Monday, 11 July

20:00 – 22:00

Welcome reception “Get together”

Tuesday, 12 July

12:30 – 13:30  

Fabergé Museum Tour

Fabergé Museum's collection contains the world's largest collection of works by Carl Fabergé, including nine of the famous Imperial Easter Eggs, regarded not only as the finest jeweled works of art, but also as unique historical artifacts. The museum's collection also includes decorative and applied works made by the Russian masters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The museum is located in the Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River - one of the most beautiful palaces in St. Petersburg.

14:00 – 15:00 

Lunch in the cities restaurant

15:30 – 16:30 

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral Tour

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the world’s largest domed cathedrals. This massive church and its golden dome can be seen from many locations in St. Petersburg. St. Isaac’s Cathedral was commissioned in 1818 by Tsar Alexander I to celebrate the victory over Napoleon, and the French architect Auguste de Montferrand was the designer. St. Isaac’s took 40 years to build, and Montferrand died the year it opened. It sits on a marshy bank of the Neva River, and thousands of huge wooden pilings were sunk into the mud to support the church. The exterior of the cathedral is of Renaissance and Baroque design, and the interior is spectacular because of the mosaics and many precious stones and minerals used. The golden dome is covered with 220 pounds of gold. During the Soviet era, the Orthodox Church was closed to worshipers and became a museum of atheism. Fortunately, many of the wonderful 19th century works of art were retained and decorate today’s St. Isaac’s.

17:30

Arrival to Park Inn Pulkovskaya Hotel

19:30-22:30

Official conference dinner with participants of 10-th International Oat Conference

Wednesday, 13 July 

12:00 – 13:30

Visit to the Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum is Russia's best gallery of world art, one of the most prominent art museums in the world and definitely the main tourist attraction of St. Petersburg. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin.

Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays a diverse range of art and artifacts from all over the world and from throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage's collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a unique collection of Rembrandt and Rubens.

14:00 – 15:00 

Lunch in the cities restaurant

15:00 – 17:00 

Peter and Paul Fortress Tour

When Peter the Great re-claimed the lands along the Neva River in 1703, he decided to build a fort to protect the area from possible attack by the Swedish army and navy. The Peter and Paul fortress was founded on a small island in the Neva delta on May 27, 1703 and that day became the birthday of the city of St Petersburg. The Swedes were defeated before the fortress was even completed. For that reason, from 1721 onwards the fortress housed part of the city's garrison and rather notoriously served as a high security political jail. Among the first inmates was Peter's own rebellious son Alexei. Later, the list of famous residents included Dostoyevsky, Gorkiy, Trotsky and Lenin's older brother, Alexander. Parts of the former jail are now open to the public.

18:00   

Arrival to Park Inn Pulkovskaya Hotel

Thursday, 14 July

11:00 – 12:00

Church of the Savior on Blood Tour

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg. Its official name is the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.

The Church of the Resurrection, known as the "Saviour on the Blood", was erected between 1883 and 1907 on the site where, on 1 March 1881, Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded by a bomb thrown by Ignatiy Grinevitskiy, a member of the People's Will organization.
During the Soviet period, the church was considered to have no artistic value. It miraculously escaped demolition, however, and was used as a storehouse.

Restoration work on the church started in 1970 and its reopening in 1997 was an important event in the cultural life of the city.

12:00 – 13:00

Transfer to Pushkin

13:00 – 14:30

Lunch in the restaurant “Russkoe Zastolje” in Pushkin

15:30 – 18:00

Pavlovsk Palace Tour with participants of 10-th International Oat Conference

Pavlovsk is a former Summer residence of Emperor Paul I and his wife. It is a wonderful summer palace with a huge English type landscape park around it. It was constructed at the end of the 18th century. Its delicate, elegant and harmonious classical style interiors will not display bright and luxurious gildings which are so typical for the Russian baroque. Instead it will strike you with its own special charm, impeccable proportions and perfect taste. Pavlovsk still bears traces of personality of its owners. It also has a collection of original furniture, clocks, porcelain and other pieces of art and applied art, which is the richest collection among the Summer palaces.

19:00

Arrival to Park Inn Pulkovskaya Hotel

Friday, 15 July

The first half of the day is FREE

16:00-19:30

Bus guided city tour

19:30

Transfer to Park Inn Pulkovskaya Hotel