State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO

St Petersburg


This gallery showcases rotating exhibitions of photography, videography and other mixed media drawn from across Russia and around the world. It’s definitely one of the best spaces for seeing contemporary photographic work in St Petersburg. Note the beautiful stained-glass windows on the stairwell of the handsome building the gallery is located in, which housed an insurance company before the revolution.

The gallery's well-stocked art bookshop and pleasant cafe are also worth a look.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby St Petersburg attractions

1. Siniy Most

0.12 MILES

The Blue Bridge is 97.3m wide making it the widest of the city's bridges. It's one of four bridges across the Moika that were colour-coded.

2. Krasny Most

0.16 MILES

This cast-iron bridge crossing the Moika River is painted red, hence its name in Russian.

3. St Isaac's Cathedral

0.16 MILES

The golden dome of St Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the St Petersburg skyline. Its obscenely lavish interior is open as a museum, although services are held…

4. Mariinsky Palace

0.18 MILES

The last neoclassical palace constructed in St Petersburg, the Mariinsky Palace (not to be confused with the theatre) was built between 1839 and 1844…

5. Alexander Garden

0.22 MILES

Laid out from 1872 to 1874, these pleasant gardens, named after Alexander II, wrap around the Admiralty and are mentioned in Pushkin's famous verse novel…

7. Nabokov Museum

0.23 MILES

This 19th-century townhouse was the suitably grand childhood home of Vladimir Nabokov, infamous author of Lolita and arguably the most versatile of 20th…

8. Petrovskaya Akvatoria

0.24 MILES

For an idealised view of what parts of St Petersburg looked like back in the early 18th century, this interactive model village is a small revelation. The…