French Club

Section leader -Vitaly Nikolaevich Fedoruk, Researcher, State Hermitage

Our goal is to acquaint participants with the history and culture of St Petersburg in the context of world artistic culture. Our studies chiefly take the form of field trips around Petersburg and visits to its suburbs. In this work we have consciously given up the traditional form of lectures in order to be able to better feel the history of our city, to see it 'from within', and not only to understand the importance of Petersburg in Russian and world history but also to penetrate the very spirit of the Northern Capital, see it for a change from an unusual perspective.

The themes guiding our strolls around the city have been very diverse.

There were outings dedicated to the founding of Petersburg; to its life as the cultural, industrial, commercial and military center of Russia from the 18th to 20th centuries; to the history of separate streets, squares and embankments. Alongside these activities we carried out, and we plan to continue in the future, walking tours relating to rather unusual topics: 'Life on a Petersburg Street in the 19th Century', 'the Staircases of Petersburg,' 'the Life of a Building with Rental Apartments',"the Streetlamps of Petersburg,' 'City Clocks,' 'Historical Cemeteries', etc. In addition we devoted attention to old estate houses in the city limits such as Shuvalovo and Aleksandrino and to those suburbs which usually are ignored by traditional tour itineraries (Oranienbaum, Strel'na, Ropsha). In order to broaden the 'horizons' of our interests we traveled to Vyborg and Staraya Ladoga, and we plan to visit Kronstadt, Oreshek and other places which are closely linked with the history of the Neva territory.

Our work assumes an open approach to the field. We discuss together the possible themes and variations for our tours. Everyone can speak his mind and express his wishes concerning work in the section and our excursion itineraries.

Besides outings, we try to arrange meetings with interesting people who can share with us their knowledge of the city, their vision of Petersburg. Our section takes part in the general events of the Student Club.

We invite everyone who takes an active interest in the fate of our city, in its past and its present, to join us in the 'Petersburg Club'. We meet on Saturdays or Sundays twice a month.

A scene from the literary composition The Book of Love. The Knight and the Jester

A scene from the literary composition Claude Monet. His Life and Work