-Russian Congress of Working and Military Members of Government, what role it had and what decisions it made.
The unique excursion “KGB Leningrad” tells about the opposition between the committee for state security, the whites, anti-soviets, and criminals. It will tell about Petrograd GubCHK, notorious “KGB cases”, assassinations, crimes, and punishments.
Lenin and working class
The excursion “Workers of the Vyborg district during the February Revolution in 1917” focuses on the early periods of the Revolution. It is a place where the first strikes burst into the flames of the Revolution. If you are eager to experience how it happened, you should take the route of how the workers went from their manufactures to the Tauride Palace, a political centre of the events.
You can also walk along those paths where the Revolution’s leader walked. The guide will lead you along the road from the Lenin’s safe flat in Serdobolskaya Street to the Smolny. The excursion will be accompanied by music and be held in an interactive format, which ensures that you will be plunged into the atmosphere of the night in October 24-25, 1917, when Lenin was going there.
Historical background
St Petersburg is truly a cradle of the Russian Revolution. Long before the monarchy was dismantled, the capital of the Russian Empire had been a centre of the social uprisings. March 1, 1881, Emperor Aleksandr II had been beheaded by the Narodnaya Volya. This key event in the Revolution will be at the centre of a unique excursion.
If you are eager to gain insight into political life in Petersburg, you should take an excursion to the monarch institutions in 1905-1917. By visiting the sights that are related to the history of these institution, you will better understand the Revolution and its leaders. Besides, there is an excursion on the “financial” history of the city that had been a century-old centre to strike coins and issue banknotes in Russia.
Cultural background
You will never understand the Revolutionary Petrograd if you have no idea about the confrontations between philosophical, religious, and political movements. A unique museum itinerary will focus on the controversy in the Russian Orthodox Church. It will tell about the cathedrals that became the centres of the political struggle and how the pastors agitated for or against the Soviets.
Another itinerary will provide a fresh glance on the well-known sights of the early 20th century in St Petersburg and focus on the style of the architecture that is the Russian Revolution’s contemporary. At the excursion “Modern: Fate of the momentary style”, you will see unique architecture of the St Petersburg modern and bright examples of public and private houses.
You can take both walking or bust excursions in November 16-18, 2017. It is free, but you should register.
About the Forum
The VI St Petersburg International Cultural Forum will be held in November 16-18, 2017. It is organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, Government of St Petersburg, and supported by the Charity Fund “Arts, Science, and Sports”.
The Forum has two flows: professional and public, and three parallel lines. The extensive business programme is specially designed for those who are the experts in culture and has 14 sections headed by the outstanding cultural and social leaders who develop the agenda and identify the areas for discussions. The business platform is an excellent opportunity for initiating projects and signing the agreements in the sphere of culture. The festival programme focuses on cultural events in St Petersburg.
The Forum will award a number of prizes: Patron of Arts of the Year for the contribution into the cultural projects, and Anatoly Lunacharsky Prize to acknowledge the merits of the cultural workers.