NEMONIC CONCEPTS UNVEILS ST PETERSBURG A TAPESTRY OF RICH RUSSIAN HERITAGE, CULTURE AND ELEGANCE

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1 NEMONIC CONCEPTS UNVEILS ST PETERSBURG A TAPESTRY OF RICH RUSSIAN HERITAGE, CULTURE AND ELEGANCE Nemonic Concepts has unveiled St Petersburg for high-end incentives and small meetings groups in conjunction with Rusmice, one of Russia's premier destination management companies. Designed to capture the imperial splendour of the Romanov dynasty and a glimpse into the city's Russian Revolution legacy, each individualised programme showcases St Petersburg's iconic attractions, venues and unique cultural experiences including the tsars' royal palaces and gardens, performances by the captivating Mariniinsky Ballet Company, a host of city museums housing priceless Romanov artefacts, European art and historic exhibits, and other great 'city moments' that embrace St Petersburg's local flavours and varied streetscape. The bedrock of sophisticated European culture, Rusmice's team of experts also share their insider secrets on the city's hotspots after dark. "Just within a generation of Perestroika and Glasnost, St Petersburg has become one of Europe's most desirable incentive destinations. Rusmice's custom-designed programmes not only captures the grandeur of St Petersburg but also infuses oncein-a-lifetime experiences especially geared towards the performing arts and festivals," says Sue Wallace, Senior Partner, Nemonic Concepts. From a host of cultural and historic attractions Catherine the Great's world-famous art collection at The Hermitage, Grand Peterhof Palace, Alexander Palace, the Mariniisky Ballet and the impressive Russian Museum, together with a guided walking tour around the Nevskiy Prospekt and guided boat tour along the city's winding canals to fine dining, entertainment, shopping, to name a few - groups will be inundated with choice.

2 Rusmice's high-end programmes are customised to meet every PCO's budget and guest requirements, including a stylish base to explore the city; Kempinski Hotel Moika 22, Hotel Astoria or W Hotel, all ground transfers, special venues focused around the arts, theme dinners and dazzling day excursions. Complementing the St Petersburg experience is an optional three-four-night stay in Moscow, offering groups a taste of Soviet Russia and its Cold War and aerospace legacies. EVOLUTION TO REVOLUTION: Imbued with grandeur and elegance, St Petersburg was built on a swamp near the Baltic Sea by Peter the Great - Tsar Peter II and first Emperor of Russia. He not only envisaged the city to become Russia's "Window on the West", but entirely European in appearance and approach. After touring the sophisticated and elegant cities of Europe, the young tsar went about reforming his country and quickly transformed St Petersburg into one of the continent's cultural capitals. Along the way, he hired the finest architects and artisans, constructed Neo-Classical palaces and academies that were connected by a labyrinth of graceful canals, designed myriad parklands that rivalled any English or French estate, and amassed a superb Dutch, Italian and Flemish art collection. Following his visit to the Palace of Versailles, Peter the Great was also inspired to build his own "Russian Versailles" and commissioned French architect, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Leblond to design and lay down the stone foundations for his next palace at Peterhof, situated on a shoreline bluff overlooking the Gulf of Finland. Comprising sculptured gardens of topiary and scented blooms that fan across two levels - Upper Gardens and the Lower Gardens - as well as several royal households including the Grand Peterhof Palace, which served the summer residence of the Romanov tsars, the Estate also features numerous pavilions, museums and galleries, and over 176 ornate fountains with cascades connected by an enormous network of pipes and a canal, linking them to the sea. Enjoyed as a day excursion, Rusmice guests additionally explore the surrounding Baltic landscape including Repino, an artistic resort town dotted with dachas - Russian cottages, and the lavish imperial palace and gardens of Tsarskoe Selo estates in Pushkin including Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace. The royal residence of the last Romanov tsar, Nicholas II, the palace served as his family's place of imprisonment following his abdication in 1917 and eventual execution in 1918 by their Red Guard captors. Now a museum, the palace features a superb exhibition centred on its imperial history. Along with viewing three fully restored staterooms and ten galleries featuring personal items, photographs and other royal artefacts, guests can watch a documentary on the royal family filmed during Nicholas II's sad and controversial reign. At the time of his death, his wealth was estimated at $200 million; $900 billion in today's currency. Also close by are the gardens, pavilions and royal palaces at Pavlosk and Oranienbaum, the onetime residence of Tsar Peter III and his Germanborn wife who became Catherine the Great, one of Russia's most powerful rulers.

3 Time travellers can view several of St Petersburg's earliest dwellings including Peter The Great's cabin, where the tsar lived for six years while overseeing the construction of the infant city, Menshikov Palace, home of his close advisor, Aleksandr Menshikov which forms part of The Hermitage estate, and Monplaisr, the tsar's first residence which was originally built as a summer hunting lodge on the grounds of the Peterhof estate. Also near Menshikov Palace is the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, noted for its classic Russian architecture and the location where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in Today, St Petersburg boasts over 90 museums with many of the prominent galleries housed in many palaces and notable buildings including the Stieglitz Museum, a beautiful art gallery that was inspired in design by the Italian Renaissance period and The Russian Museum, which showcases the titans of European art including Moscow-born, Vasily Kandinsky's semi-abstract work. Another programme highlight is a visit to The Hermitage, an architectural band of stately buildings and parklands including the resplendent Winter Palace, which was built by Catherine the Great. The palace remained the official state residence of the Romanov tsars until the Russian Revolution in With its elegant pavilions, opulent staterooms and unrivalled collection of European masterpieces and impressionist paintings, The Hermitage estate also features the lavish Hermitage Theatre, a series of museums including the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory and the Raphael Loggias gallery, a long hallway featuring an exquisite reproduction of the Vatican's lesser-known biblical fresco, Loggia, painted by Italian artist, Raphael. Along with acquiring a library for Russia's leading scholars and a magnificent art collection - today numbering more than 3 million works of art and artefacts, Catherine who corresponded with Europe's leading philosophers, Voltaire and Diderot, also established 25 major learning academies including the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the St Petersburg Academy of Arts. The city remained the bedrock for artists and performers including realist painter, Ilya Repin, the poet, Alexander Pushkin and author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who penned Crime and Punishment while living in the old city slums. Composer, Pytor Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker, Undina and Swan Lake) who was a graduate of St Petersburg's oldest music school, Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, and ballet dancers, Anna Pavlova and Valslaw Nijinsky, also paved the way for Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, both graduates from the world-acclaim, Kirov Ballet, now known as the Mariniisky Ballet.

4 Today, the Mariniisky Theatre is home to the Mariniiskiy opera and ballet companies as well as The Concert Hall and Mariniisky II complex, which opened this year. Comparable to the world's most prominent opera houses, the new theatre features several expansive rehearsal halls and a rooftop amphitheatre with sweeping views of the city. One of the star attractions to St Petersburg is the annual Stars of the White Nights music festival, headlined by the Mariniisky Theatre's prominent musical director, Valery Gergiev and its leading artists. Showcased from May to August, guests visiting St Petersburg at this time can take pleasure in the world's finest symphonic, opera and ballet performances. SOVIET RUSSIA TO THE FEDERATION OF RUSSIA: Undergoing a name change to Petrograd in 1914 during the height of civil unrest, St Petersburg's imperial influence gave way to Russia's revolutionaries led by St Petersburg native, Vladmir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, who stormed the Winter Palace in October 1917, marking the beginning of the Russian Revolution and the end of Russia's ruling dynasty. A decade later, Petrograd became Leningrad before reverting back to St Petersburg in To experience a taste of "Leningrad", guests can visit Peter and Paul's Fortress in Petrogradskaya, which nurtures the tombs of the Romonov tsars and tsarinas and Yusupov Palace (Moika Palace). Owned at the time by Russian noble, Prince Felix Yusupov, the palace was also the location where the notorious mystic and Tsarina's personal advisor, Grigori Rasputin was murdered in Yusupov Palace now features an exhibition on the man known by many as "The Mad Monk". On a city walk, guests can glimpse the Smolny Institute, Lenin's onetime Bolshevik headquarters during the October Revolution of 1917 and later, the city's local Communist Party headquarters. In 1934, former Bolshevik revolutionist, Sergei Kirov and head of the Communist Party in Leningrad, was assassinated in the building, an act believed to have been carried out on the orders of Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin during the "Great Purge" of his former comrades. Today the building serves as the office of St Petersburg's governor. Other great St Petersburg moments include discovering Souvenir Market, which sells all things Russian including Dr Zhivago-style fur hats and quirky Cossack attire, The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St Isaac Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, Kirov Museum and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, where many illustrious Russians artists including Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky and fabulist, Ivan Krylov (The Lion and The Mouse) are buried. And a short ride on the Metro to Moskovskaya is the symbolic, Victory Monument, which houses the subterranean Memorial Hall, a superb exhibition depicting the 872-day siege of the city by the Nazis during World War Two. Along the way, guests can enjoy a variety of Russian-theme venues; from sampling St Petersburg's local flavours and cafes, feasting on imperial-style fare at Hotel Astoria's The Winter Garden, dining amidst boisterous Russian folk dancers and visiting the Liviz distillery, famous for its Russian vodka, to browsing the various boutiques, department stores and antique markets that fan across the Gostinyy Dvor, Nevskiy Prospekt and Sennaya Ploshchad neighbourhoods. "Rusmice's programmes are individually cultivated by travel experts living in St Petersburg and Moscow. Whether your group's taste runs towards the arts or the endless scenic attractions, Rusmice will showcase each city's hot spots at the most competitive cost," says Ms. Wallace. ### (c) JB/ BBC: 2013:

5 A short flight from Moscow, Russia's gateway city, and easily linked by a streamlined rail service, Nemonic Concepts additionally offers groups direct access to China Southern Airlines' European network and competitive business and economy class fares, flying from Australia or New Zealand to Moscow via Guangzhou. For further programme information or quotes, please contact Nemonic Concepts: Phone: +61 (0) info@nemonic.com.au Website: Facebook: Click here and follow our brief destination updates Pinterest: Click here and follow our visual storyboard on St Petersburg