Recognizing that very often we think in clichés is unpleasant, but necessary. For example, what can we say about the work of F.M. Dostoevsky? School program, within the framework of which, most likely, only “Crime and Punishment” was read, develops a reflex: Dostoevsky’s surname evokes memorized phrases in the mind, for example, “internal conflict of the hero”, “mental tossing”, “realism”, “hostile the world around us", "little man". Take Raskolnikov - here is a wonderful example of mental tossing, internal conflict. And how Dostoevsky describes St. Petersburg? “It smelled of lime, dust, stagnant water,” “huge, crowding and oppressive houses...” - that’s the hostile surrounding reality; It’s no wonder you become a murderer in a city like this, right? So you can continue to find confirmation that all these memorized phrases are true; in other most famous works of Dostoevsky - “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Idiot”, “The Gambler”, “The Teenager” - the same difficult insoluble internal conflicts, a hostile surrounding reality. The triumph of realism in Dostoevsky’s work, in a word.
Is it possible, after such a serious set of terms, to suspect that Dostoevsky wrote something sentimental, even a little childishly naive? Hardly. But that’s what a genius is, to be able to write in completely different directions.
So, 1848 is the date the novel “White Nights” was written. More precisely, a sentimental novel, as the author himself defined the genre. It’s worth making a reservation: it is generally accepted that “White Nights” is a story, but we will follow the author’s lead and in some cases we will call it a sentimental novel. Even the subtitle sounds like this: “From the Memoirs of a Dreamer” - another indication of sentimentalism. The specificity of this direction lies in the fact that the focus is on the inner emotional experiences of the characters, their feelings and emotions. Let's figure out what could be sentimental in this novel by Dostoevsky?
Summary: what is “White Nights” about?
The plot centers on the relationship between two people - the narrator and Nastenka. They completely accidentally cross paths during night walk in St. Petersburg and, as it turns out, are kindred spirits - dreamers. They open up to each other, and the girl shares with him a story about her lover, who went to Moscow for a year, and now should return for her, but still does not come. The narrator volunteers to help her, delivers the letter, and waits with her for the arrival of her lover, who ultimately arrives. Everything is going as well as possible, but... This is where sentimentalism begins. The hero is in love with Nastenka and, as you might guess, unrequitedly. Therefore, a large share of the narrative is occupied by the description of his feelings, thoughts and emotions in climax— the moment of waiting for the heroine’s lover.
Why did Dostoevsky call the novel sentimental?
The manner of describing these feelings evokes a clear association with another sentimental work - “Suffering young Werther» Goethe. However, “White Nights” by Dostoevsky and “Werther” by Goethe, even in the basis of the plot, have much in common - love triangle, Where main character turns out to be rejected.
It is worth noting that in “White Nights” the writer does not make the hero’s experiences dramatic - in Werther Goethe, internal emotions are much more complex and impulsive, they lead to a tragic ending - suicide. In the novel, F.M. Dostoevsky's mental anguish does not lead to a tragic end; on the contrary, the narrator, even having suffered a love failure, is grateful to fate at least for the short happiness that befell him. It turns out that the hero of this sentimental novel is in some harmony with himself. Is Dostoevsky's hero in harmony with himself? It's unusual, but it's true.
The image of St. Petersburg in the story “White Nights”
However, the genre of sentimentalism in this novel is predetermined not only by the plot, but also by the nature of the characters and the manner of narration. The narrator becomes the embodiment of sentimentalism - this is noticeable from the first lines of the work, when the routine life of the hero, his relationships with other people and St. Petersburg are described. What is characteristic is that he perceives his city as a living being, all people as his acquaintances. The hero’s mood changes his perception native land- one more characteristic feature sentimentalism. True, authors of sentimental works usually associate inner experiences characters with images of nature - an example of this is the already mentioned Werther. Here the role of landscape is played by St. Petersburg.
The very description of St. Petersburg is also not at all characteristic of Dostoevsky; the Petersburg of White Nights is not at all the same as in his other works. Usually St. Petersburg is the embodiment of vices, the same hostile surrounding reality that the heroes are forced to confront. Here the city acts as the narrator’s friend, his interlocutor; the narrator loves him, enjoys his spring. Petersburg responds to the narrator's inner experiences, but does not become hostile. In this work of Dostoevsky, the problem of the external world is completely absent, which is not usual. We don't know anything about social status heroes, they themselves do not see the reason for their failures as something in the outside world. The focus is only on the inner world.
Language features in the work
It is also impossible not to pay attention to the manner of speech of the heroes - how internal monologues, and dialogues - which is not at all typical for the heroes of the realist Dostoevsky. It is full of various metaphors and is characterized by high style. The sentences are long and detailed. There are a lot of statements with a pronounced emotional overtones.
It is thanks to this nature of speech that the image of the heroes becomes clear to us. They both feel sensitively and are careful about the feelings of others. Emotional, very often excited. From their dialogues it becomes clear that they are able to pay attention to insignificant details, which become very significant to them. Their conversations contain a lot of loud phrases and promises. The heroes are quite radical in matters relating to feelings , They throw around words like “forever”, “love”, “happiness”. Their thoughts about the future, love and friendship sound childishly naive. But that’s why they are both dreamers.
The image of Nastenka in the novel “White Nights”
So what are they, these sentimental heroes, atypical for Dostoevsky? We see Nastenka, of course, only through the eyes of the narrator. The narrator is in love with a girl, so in many ways he may idealize her image. However, she, just like him, is isolated from the outside world, although not of her own free will, but at the whim of her grandmother. Such isolation, however, made the heroine a dreamer. For example, sometimes in her dreams she even went as far as marrying a Chinese prince. The girl is sensitive to the experiences of others, and when she learns about the narrator’s feelings for her, she worries that she could have hurt his feelings with some careless phrase. Nastenka dives headlong into the feeling, her love is pure, unshakable, like that of any dreamer. Therefore, when she is visited by doubts whether her lover will come to her, she so childishly, so helplessly tries to give up these feelings, replace love with hatred, build happiness with another, that is, with the narrator. Such convinced, naive love is also characteristic of sentimentalism; in realism everything can be complex and confusing, such as the relationship between Prince Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna, but in sentimentalism everything is simple - either you love it or you don’t.
The image of the main character (narrator) in the novel “White Nights”
Type of St. Petersburg dreamer - variety extra person, unadapted to reality and not needed by the world. He has a lot in common with his Nastenka. True, the narrator is perhaps an even greater dreamer than she. His detachment from the world is not forced, like the heroine’s, but “voluntary.” No one forced him to such a reclusive lifestyle. He reacts sensitively to his beloved’s emotions and is afraid of hurting or offending her. At the moment when he realizes that his love is unrequited, he does not feel negative feelings towards her at all, and also continues to love her tenderly. There is no internal conflict in his soul whether to love Nastenka or not.
At the same time, one cannot help but notice that the narrator has absolutely no connection with the outside world. He even makes St. Petersburg seem a little fictitious. The heroine, on the contrary, seems to be striving to break out of this alienation. In many ways, her fiancé becomes her connection to the outside world.
Themes in the novel "White Nights"
One of the central themes is, of course, love. But, what is typical for sentimentalism, this is a story of unrequited and, at the same time, sublime love. The heroes themselves attach unprecedented importance to this feeling.
But despite the fact that the plot revolves around love story, other topics are raised here besides love. Dreamers, as Nastenka and the narrator call themselves, are different from those around them. This is how the theme of loneliness appears in the novel. The characters suffer from their isolation from other people. That's why, perhaps, they got along with each other so easily. Nastya says that she had a friend, however, she also left for Pskov. What is life like for a young girl in the company of only her grandmother? Therefore, her fiancé is a saving thread from this world of loneliness. The narrator is even more lonely than Nastenka. At the same time, he does not dare to try to avoid this loneliness, even his acquaintance with the heroine is just a happy accident. The young man is so lonely that he imagines every passerby to be his acquaintance, or, what is even more absurd, he talks to houses. When the girl asks him to “tell his story,” he admits to her that a dreamer like him doesn’t seem to live, his life is not filled with anything.
The idea of Dostoevsky's "White Nights"
This is probably also why he becomes so attached to Nastenka. She is his only interlocutor, his salvation from this loneliness that is familiar to him. Communication with her, her attachment to him, becomes the only thing in this world that matters for the hero. When he realizes that it is not he who will get Nastenka’s love, he withdraws into himself; the city and everything that surrounds it seem to become duller and older in his eyes. He himself grows dim and old. If this had been a character familiar to Dostoevsky, perhaps disappointment would have been followed by hatred of Nastenka. But he also continues to love her, purely and reverently, wishing her only the best. Or the hero could become disillusioned with life, like Svidrigailov, for example, and commit suicide. But this does not happen either - the hero says that for the sake of this short-lived happiness it was worth living. “A whole minute of bliss! But is this not enough even for a human life?..” This phrase contains idea of the work. The idea of happiness: what does it consist of and how much happiness can one person require in his entire life? Due to the fact that Dostoevsky’s hero is sentimental, he is grateful to fate for these few nights. These are probably the memories he will live with for the rest of his life. later life and will be happy that he managed to survive it. This will be enough for him.
What is the difference between White Nights and other works by Dostoevsky?
This sentimental novel by Dostoevsky, due to its genre, is radically different from his others, more famous works. A completely different, non-hostile St. Petersburg. Completely different heroes - sensitive, simple, loving, dreamy. A completely different language - metaphorical, sublime. A completely different range of problems and ideas: not thinking about problems little man, for example, or about the use of any philosophical ideas, but about the loneliness of dreamers, the transience and value of human happiness. This sentimental novel reveals to us a completely different Dostoevsky; Dostoevsky is not gloomy, but light and simple. But in some ways this great Russian author remains true to himself: even despite the external lightness and simplicity of the work, the writer touches on important philosophical issues. Questions about love and happiness.
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Description Study the phenomenon of white nights; Collect information relevant to the chosen topic from various sources; Research, analyze information; Determine the duration of white nights; Calculate the position of the Sun above the horizon and investigate the length of white nights in Cherepovets for 2010.
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What are white nights? White nights are nights during which natural illumination never becomes too low, that is, the entire night consists only of twilight. Near the polar circles (from their outer side), this phenomenon is observed near the solstice (in the northern hemisphere - in June, in the southern hemisphere - in December).
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Where are white nights observed? The definition of white nights depends on the definition of twilight. If we accept the definition of civil twilight, then white nights can be observed at a latitude of at least 60°, although they are also spoken of at slightly lower latitudes; however, there is no generally accepted definition. In latitudes above the Arctic Circle, white nights are observed for one to three weeks before the polar day and after it ends. Where there is no polar day, white nights are observed near the solstice, for a greater number of nights the higher the latitude of the area, with the highest illumination of the night observed on the night of the solstice.
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White nights in Russia The most famous Russian city where white nights are observed is St. Petersburg. Other cities (listed from the darkest and shortest to the lightest and longest white nights): Cherepovets, Vologda, Berezniki, Magadan, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nefteyugansk, Surgut, Syktyvkar, Petrozavodsk, Yakutsk, Ukhta, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk. White Nights can also be observed in those cities where the polar day is observed: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta - 2-3 weeks before the onset of the polar day and the same amount after its end.
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White nights beyond the territory of Russia Throughout the countries: Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica. In most of the territory: Sweden, Norway, Canada. In a smaller part of the territory: Estonia (north), Great Britain (Orkney and Shetland Islands in Scotland, as well as South Orkney Islands in Antarctica), USA (almost all of Alaska, with the exception of the southern regions).
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White nights in St. Petersburg Officially, white nights in St. Petersburg last from June 11 to July 2; the period of very light nights lasts from May 25-26 to July 16-17. White Nights are a unique symbol of St. Petersburg: various festivals and folk celebrations are held at this time. The image of "White Nights" is widely used in art and literature.
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White nights at the poles At the North and South Poles, white night is observed continuously for about 15-16 days before sunrise and the same amount after sunset. In the North it is approximately from March 3 to 18 and from September 26 to October 11, in the South - from March 23 to April 7 and from September 7 to 21.
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White nights in Cherepovets Table of calculations of the position of the Sun above the horizon Cherepovets is the largest city in the Vologda region, the administrative center of the Cherepovets district, one of the few Russian regional cities that surpass the administrative center of its subject of the federation (Vologda) both in population and industrial potential. Population - 310 thousand people. (10/1/2009). Cherepovets agglomeration (Cherepovets district and the city of Cherepovets) - 360 thousand people. Coordinates: 59°08′00″ s. w. 37°55′00″ E. d.
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Conclusion The table shows the calculation of the position of the Sun above the horizon from June 9 to July 4, 2010. The sun sets below the horizon at 22:00 and rises at 04:00. The sun reaches its maximum descent below the horizon to -7.77 degrees on June 9 at 00:00 and on July 4 at 01:00, which corresponds to the onset of nautical twilight. The rest of the time corresponds to civil twilight, until the Sun's descent below the horizon exceeds 6-7 degrees. The sinking of the Sun below the horizon even at midnight is not enough; evening and civil twilight turns into morning without night darkness.
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Why is the night white? As we remember from the lessons of geography and astronomy, the Earth’s axis is tilted, so the Sun illuminates our planet differently - it turns out that in winter the sun’s rays practically do not reach our North, but in summer, on the contrary, the Sun shines almost all day long. St. Petersburg, after all, it is with this city that white nights are associated. This is the merit of our literature - precisely thanks to literary traditions many are ready to consider the white nights an attraction exclusively for us northern capital. However, this is not true. There are white nights in Kazan, Kirov, Arkhangelsk, Pskov, Samara, and Syktyvkar. The southern border of the white nights zone lies at latitude 49º. From the equator to this parallel there are never white nights - it is here and only here that the day is always white and the night is black. At latitude 49º there is one white night a year - June 22. North of this latitude, white nights become lighter, longer and brighter.More…
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Muscovites can also admire the white nights, but in the capital the nights are not as bright as in St. Petersburg. In Syktyvkar, the white nights are even longer and brighter than in St. Petersburg. And in Arkhangelsk the nights are whiter than in Syktyvkar. The closer to the North, the longer the period of white nights lasts: in St. Petersburg there are 23 white nights during the summer, in Petrozavodsk - 52, and in Arkhangelsk - 77 nights. Near Tiksi Bay, in Yakutia, the Sun does not sink below the horizon from May 12 to August 1. Imagine - more than two months of round-the-clock days! The period of white nights - this phenomenon has a positive effect on the internal, state of mind. I want to love, sing, create, write poetry, live! But this wonderful astronomical phenomenon has a flip side to the coin - the land of white nights in winter turns into a land of black days. Where in summer the sun only briefly hides behind the horizon, there in winter it hardly appears. From childhood, a person acquires the idea of the “correct” change of day and night on Earth: at night it is dark, during the day it is light. However, in fact, the change of light and darkness on our planet is more diverse than children's ideas about it. Our world is complex and mysterious, but at the same time incredibly beautiful!
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Polar day Polar day is a period when the Sun does not set below the horizon for more than 1 day. Duration: the shortest polar day is almost 2 days and is observed at the latitude of the Arctic Circle - 66°33′ minus the radius of the solar disk (15-16′) and atmospheric refraction (at sea level on average 35′), totaling about 65°43′. The longest period is observed at the poles - more than 6 months. At the North Pole this is approximately from March 18 to September 26, at the South Pole - from September 21 to March 23. It is interesting that, thanks to refraction, the sun shines simultaneously on both poles for several days. The polar day is a consequence of the inclination of the Earth’s equator plane to the ecliptic plane, which is approximately 23°26′. In Russia, the polar day can be observed by residents of the following relatively large cities: Murmansk, Norilsk, Vorkuta.
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Twilight is the part of the day between night and sunrise and between sunset and night, during which the Sun is already (still) below the horizon and invisible, but signs of sunset (dawn) due to scattering are still (already) visible sunlight in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The surface of the Earth at this time is illuminated by diffuse light and is not completely illuminated. Because the light is unusual and romantic at this time, twilight has long been popular among photographers and artists, who call this period "regime time." Formally, twilight is the period of time before sunrise and after sunset during which natural light is provided by the upper layers of the atmosphere, which, receiving direct sunlight, reflect some of them onto the surface of the Earth.
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There are civil, navigational and astronomical twilights. Scientifically speaking, twilight varies depending on the position of the Sun relative to the horizon. Three subtypes of twilight have been established: civil twilight (the lightest, at the end or before its beginning the brightest stars are visible), navigational twilight (impossible to read without additional lighting) and astronomical twilight (before or after it is astronomical night: all stars are visible). For comparison, the angular diameter of the Sun is 0.5°. Note: If the Sun is 8.5° below the horizon, the illumination on Earth is the same as at night with a full moon.
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Civil Twilight During civil twilight, the horizon is clearly visible and ground objects are easily distinguishable without the use of artificial light. Civil twilight is the lightest part of twilight, lasting from the moment the Sun appears to set below the horizon until the center of the Sun plunges 6° below the horizon. During civil twilight, it is possible to observe the brightest celestial bodies, for example, Venus (Venus can sometimes be visible during the day in the light of the Sun). It is believed that during this part of twilight in an open place it is possible to artificial lighting perform any work. This factor is taken into account in some laws, such as requiring headlights to be turned on after sunset, or treating robbery at this time as night robbery, which is punished more severely in some codes. In such cases, more often than not the “degree period”, a certain period of time is used (usually 30 minutes before dawn/after sunset). Civil twilight can also be described as the period during which, under good atmospheric conditions, there is sufficient illumination to see ground objects clearly; in the morning at the beginning or in the evening at the end of civil twilight, the horizon line is clearly visible and under good atmospheric conditions the brightest stars are clearly visible. If civil twilight continues throughout the night, then such a night is called white. In summer, north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not set below the horizon at all and polar day is observed.
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Navigational twilight Navigational twilight is a fairly light part of the day when the center of the Sun is below the horizon from 6 to 12 degrees. It is believed that during this part of twilight natural light allows the navigator to navigate by coastal objects when the ship is sailing near the shore. Navigational twilight near the summer solstice continues all night at latitudes over 54°, that is, including in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Omsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and other cities at these latitudes. Abroad, partially in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, USA; entirely on the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland. In the Southern Hemisphere - in the southern territories of Argentina and Chile. However, such lighting is not enough for normal human life (lighting on the street is closer to night than to evening in the classical sense), so the streets of populated areas need artificial lighting. At the beginning of this type twilight in the morning, or at the end of it in the evening, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other light sources, the general outlines of ground objects can be distinguished, but complex outdoor operations are impossible to do, and the horizon is unclear. Navigational twilight is also used by the military. The abbreviations BMNT - beginning of morning navigational twilight and EENT - end of evening navigational twilight are used and taken into account when planning military operations. Military units may feel more secure about BMNT and EENT. This was adopted in part due to the experience of the French and Indian War, when soldiers in both camps used these periods of time to attack.
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Astronomical twilight This is the name of the time when the Sun is from 12 to 18° below the horizon. Most casual observers note that the entire sky is already completely dark even at the very beginning of astronomical twilight in the evening or the end of the morning, and astronomers can easily make observations of celestial bodies such as stars, but weakly scattering objects such as nebulae and galaxies can be clearly visible before or after astronomical twilight. However, for an ordinary observer, astronomical twilight is indistinguishable from night. From observations it is known that the evening dawn stops when the Sun drops below the horizon by 18°, while the faintest stars are already visible in the sky, and at the beginning of astronomical twilight in the morning the stars will disappear. However, due to "light pollution" in some areas - mainly in large cities - even 4th magnitude stars will never be visible, almost regardless of twilight. Therefore, at the beginning or end, the distance of the Sun is 108°. In the polar latitudes in summer, dawn occurs all night, during the time when the declination of the Sun is greater (90° - φ) - 18°, where φ means the latitude of the place. The duration t and the declination of the Sun δ, when twilight is shortest, are calculated using the formulas :sin t/2 = sin 9° x sec φsin δ = -tg 9° x sin φ.
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Duration of twilight The duration of twilight depends on the latitude of the place and the time of year. Please note that in the polar regions, from September to March, civil twilight lasts all night. The duration of twilight before sunrise and after sunset depends greatly on the latitude of the place. In the polar regions, twilight (if it occurs) can last for several hours. At the poles, twilight does not occur for a month before and after the winter solstice. At the poles, twilight can last up to two weeks, while at the equator it can last up to twenty minutes. This is explained by the fact that in areas of low latitude the apparent movement of the Sun is perpendicular to the observer's horizon. In addition, the linear speed of rotation of the earth has highest value at the equator and decreases with increasing latitude. Thus, this place on the equator will pass through all twilight zones directly and quickly. When approaching the polar regions, the solar disk will be at a smaller angle and sink below the horizon more slowly, and a given point of the Earth will pass through various zones not so directly, over a longer period of time. In temperate latitudes, twilight is shortest during the equinoxes, lengthening slightly during the winter solstice and much longer in late spring and early summer. In the polar circles in summer, the day is not interrupted by night and twilight lasts literally for weeks (in the polar spring and autumn). On a certain day in early March 2008, the Arctic Circle was at latitude 66° 33’ 42.36. In areas of high latitudes below the Arctic Circle, there are no days without a break in the night, but twilight can last from sunset to dawn. This phenomenon is often called "White Nights". Latitudes above which at certain times twilight can last all night: astronomical - 48° 33' 42", navigation - 54° 33' 42", civil - 60° 33' 42". List of major cities where civil twilight can last all night: Arkhangelsk, Tampere, Umeå, Trondheim, Tórshavn, Reykjavik, Nuuk, Whitehorse and Anchorage; navigation twilight: Petropavlovsk, Moscow, Vitebsk, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Wejherowo, Flensburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Newcastle upon Tyne, Glasgow, Belfast, Grande Prairie, Juneau, Ushuaia and Puerto Williams; astronomical twilight: Astana, Kyiv, Minsk, Warsaw, Kosice, Zwettl, Prague, Berlin, Paris, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, London, Cardiff, Dublin, Bellingham (Washington), Rio Gallegos and Punta Arenas. Although, in Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn and St. Petersburg, civil twilight does not actually last all night, even during the solstice. There, during the summer solstice, the sky is noticeably lighter (white nights).
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The movement of the sun along the ecliptic It is believed that a full astronomical night begins only when the Sun drops 18 degrees below the horizon. Before sunrise, twilight replaces each other in the reverse order: astronomical, navigational, civil. In the southern (or rather, low) latitudes, the Sun during the day descends below the horizon along a steep trajectory and quite quickly passes all three thresholds of twilight. From sunset to astronomical night only an hour and a half passes, or even less. At high latitudes, the Sun approaches the horizon along a gentle trajectory and sinks below it slowly. Moreover, in the summer, even by midnight it does not have time to overcome the twilight zone and immediately begins to rise. That is, a full-fledged astronomical night does not have time to occur. This phenomenon is called white nights.1. At low latitudes, the Sun quickly sinks below the horizon and night falls. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is highest (both at noon and midnight) on the summer solstice, June 21. On this day, at latitudes north of 66.5° the Sun does not set at all - a polar day is observed here. At latitudes from 60.5° to 66.5°, civil twilight continues throughout the night. At latitudes from 54.5° to 60.5° there are navigational latitudes, and up to 48.5° there are days when astronomical twilight lasts all night.
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2. Beyond the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not fall below the horizon in summer. 3. At the latitude of St. Petersburg, the Sun slowly sinks below the horizon in summer and remains shallow all night - in the twilight zone. So we can say that white nights are typical for most of the territory of Russia. Another thing is where they pay attention. St. Petersburg (59.9° N) is the northernmost city in the world with a population of more than a million people. The combination of special lighting conditions with the architecture of the city gives rise to a unique spectacle, thanks to which white nights are always closely associated with St. Petersburg.
People and guests of Russia call it St. Petersburg - the Northern capital, Venice, Palmyra. This amazing city makes visitors fall in love with it from the first day they meet you, and its residents are rightfully proud to live here. Huge number architectural and historical monuments, the famous one and the drawbridges on it - this is not at all full list attractions for which St. Petersburg is famous.
White Nights are the main event, captivating with its extraordinary beauty not only but also attracting guests to the Northern capital. To tell the truth, this phenomenon is observed not only in St. Petersburg, for example, in Volgograd, there is one such night, in Arkhangelsk - 77, and not far from Tiksi Bay it is generally light like this for 2.5 months, but it was this city that was destined enchant many poets and writers who dedicated their best works to him.
Officially, it is believed that in St. Petersburg it begins on June 11 and ends in early July, but in fact, it begins to get lighter on May 26, and the night really comes into its own somewhere in the middle of summer. Many St. Petersburg residents note that it is brightest on June 21, that is, in Whatever it may be, it is at the end of May that tourists not only from neighboring countries, but also from foreign countries, begin to arrive.
White nights in St. Petersburg give an unforgettable experience. When the clock is already deep after midnight, and it is light outside, your soul feels good and joyful. At this time you don’t even want to sleep; tourists wander around the city for hours, admiring the architectural monuments. The most important place that attracts all lovers and romantics is the embankment. Many stand all night, admiring the Neva and watching how the bridges are opened in the evening and at dawn they are brought down. This spectacle is beautiful in itself, but it is the white nights that add a special charm to it.
St. Petersburg is also famous for the numerous holidays and festivals that take place here at this time. Guests and residents of the Northern capital can take part in the celebration of school leavers day " Scarlet Sails", as well as the City Foundation Day. Here you can attend concerts, as well as admire a multimedia light and pyrotechnic show. Every year about 3 million tourists come to see the white nights in St. Petersburg. The Scarlet Sails Ball is generally considered a significant event and is always held at a high level, it is also called business card cities.
St. Petersburg is a unique place, significant for many sights and great events. If you really want to get to know Russian Venice, then it’s best to go at the beginning of summer to catch the white nights. St. Petersburg is very beautiful and romantic at this time. At least in dark time day and not as light as during the day, but you can photograph the objects you like without a flash. The nights are somewhere between evening twilight and dawn, which fills them with unique romance and mystery. Anyone who has ever witnessed this amazing phenomenon will remember with warmth the time spent in St. Petersburg.
When I'm in my room
I write, I read without a lamp,
And the sleeping communities are clear
Deserted streets and light
Admiralty needle,
A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman"
On a white night the month is red
Floats out in the blue.
Ghostly-beautiful wanders,
Reflected in the Neva.
Alexander Blok
A phenomenon to which thousands of lines are devoted. They write about him in prose, compose poems, and compose songs. White nights have long become a symbol of the northern capital, a symbol of romance and mystery. And although this natural phenomenon is also typical for other cities located at high northern latitudes, for example, Novy Urengoy, Nadym, Severodvinsk, it is St. Petersburg that is associated with light, weightless nights.
Officially they last from June 11 to July 2. But St. Petersburg residents claim that the range is wider: approximately from May 25 to July 15. At this time in the city there is no place for apples to fall, tourists flock from all over the world to capture what it is like to read at night without light or take photographs after midnight without flash. Hotel rooms are selling like hot cakes, and this excitement also affects prices, they jump significantly.
Tour operators compete in wit, offering a variety of tourist programs during the White Nights. The city authorities organize all kinds of festivals. For about a month, an atmosphere of round-the-clock celebration reigns in northern Palmyra. Transport workers are not the only ones sharing the general fun: metro, buses, and trolleybuses operate on their usual schedule. And that’s right, sleep is a sacred thing for drivers.
Why are the nights white?
White nights are a purely natural and scientifically explainable phenomenon. It applies to all cities that are located above the 60th parallel of northern latitude; in St. Petersburg it is almost 60, to be exact 59, 57. The sun in these places in June-July does not go far below the horizon, so darkness does not fall. But to say that it is as light at night as during the day is not entirely correct. The most appropriate definition is twilight. The evenings smoothly flow into the mornings, there are no pitch black colors, only muted gray tones. Such a prolonged sunset or dawn, whichever you prefer.
St. Petersburg residents claim that during this period it is brightest in the area of Elagin Island and the Gulf of Finland. This apparently has something to do with the geographical location.
Excursion routes
During the White Nights, travel agencies are bursting with ideas. St. Petersburg definitely never sleeps at this time, and how can you sleep if it’s light enough outside? Crowds of guests explore northern Palmyra on their own, from the windows of single- and double-decker tour buses, and from the decks of pleasure ships. Iconic sights, streets, bridges appear in unusual lighting, surrounded by a halo of gray haze, they seem mysterious and enigmatic.
Museums are not open 24/7 at this time. But there are days when you can get into the same Hermitage on a white night - these are the 20th of May, when it is held international action"Night at the Museum." But cafes and restaurants are open all the time. So don’t deny yourself the opportunity, drink coffee on the open terrace overlooking St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and then go for a walk on its roof. During the white nights, walking along the roofs of St. Petersburg is a common and romantic thing.
During the night bus tour will definitely show Peter and Paul Fortress, Summer Garden, Bronze Horseman, and of course they will guess the time, which is around one in the morning, and will take you to the Palace, Blagoveshchensky or some other bridge during its opening. But it’s best to watch this incredible action from the water; numerous pleasure boats can help you with tourism. Just choose your marina carefully. Your hotel should be on this side, not the opposite side. Otherwise, you will have to while away the time until 5-6 in the morning, until the bridges are reunited again.
Festive Petersburg
White nights are always a festive atmosphere. In the month when the sun does not go far beyond the horizon, all kinds of festivals and celebrations are held:
- City Day is May 27, apparently Peter the Great decided that the founding date would coincide with the beginning of the white nights season. The culmination of this day is the “Classics on Dvortsovaya” festival. In the evening under open air Leading artists from La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and Covent Garden perform in St. Petersburg;
- "Stars of the White Nights" - the main thing cultural event cities. Main stage – Mariinsky Theater. For a month, classical art is shown to viewers non-stop. Performs on the main stage symphony orchestra, on the Historical - ballet, Concert hall awaits opera fans. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Despite large number of all kinds of productions they are in great demand, because world-class stars participate in them. Cultural life does not stop at night. All the same classical concerts, ballet, opera;
- “Scarlet Sails” is the main city graduation, it takes place on the 20th of June and falls at the very peak of the white nights;
- “White Nights” is one of the stages of the European Badminton Cup, held in Gatchina;
- During the White Nights, the festival of children's and youth creativity "Sounds and Colors of the White Nights" takes place;
- Jazz Festival "White Night Swing";
- At the end of May, all fountains in the city are turned on.
The treachery of white nights
For an unprepared person, the sense of time is lost. It seems that it is still very early, but the clock stubbornly shows the time close to midnight. Therefore, look at your watch more often, or even better, set a reminder like “the metro closes in half an hour,” “it’s late, it’s time to go to bed.” Although it is very difficult for many to fall asleep in this mode, especially if they are not used to it, only thick curtains can save them. Some people don’t go to bed on purpose so that they won’t sleep through such beautiful, romantic, white nights.
And a nice bonus - video of white nights in St. Petersburg
Nikolay Zhurkin
Alexander Kuprin "Staff Captain Rybnikov":
“It was neither light nor dark. It was a warm, white, transparent night with its delicate iridescent colors, with pearlescent water in quiet channels, clearly reflecting the gray stone of the embankment and the motionless greenery of the trees, with a pale sky, as if tired from insomnia, and with sleeping clouds on the the sky, long, thin, fluffy, like shreds of torn cotton wool."
Or is he in "Blondel":
“On the banks of the Neva we are sitting in a light, swinging float-restaurant and eating crayfish while waiting for a modest dinner. It’s ten and a half o’clock in the evening, but it’s still quite light. There are long, languid, sleepless white nights - the glory and torment of St. Petersburg.”
Daniil Granin "Unknown Man":
"...And then suddenly he stopped hearing what Usankov was saying. The bass, booming voice moved away, indistinguishably entered into the sound of a running engine. This happened when they turned onto Fontanka and drove into the white night. It turns out that white nights had already arrived in the city. Between the granite walls of the embankments there rested a shining strip of water, it was brighter than the sky. The water was silvery-smooth, motionless, and there was no light coming from it. Everything was quiet on the embankments, only the traffic lights were silently blinking.
Yu. Slepukhin. "Cimmerian Summer. Southern Cross":
“Time did not extinguish memories. It condensed them, compressing them into a chain of images, and each such image gradually grew, absorbed everything accompanying, and became a symbol. Thus, the picture of a white night became a symbol of Leningrad. Not just one, specific one, - nights in general, many, merged in his memory into one: a deserted embankment, wide waters beyond the low granite parapet and a bridge span, lifted like a gigantic wing into an empty, transparent sky, discolored by the near dawn.
(...) And in St. Petersburg now there are white nights. He looked at his watch; it was a quarter past nine. Is this the third after midnight? Perhaps some bridges have already been opened. He began to remember what time Liteiny, Dvortsovy, Kirovsky opened; the picture stood clearly in his memory, as if he had seen it only yesterday: the undying dawn over Peter and Paul Fortress, wet empty asphalt, the wide, pinkish expanse of the river, the same color as the sky..."
Mamin-Sibiryak "Characters from the life of Pepko":
"Beauty in general is too conventional a thing, but typical beauty is a definite quantity. Northern
twilight and dawn with their silken sky, milky haze and quivering half-illumination, northern white nights, bloody dawns when in June morning meets evening - all this was our dear, from which the Russian soul aches and burns with fire... "
Dymov F.Ya. "Prosperous Planet":
.
“Kharkov asked for permission from the World Council to organize white nights,” Stas said, not addressing anyone in particular. Bagir was offended by the Kharkov residents. Okay, be patriots of your city, but don’t envy others! It’s not a pity to maintain energy somewhere long dawn, it’s a pity for Leningrad, from which, regardless of the current decision of the Council, the unique Pushkin’s white nights may someday be taken away. Or, let’s put it this way: not taken away, but copied, diluted by repetition. But it’s still a shame. It’s impossible to multiply the wonder. put a miracle on stream. In the same way, you can’t even force a holiday on anyone.”
L. Sobolev. "Sea Soul". Stories:
“It was time to go down for dinner, but the senior lieutenant remained on the bridge, peering into the smoky horizon of the Baltic white night. The high light dome of the sky, where gentle tones softly mixed, rested lightly and weightlessly on the smooth calm water. It glowed with pink reflections. The sun, having set, made its way under the very horizon, ready to rise again, and a spacious pale glow stood over the sea, covering the entire northern part sky. Only in the south did a vague purple haze thicken over the shore. The most short night year, the night of the twenty-second of June...
The sun has already risen over the sea, and all the mysterious indistinctness of the white night has long disappeared. Sober and clear water ran over the sides, it was clear and transparent blue sky. The paint on the bridge glittered, and the colored flags of the weather vane fluttered brightly at high speed. The day began, the first day of the war, and in my thoughts, in my whole being, there was the same clarity, sobriety and transparency."
Alexander Chakovsky. "Blockade":
“They drove past forests and groves, past lonely peasant houses with tightly closed shutters or windows curtained from the inside, and all this - forests, and groves, and houses, and wells with cranes raised above them - bathed in the ghostly light of the white night, it seemed hit by someone's power and strong hand into a whitish, motionless twilight, felt as something substantial, material, merging both earth and sky into one. And the more Zvyagintsev looked at everything they passed by, the more incredible the idea seemed to him that the enemy could reach here.”
E. Bogdanov. "The Boat Feeder":
“After a tightly closed, stuffy and dank cabin, in which there was a smell of something musty and foreign, he breathed in the fresh air with pleasure and looked at the sky. In the west, in the rare, fibrous, like combed flax, clouds, the reflections of the sunset smoldered like hot beds. The sun hid. beyond the horizon for a short time, in order to immediately begin to rise again. The white nights of June on the Dvina are short, like the wingspan of a sandpiper.”
Alexander Shchegolev "Night invented by someone":
“In our country, starting in May, evenings are practically cancelled, and in June the nights too. These are called “white nights” - well, when sunset is at midnight, the sky darkens a little for the sake of decency, and that’s it - sunrise at five in the morning. I remember last summer, my mother and I were seeing off a relative from the Finlyandsky Station, and so, instead of going back by bus, we walked. Mom was overcome by something poetic, and she decided to show me “this.”
an unforgettable phenomenon." Interesting, of course. White night- is indeed a phenomenon. It’s as if the wind brings darkness for a couple of hours and then carries it away. And how dark it is there! Chickens laugh, you can easily read if you don't mind your eyes. The picture is still before my eyes: it’s night all around, but the gray sky quickly turns red, turns red, then the clouds begin to glow, and suddenly it’s morning. We then walked almost the entire Neva - we watched how the bridges opened, we were surprised,
how many people are on the streets..."
