Sightseeing OverviewSprawling across a series of flat islands at the mouth of the
Neva River, St Petersburg is defined
by the water that surrounds it. The Neva forms a mighty transect through the center of the city and the
Moyka and
Fontaka rivers
and their associated canals
divide the old part of the city into even smaller
islands.
On the Palace Embankment, Empress Elizabeth's
Winter Palace and
Hermitage, look out across the Neva to the
Peter and Paul Fortress and
gold-spired cathedral on Zayachy Island.
Nearby, the tall arches of the
Admiralty and the magnificent gold dome of
St Isaac's Cathedral rise above the famous statue of the
Bronze Horseman and the elegant bridges to Vasilevsky Ostrov and Petrogradskaya.
The historic old town on the south bank of the river is split in two by the busy thoroughfare of
Nevsky prospekt, which runs southeast from the Admiralty to Moskovsky vokzal station on Ploschad Vosstaniya. Famous sights such as the
Church on Spilled Blood, the
Russian Museum and the
Kazan Cathedral are all within easy walking distance along the Griboedova Canal, where Dostoevsky set
Crime and Punishment (1866).
As in any big city, you should be
cautious about your surroundings and belongings when taking in the sights. Many travelers have fallen victim to bag-snatchers
and pickpockets and the city also has a problem with racist
gangs in the suburbs.
Tourist InformationCity Tourism Information Center
Sadovaya ulitsa 14
Tel: (812) 310 2822.
Website:
www.visit-petersburg.com Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1900, Sat 1200-1800.
This office has a large stock of free city maps and brochures and can provide advice on tours and excursions. Most hotels can also provide local information. Look out for copies of the free quarterly
St Petersburg Travel Pages and the smaller
St Petersburg in your Pocket.
The twice-weekly English language paper
The St Petersburg Times (website:
www.sptimes.com), found in coffee shops, restaurants and hotel lobbies, provides largely uncensored news and plenty of information about cultural events in the city.
PassesThere are no tourist passes currently available in St Petersburg.
Key Attractions:Hermitazh (Hermitage)
Designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the glorious baroque Winter Palace
of Empress Elizabeth is famous as the setting for Russia's finest collection of art and antiquities. The collection was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has since expanded to cover 3 million works, which are lavishly displayed in the galleries of the Winter Palace and the linked Small
Hermitage
and Large
Hermitage. Highlights include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin, Rodin and many of the French Impressionists. The interior of the museum is extravagantly decorated with gilded ceilings, marble colonnades, elegant statuary, crystal chandeliers and intricate mosaic floors - the flamboyant styling reaches its zenith in the famous
Jordan Staircase. It would take around 10 years to tour the Hermitage, spending just one minute at each exhibit, but the 90-minute guided tour of the highlights provides a convenient overview. Entry is free on the first Thursday of each month.
Naberezhnaya Dvortsovaya 34
Tel: (812) 571 3420.
Website:
www.hermitagemuseum.orgOpening hours: Tues-Sat 1030-1800, Sun 1030-1700; ticket offices close one hour before closing time.
Admission charge.
Isaakievsky sobor (St Isaac's Cathedral)
Commissioned by Tsar Alexander I to build a spectacular imperial cathedral, French-born architect Auguste Montferrand executed a masterpiece of engineering on the marshy ground. Completed in 1858, the gilded dome of St Isaac's Cathedral still dominates the skyline of St Petersburg, though Alexander and his successor were dead long before it was completed. The interiors are dazzling, with malachite and lapis lazuli columns, mosaic icons, painted ceilings and, in the sanctuary, the large stained-glass
Resurrected Christ. The climb to the colonnade of the dome (accessible on a separate ticket) is rewarded by marvelous panoramic views over the city. The church became a museum of atheism during the Communist years, but church services are now held here on special occasions.
Isaakievskaya ploschad 1
Tel: (812) 315 9732.
Website:
www.cathedral.ruOpening hours: Thurs-Tues 1100-1900, last admission 1800 (Cathedral); Thurs-Tues 1100-1800, last admission 1700 (Colonnade).
Admission charge.
Petropavlovskaya krepost (Peter and Paul Fortress)
Peter the Great laid out the plans for the Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy Island in 1703 to defend the area from the Swedes, but it soon became a political prison. Among the famous prisoners to be held here were Dostoevsky, Gorky and Trotsky, as well as Peter's own son, Alexei. The bleak cells have been converted into a museum, along with the
Commandant's House where prisoners were tried. The highlight of the fort is the imposing
Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, whose soaring gold spire is visible from all over St Petersburg. For an additional fee, you can enter the cathedral to see the gorgeous baroque interior and the surprisingly modest tombs of Russia's pre-revolutionary leaders, from Peter the Great to Nicholas II. The bell tower can only be visited on an organized tour. You can also buy a ticket to walk along the fortress walls for stunning views over the Neva River towards the Admiralty and Hermitage.
Petropavlovskaya krepost
Tel: (812) 238 4550.
Website:
www.spbmuseum.ruOpening hours: Tues 1100-1600, Thurs-Mon 1100-1700; closed last Tues of month.
Free admission, charge for the cathedral, bell tower, museum and wall walk.
Muzyei-domik Petra I (Cabin of Peter the Great)
The first house built in the newly founded St Petersburg in 1703 was not a grand palace but a humble wooden cabin, from where Peter the Great supervised the construction of his grand imperial city. Now encased in a protective brick enclosure and furnished with period furniture, its spartan simplicity is a strange contrast to the grand cathedrals and palaces that surround it. Peter lived here between 1703 and 1708 and some of his belongings remain, including his boat, his compass and his icon of the Redeemer.
Naberezhnaya Petrovskaya 6
Tel: (812) 314 0374.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800; closed last Mon of month.
Admission charge.
Khram Spas-na-Krovi (Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood)
Modelled after the famous St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the Church on Spilled Blood was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated, on 1 March 1881, by socialist radicals. The richly ornamented exterior of colorful enamelled domes, gilded mosaic panels, ceramic tiles, and stained-glass windows with intricately carved arches is matched by the gleaming marble and glittering mosaics of the interior, which has been stunningly restored to repair the neglect of the Soviet years.
Naberezhnaya Kanala Griboedova 2
Tel: (812) 315 1636.
Opening hours: Tues-Mon 1100-2000, closed Wed; ticket offices close one hour before closing time.
Admission charge.
Russkiy Muzyei (Russian Museum)
The State
Russian
Museum is often overshadowed by the grand Hermitage, but the sprawling galleries contain the world's finest collection of Russian painting, from thousand-year-old icons to old masters and modern legends like Malevich, Kandinsky and Chagall. The museum was established in 1895 in the Mikhailovsky Palace (another exquisite Carlo Rossi creation) but it has since expanded to cover the Benois Wing and the beautifully restored Marble Palace, Stroganov Palace and St Michael's Castle. Russian Impressionists are particularly well represented, as are the artists of the Revolution and the great propaganda artists of the Soviet era. There is an additional charge for the galleries outside the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing.
Inzhenernaya ulitsa 4/2
Tel: (812) 595 4248.
Website:
www.rusmuseum.ru/engOpening hours: Wed-Sun 1000-1800, Mon 1000-1700, closed Tues.
Admission charge.
Further Distractions:Piskariovskoye Memorialnoe Kladbishche (Piskarivskoye Memorial Cemetery)
Far from being a mainstream tourist attraction, Piskarivskoye Memorial Cemetery is a place of pilgrimage for the dwindling survivors of the 1941-44 siege of Leningrad. A visit here is all the more poignant for this reason. Below large grassy mounds, under the gaze of a massive bronze of Mother Russia, lie the mass graves of 500,000 St Petersburg citizens who starved to death in the Nazi blockade. The story of the suffering and endurance of the city is powerfully told in the Memorial Halls.
Nepokorennykh prospekt 72
Tel: (812) 247 5716.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Free admission.
Kreyser Avrora (Cruiser Aurora)
Launched in St Petersburg in 1900, the
Cruiser Aurora played a significant role in the major events of Russian history in the first half of the 20th century. After serving in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the cruiser fired the shot at the Winter Palace in 1917 that signalled the storming of the palace and the beginning of Bolshevik rule. The
Aurora was sunk during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941 but raised again 1944, and refitted as a museum in the 1950s. Inside you can see the crew's quarters and the gun that fired the historic shot, but the exterior with its huge chimneys and mounted guns is just as impressive.
Naberezhnaya Petrovskaya, opposite the Nakhimov Navy School
Tel: (812) 230 8440.
Opening hours: Tues-Thurs, Sat and Sun 1030-1600.
Free admission.
Muzyei Antropologiy i Etnografii imena Petra Velikovo - Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology - Kunstkamera)
The oldest state museum in all of Russia, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology
is centered on the cabinet of curiosities assembled by Peter the Great during his grand tour of Europe. Although the museum has numerous exhibits on people and cultures from around the world, the collection of physically abnormal foetuses preserved in alcohol is what draws in the crowds. The collection is best for visitors with an intense scientific curiosity, as well as a strong stomach.
Naberezhnaya Universitetskaya 3
Tel: (812) 328 1412.
Website:
www.kunstkamera.ruOpening hours: Tues-Sun 1100-1900, closed last Tues of the month, ticket offices close 80 minutes before closing time.
Admission charge.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Related St. Petersburg Content
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
Related Russia Content
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
Russia Airport Guides:
|
Russia City Guides:
|
| Russia Attraction Guides: |
|
|
Available Tours to Russia:
|
