Russia & the USSR

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Whether your students are studying the excesses of the Tsars, the tumultuous events of the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 or the tyranny of Stalin, an ANGLIA tour to Russia will allow your students to experience the glory that is St Petersburg and in Moscow to see where Russia’s Soviet past collides with its capitalist future.

Moscow

The capital of Russia in its various guises since March 1918, Moscow is now one of the busiest and most frequently visited cities on Earth.

Sprawling around a series of bends in the Moskva River, over 10,500,000 people call Moscow home, making it the seventh largest city in the world.

Amongst its highlights are the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site of the Kremlin - still home to the President and government of Russia - St Basil's cathedral, Red Square and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - demolished during Stalin's rule, only to be rebuilt between 1990-2000.

Dominating the skyline are Stalin's Seven Sisters - a series of Constructivist towers built between 1947-1953 - and a new generation of modern hotels.

For historians, an essential visit is to the Museum of Contemporary History, whilst for art lovers the Kremlin's Armoury and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts are unmissable.

It is possible to combine this tour with a visit to St Petersburg, travelling between the two cities via the world-famous overnight train.

Suggested Itinerary - Fully Guided

4-Day Petersburg by air POA

Day 1: Travel to St Petersburg
Day 2: City tour including entrance to the St Isaac’s Cathedral, Cruiser Aurora, Peter and Paul Fortress
Day 3: Hermitage Museum; Cathedral of Spilled Blood; Nevsky Prospect
Day 4: Travel to UK

6-Day Moscow and St Petersburg by air and rail POA

Day 1: Travel to Moscow
Day 2: Moscow
Day 3: Moscow; overnight train
Day 4: St Petersburg
Day 5: St Petersburg Day 6: Travel to UK

St Petersburg

'The Venice of the North', St Petersburg was the capital of Russia for over two hundred years, until the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917.

Russia's most Western and outward-looking city, poised at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, St Petersburg is picturesque, beautiful and fascinating.

Amongst its highlights are the Hermitage - the largest art gallery in the world, housed within part of the Winter Palace - St Isaac's Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood), the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cruiser Aurora.

Historians will find the Political History Museum, housed in the building where Lenin wrote the April Theses, provides a guided tour to the most important period of Russian history.

The cultural highlights include a folklore evening at the Nikolaievski Palace and possibly a visit to the ballet.

 

Specifications/topics supported by these tours

KS3 > Twentieth Century World

GCSE: All AQA, OCR and Edexcel specifications featuring > Russia; 1905-1941 > International Relations 1900-1991

‘A’ level: All AQA, OCR and Edexcel specifications featuring > Tsarist, Revolutionary, Stalinist and Communist Russia, 1855-1991 > International Relations, 1879-1990

Themes

  • From Tsardom to Communism – Russia 1855-1939
  • Stalin’s dictatorship
  • The origins of the Cold War
  • Cold War crises
  • Why did the Cold War end?
  • The collapse of Communism