This is my entry for the @tattoodjay's Wednesday walk challenge.

Today I continue to acquaint you with St. Petersburg in my photo walks again .

Last time I settled on how I went further along Nevsky Prospect after I walked near the Kazan Cathedral and crossed the Moika River along the Green Bridge. It was here.

Moving further along Nevsky Prospect, I turned back and took another photo. After all, further my path along Nevsky Prospekt ended. Now I was heading to Bolshaya Morskaya Street. This street leads to one of the most significant sights of the city. Rather, to a whole group of attractions. After all, Palace Square, the General Staff Building, the Alexander Column and of course the Winter Palace are waiting for me.

But first, I have to go along Bolshaya Morskaya Street and meet the Arc de Triomphe of the General Staff Building. This arch connects two semicircular buildings of the General Staff building. The General Staff building itself was built in 1825. Arc de Triomphe was built by 1928. The construction of the arch was supervised by the famous architect Karl Rossi.

Like Kazan Cathedral, this arch is dedicated to the victory of the Russian Empire over the French Empire, in a war which took place in 1812.

On the way to the arch, I noticed how beautifully they paved the Great Sea Street in our time. It seems to me that when I was a student, this street was covered with asphalt. And now it is paved with granite tiles and in the middle lined with cobblestone circles.

In the upper corners of the arch you can see the bas-reliefs. They depict goddesses of glory with laurel wreaths and palm branches in honor of the might and triumph of the Russian army.

And I really liked how the clock complements the arch in the right corner of the photo. It turns out that this is the first street electric clock in St. Petersburg. The diameter of the dial of this watch is as much as two meters. They were installed here with the participation of the scientist D. Mendeleev. I bet you heard about the periodic table of chemical elements that he created.

Through the arch you can see the passage to the Palace Square. Also through the passage is visible Alexander Column. But about her later. Pay attention to how beautiful the arch looks from below.

In fact, if you look closely, it’s even three arches, not one. Two arches at the entrance from the street and one at the exit to the Palace Square.

And it looks like the east wing of the General Staff building from Palace Square. Currently, this building belongs to the State Hermitage Museum. Unfortunately, on this day there were some constructions on the square after the musical event. They were fenced, which spoiled the view a little.

Going out to the square, I saw the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral, towering over the city. I visited this cathedral during another walk. And in the future I will tell you about it. There I took a lot of interesting photos.

And ending my today's story, I want to show how the whole General Staff building looks like. Pay attention to the chariot located above the Arc de Triomphe. According to the initial draft of Carl Rossi, she was not supposed to be here. But the Russian emperor Nicholas first insisted on its installation.

By the way, I forgot to mention that the General Headquarters building is so called because it housed the General Headquarters of the Russian Imperial Army.

Then I went for a walk along Palace Square and around the Winter Palace. But I will talk about this in my next posts.

At this point I end my today's story. I hope you enjoyed it. There are still many walks ahead!

---

---

Nikon D5000 + Sigma AF 17-50

---

I strongly recommend to open the photo in a separate tab to appreciate it.

---