St Petersburg
This striking red-and-white 18th-century Gothic church is east off Moskovsky pr. Designed by Yury Felten, it was built between 1777 and 1780 in honour of…
Must-see attractions in St Petersburg
St Petersburg
Russia’s poetic genius, Alexander Pushkin, was fatally wounded in a duel here with the Frenchman Georges d’Anthès on 8 February 1837. A granite monument…
St Petersburg
St Petersburg’s first palace is the modest, two-storey Summer Palace in the summer garden’s northeast corner. Built for Peter from 1710 to 1714, it is…
St Petersburg
The photogenic salmon-pink backdrop to the Anichkov is provided by the 1840s rococo Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace. Check the posters outside for details of…
St Petersburg
Named after Kirill Naryshkin, one of Peter the Great's commanders who oversaw the building of the original fortifications, the bastion is better known for…
St Petersburg
The 'Singers' Bridge' crosses the Moika River near the Capella music academy and was also once called the Yellow Bridge for its colour. The cast-iron…
Vyborg
The Clock Tower was first built in 1490 and is worth climbing for the views of town. At time of research, it was closed for long-term restoration.
Vyborg
One unmissable relic of Vyborg’s Swedish times is the squat Round Tower, which now houses a restaurant.
St Petersburg
This museum occupies the flat where poet Alexander Blok spent the last eight years of his life (1912–20). The 4th-floor apartment has been preserved much…
St Petersburg
Noi Trotsky’s monolithic design for the local KGB headquarters (and currently the St Petersburg headquarters of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, its…
Around St Petersburg
Opposite the entrance to the Palace of Congress and scoring high on the modern kitsch factor is Lindstrem’s Dacha, once the home of the Grand Duke’s…
St Petersburg
This moving statue of St Petersburg’s most famous 20th-century poet was unveiled in 2006, across the river from the notorious Kresty holding prison, to…
St Petersburg
Housed in the fabulous 18th-century palace of Chancellor Bezborodko, this museum of communications is the perfect addition to Pochtamtskaya ul (Post…
Monument to the Victims of Political Repression
St Petersburg
This gruesome piece of sculpture by Russian artist Mikhail Shemyakin was unveiled in 1995, shortly after the end of the Soviet Union, and during a time of…
People’s Will D-2 Submarine Museum
St Petersburg
The People’s Will (Narodovolets) D-2 Submarine was one of the first six diesel-fuelled submarines built in the Soviet Union and has been wonderfully…
St Petersburg
Located in the upper floors of the All-Russian Geological Science and Research Institute, this huge and lovingly maintained museum contains thousands of…
Around St Petersburg
Not a must-see sight, the palace nonetheless provides a fascinating glimpse of how a modern-day Russian leader likes to entertain guests. There’s a small…
St Petersburg
Karl Bulla (1853–1929) was one of the city's most famous photographers and is immortalised in a life-sized statue on Malaya Sadovaya ul. Around the corner…
St Petersburg
This quirky little museum pays tribute to bread and the role it has played in history (of the city and of the world). A model bakery exhibits the…
St Petersburg
This large green space gathers a cross-section of Petersburgers, including young families, teens and canoodling couples who stroll the leafy paths and…
St Petersburg
Russia's oldest and biggest public library was founded in 1795. It has some 31 million items, nearly a sixth of which are in foreign languages. Its main…
St Petersburg
This privately run museum presents its pan-Russian collection in three sections – folk toys, factory toys and artisanal toys. Examples of the last include…
Sigmund Freud Museum of Dreams
St Petersburg
This odd conceptual exhibition, based on abstractions and ideas, not artefacts, is an outgrowth of the Psychoanalytic Institute that houses it. The two…
Future Site of Kuryokhin Centre
St Petersburg
For decades the Kuryokhin Centre, a hub for the contemporary arts, was based in a clapped-out but atmospheric old cinema here. At the time of research a…
St Petersburg
In the 1820s and 1830s, Carlo Rossi designed Ploshchad Iskusstv (Arts Square), named after the cluster of museums and concert halls that surrounds it, and…
St Petersburg
Call ahead to arrange a tour of this small but interesting museum inside St Petersburg University and dedicated to Dmitry Mendeleev, creator of the…
St Petersburg
Marking the division of Nevsky pr and Stary (old) Nevsky pr is pl Vosstaniya, whose landmarks are the giant granite pillar with the communist star, and…
St Petersburg
The pretty cast-iron 'First Engineer Bridge' crosses the Moika RIver. Built in 1829, its named after the nearby Engineers' Castle, also known as the…
St Petersburg
Designed by French architect Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon, the Greek revival–style Stock Exchange was completed in 1810. It ceased to serve its original…
St Petersburg
The old Customs House, topped with statues and a dome, is now home to the Institute of Russian Literature. Fondly called Pushkin House, the handsome…
Armenian Church of St Catherine
St Petersburg
Continuing with a tradition of non-Orthodox churches being built on Nevsky pr, the Armenian merchant Ovanes Lazarian paid for the city’s first Armenian…
St Petersburg
Bring your passport with you to access this small but interesting museum, which recounts the history of St Petersburg's metro. Sadly there's no signage in…
St Petersburg
Opposite Gostiny Dvor, this palace (1749–57) is another noble town house by Rastrelli. From 1810 it was the most elite military school in the empire and…
St Petersburg
This major draw bridge, connecting Palace Sq to Vasilyevsky Island, was completed in 1916. The embankment near here is one of the most popular spots to…
St Petersburg
According to legend Kamenny Island was the site where Peter the Great planted an oak tree, which stood proudly over many years. The old oak, however, died…
St Petersburg
The Red Banner Textile Factory is a grand relic of Soviet constructivist architecture. Street artists have commandeered walls around the abandoned…
St Petersburg
Karl Bulla (1853–1929) was one of the city's most famous photographers and is immortalised in this life-sized statue. Around the corner, his rooftop…
St Petersburg
The last neoclassical palace constructed in St Petersburg, the Mariinsky Palace (not to be confused with the theatre) was built between 1839 and 1844…
