Sights in St Petersburg
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State Hermitage Museum
There are art galleries, there are museums, there are the great museums of the world and then there is the Hermitage. An unrivalled collection of art treasures housed in the magnificent palace from which the Romanov tsars ruled the Russian Empire, the State Hermitage will inevitably be the focus of any first visit to St Petersburg, and rightly so. At the information kiosk of the State Hermitage Museum you can pick up a free colour map of the museum, available in most European languages. Immediately after ticket inspection you can hire an audio guide (R250) with recorded tours in English, German, French, Italian or Russian. Groups enter from the river side of the Winter Pa…
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Bronze Horseman
The most famous statue of Peter the Great was immortalised as the Bronze Horseman in the poem by Pushkin. With his mount rearing above the snake of treason, Peter’s enormous statue stands at the river end of pl Dekabristov. The statue was sculpted over 12 years for Catherine the Great by Frenchman Etienne Falconet. Its inscription reads ‘To Peter I from Catherine II – 1782’. Many have read significance into Catherine’s linking of her own name with that of the city’s founder: she had no legitimate claim to the throne and this statue is sometimes seen as her attempt to formalise the link (philosophical, if not hereditary) between the two monarchs. The significance of the in…
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Mendeleev Museum
In the twelve Colleges, the building where Dmitry Mendeleev invented the periodic table of elements now contains the Mendeleev Museum. His cosy study has been lovingly preserved and you can see his desk (where he always stood rather than sat) and some early drafts of the periodic table.
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Alexander Nevsky Monastery
The Alexander Nevsky Monastery - named for the patron saint of St Petersburg - is the city's most ancient and eminent monastery. Peter the Great made a mistake when he founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery on this spot at the far end of Nevsky pr. He wrongly thought that this was where Alexander of Novgorod had beaten the Swedes in 1240. Nonetheless, in 1797 it became a lavra, the most senior grade of Russian Orthodox monasteries.
Today it is a working monastery that attracts the most devout believers - a revered and holy place - and the gravesite of some of Russia's most famous artistic figures.
You can wander freely around most of the grounds, but you must buy tickets f…
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Dvortsovaya Pl (Palace Sq)
It is no secret where St Petersburg’s heart lies. Although it’s no longer the hub of the city, there can be little doubt that the vast expanse where Nevsky pr meets the Neva River and Dvortsovaya nab is simply one of the most striking squares in the world, still redolent of imperial grandeur almost a century after the end of the Romanov dynasty. For the most amazing first impression walk from Nevsky pr, up Bolshaya Morskaya ul and under the triumphal arch. The square’s most impressive building is the incredible green, white and gold Winter Palace (Zimny Dvorets), a rococo profusion of columns, windows and recesses, topped by rows of larger-than-life statues. A resid…
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Trinity Cathedral
The Trinity Cathedral boasts stunning blue cupolas emblazoned with golden stars. Slow but careful restoration of this cathedral has been underway for several years. In 2006, a fire that started in the scaffolding caused the 83m-high central cupola to collapse – it was a major setback to reconstruction efforts. Nonetheless, the renovation continues, and the smaller renovated cupolas act as a shining example of what is to come. Construction of this vast cathedral began in 1828, according to a design by Vasily Stasov. The cathedral was consecrated in 1835 and functioned as the chapel for the Izmailovsky Guards, who were garrisoned next door. In honour of the Russian victory …
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Mikhailovsky Castle (Engineer’s Castle)
A much greater Summer Palace used to stand at the south end of the Summer Garden. But Rastrelli’s fairy-tale wooden creation for Empress Elizabeth was knocked down in the 1790s to make way for the bulky Mikhailovsky Castle. The son of Catherine the Great, Tsar Paul I, was born in the wooden palace and he wanted his own residence on the same spot. He had the current edifice built complete with defensive moat as he (quite rightly) feared assassination. But this erratic, cruel tsar only got 40 days in his new abode before he was suffocated in his bedroom in 1801. The style is a bizarre take on a medieval castle, quite unlike any other building in the city. In 1823 it became …
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Kresty Prison
Kresty is St Petersburg’s main holding prison; if you’re busted here, Kresty’s where they take you to await whatever it is that awaits you. You wouldn’t want to find out: conditions are much better now than when the prison was at its most crowded, but it is still hardly a pleasant place. Kresty is the oldest working prison in Russia, built in 1892. Tours visit the holding areas, the grounds and a small museum. This definitely constitutes a unique day out in the city. You will have a chance to see the six-bunk cells and the frightening solitary-confinement closets. Inmates are on site – working, walking or peeking out at you through slats in their cells. Guests are advised…
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Pl Dekabristov (Decembrists’ Sq)
Centred on the famed statue of the Bronze Horseman, pl Dekabristov (Decembrists’ Sq) is named after the first attempt at a Russian revolution – the Decembrists’ Uprising of 14 December 1825. The Decembrists were young officers who were inspired by radical ideas from France during the Napoleonic campaigns and wanted to introduce constitutional monarchy. Ineptly, they set up their protest on the same day as the swearing-in ceremony of the new tsar, Nicholas I. After repeated attempts by Nicholas’ ministers to reason with the rebels, they were fired upon. Many officers and bystanders died as a result. Most of the leaders later ended up on the gallows or in Siberia. The domin…
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Geological Museum
Located in the upper floors of the geology faculty of the university, this huge room contains several kilometres of fossils, rocks and gems – a veritable treasure chest of geological finds. The precious and semiprecious stones will certainly have you gawking at Mother Nature’s handiwork: sparkling amethyst crystals (one from the Altai mountains that is 1.5m long!); huge chunks of malachite from the Urals; and a gorgeous gypsum ‘rose’ from Astrakhan. Also on display are prehistoric rocks and fossils, dinosaur fragments, animal skulls and mammoth tusks. The centrepiece of the museum is a huge map of the Soviet Union made entirely of precious gems. The winner of the Paris Wo…
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Strelka
Among the oldest parts of Vasilevsky Ostrov, this eastern tip is where Peter the Great first wanted his new city's administrative and intellectual centre. In fact, the Strelka became the focus of St Petersburg's maritime trade, symbolised by the colonnaded Customs House (now the Pushkin House).
The two Rostral Columns, archetypal St Petersburg landmarks, are studded with ships' prows and four seated sculptures representing four of Russia's great rivers: the Neva, the Volga, the Dnieper and the Volkhov. These were oil-fired navigation beacons in the 1800s (their gas torches are still lit on some holidays).
The Strelka has one of the best views in the city, with the Peter & …
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Nabokov Museum
This lovely 19th-century town house was the suitably grand childhood home of Vladimir Nabokov, infamous author of Lolita and arguably the most versatile and least classifiable of modern Russian writers. Here Nabokov lived with his wealthy family from his birth in 1899 until the revolution in 1917, when they sensibly left the country. The house features heavily in Nabokov’s autobiography Speak, Memory, in which he refers to it as a ‘paradise lost’. Indeed, he never returned, dying abroad in 1977. There’s actually relatively little to see in the museum itself, save for some charming interiors (don’t miss the gorgeous stained-glass windows in the stairwell, which are not t…
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Anichkov Palace
Occupying an entire block between pl Ostrovskogo and the Fontanka River, the Anichkov Palace was built between 1741 and 1750, with input from a slew of architects, including Rastrelli and Rossi. The palace was twice a generous gift for services rendered: Empress Elizabeth gave it to her favourite Count Razumovsky and later Catherine the Great presented it to Potemkin. This was also Tsar Nicholas II’s favourite place to stay in St Petersburg – he far preferred the cosy interiors to the vastness of the Winter Palace. The Anichkov Palace became the city’s largest Pioneer Club headquarters after 1936 and to this day it houses more than 100 after-school clubs for over 10,000 c…
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Alexander Blok House-Museum
This museum occupies the flat where poet Alexander Blok spent the last eight years of his life (1912–20). The revolutionary Blok believed that individualism had caused a decline in society’s ethics, a situation that would only be rectified by a communist revolution. The 4th floor has been preserved much as it was when Blok lived here with his wife Lyubov (daughter of Mendeleev). After touring the simple but historic home, descend to the 2nd floor, where Blok’s mother lived. When the poet fell ill in 1920, his family moved into this apartment where he finally died a year later. Here, a literary exhibition demonstrates the influence of Blok’s work, as well as some original …
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Hermitage Storage Facility
In case you did not see enough stuff at the museum in town, the storage facility of the Hermitage provides a superb reason for dragging yourself out to northern St Petersburg. Inside the state-of-the-art complex you'll be led through a handful of rooms housing but a fraction of the museum's collection. This is not a formal exhibition as such, but the guides are knowledgeable and the examples chosen for display - paintings, furniture, carriages - are wonderful.
The highlight is undoubtedly the gorgeous wool and silk embroidered Turkish ceremonial tent, presented to Catherine the Great by the Sultan Slim III in 1793. Beside it stands an equally impressive modern diplomatic…
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Petrodvorets
Most European rulers had at least one Versailles, and Peter the Great was no exception. He built a series of palaces on the site now known as Petrodvorets. Fountains play a very large part in its grandeur. Petrodvorets' other charms include the Grand Palace, enlarged for Empress Elizabeth and later remodelled by Catherine.
The Grand Cascade and Water Avenue is a symphony of fountains and canals partly engineered by Peter himself. In the Grand Palace, the pendulous chandeliers and paintings are originals. Peter's original villa, Monplaisir, has bright and airy galleries facing the sea - it's easy to see why it was his favourite place to doss. The gardens are dotted with t…
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Sennaya Pl
St Petersburg's Haymarket was the city's filthy underbelly immortalised by Dostoevsky, who lived in the neighbourhood and set Crime and Punishment here. Until a recent face-lift, the square was overloaded with makeshift kiosks and market stalls, which made it a magnet for the homeless, beggars, pickpockets and drunks. Despite a big clean-up effort by city authorities in time for the tercentennial in 2003, Sennaya pl retains a fundamental insalubriousness. Be on your guard walking around here at night.
The peripatetic Dostoevsky, who occupied around 20 residences in his 28-year stay in the city, once spent a couple of days in debtors' prison in what is now called the Senio…
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Peter’s Cabin
In a patch of trees east of the fortress is a little stone building known as Peter’s Cabin, St Petersburg’s oldest surviving structure. This log cabin was supposedly built in three days in May 1703 for Peter to live in while he supervised the construction of the fortress and city. During Catherine the Great’s time, the house was protected by a bricklayer. The cabin has always been a sentimental site for St Petersburg. During WWII, Soviet soldiers would take an oath of allegiance to the city here, vowing to protect it from the Germans, before disappearing to the front. After the Siege of Leningrad, this was the first museum to reopen to the public. The little cabin feels m…
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Piskaryovskoe Cemetery
It’s hard work getting to this rather remote cemetery, but as the main burial place for the victims of the Nazi blockade in WWII, it is a poignant memorial to the tragedy. Originally, this area was just an enormous pit where unnamed and unmarked bodies were dumped. Some half a million people were laid to rest here between 1941 and 1943. In 1960 the remodelled cemetery was opened and has been an integral part of the city’s soul ever since. Every year on Victory Day (9 May) the cemetery is packed out with mourners, many of whom survived the blockade or lost close relatives to starvation. From Lesnaya metro station turn right and walk down the street about 100m and take bus …
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Marble Palace
Between Mars Field and the Neva is another branch of the Russian Museum, the Marble Palace, built for Catherine the Great’s lover, Grigory Orlov, from 1768 to 1785. Designed by Antonio Rinaldi, the palace is so named because it uses 36 different kinds of marble in its construction, both inside and out. Check out the grey-and-blue marble staircase and the fantastic Marble Hall. The art on display here is eclectic, ranging from 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century works done by foreign artists in Russia to the splendid Ludwig Museum, part of the modern art collection of chocolate billionaire Peter Ludwig. This is one of the few chances to see such a large collection of contemporar…
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New Holland
Except for one day in 2000 – when an exhibition of avant-garde art was held here – this island has been closed to the public for the nearly three centuries of its existence. The impressive red brick and granite arch, designed by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe in the late 18th century, is one of the city’s best examples of Russian classicism. In Peter’s time, the complex was used for ship-building (its name refers to the place where he learned the trade). In the 19th century, a large basin was built in the middle of the island. Here, experiments were conducted by scientist Alexey Krylov in an attempt to build a boat that couldn’t be capsized. In 1915 the navy built a rad…
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Kamenny Island
Century-old dachas (country cottages; now inhabited by wealthy New Russians) line the lanes that twist their way around Kamenny (Stone) Island. The wooded island is punctuated by a series of canals, lakes and ponds, and is pleasant for strolling any time of year. At the east end of the island the Church of St John the Baptist (1776–81) has been charmingly restored. Behind it, Catherine the Great built the big, classical Kamennoostrovsky Palace for her son; it is now a weedy military sanatorium (off limits to casual callers). The rest of the island is a woodsy, mostly residential neighbourhood. For years a dead oak, supposedly planted by Peter the Great, stood in the mid…
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Raskolnikov House
This innocuous house on the corner of Stolyarny per (called ‘S… lane’ in the book) is one of two possible locations of the attic apartment of Rodyon Raskolnikov, protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Those who claim this is the place go further, saying that Rodyon retrieved the murder weapon from a street-sweeper’s storage bin inside the tunnel leading to the courtyard. The house is marked by a sculpture of Dostoevsky. The inscription says something to the effect of ‘The tragic fate of the people of this area of St Petersburg formed the foundation of Dostoevsky’s passionate sermon of goodness for all mankind’. Other Dostoevsky connoisseurs argue that R…
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Sampsonievsky Cathedral
This fascinating pea-green baroque cathedral dates from 1740 and is a beautiful highlight of a remarkably dull industrial area of the Vyborg Side – it’s well worth the trip out here. It is believed to be the church where Catherine the Great married her one-eyed lover Grigory Potemkin in a secret ceremony in 1774. Today it’s a delightful place, having been repainted and restored to its original glory on the outside. Restoration on the inside continues and it looks marvellous. The cathedral’s most interesting feature is the calendar of saints, two enormous panels on either side of the nave, each representing six months of the year and every day decorated with a mini-icon of…
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Winter Palace of Peter I
Opened as a part of the Hermitage in 1992, this palace on the Neva was the principal residence of Peter the Great, and he died here in 1725. When Giacomo Quarenghi built the Hermitage Theatre on this site between 1783 and 1789, he preserved parts of the palace and grounds. Between 1976 and 1986, excavations beneath the theatre stage uncovered a large fragment of the former state courtyard, as well as several suites of palace apartments. Today, the courtyard is used to display Peter’s official carriage and sledge. Some of the chamber rooms have been restored to their appearance during Peter’s era, complete with Dutch tiles and parquet floors, and are used to exhibit some o…
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