Things to see and do Northwest

The first mayor of St. Petersburg had his residence in this beautiful house in the baroque petrovian style, whose facade on the University quay overlooks the Great Neva. It was built according to plans by the Italian architect Francesco Fontana, then the German architect Gotfried Schädel, also assisted by illustrious colleagues such as Domenico Trezzini, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Jean-Baptiste Leblond and Georg Johann Mattarnovi. Its construction took place between 1710 and 1725. It was the very first stone building and one of the very first palaces in the city.

Peter the Great's Necker. Alexander Menchikov (1673-1729), of more than modest origin (he was a pirojki seller in his youth!), was appointed governor of the city by Peter the Great. He directed the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress and Kronstadt, and practically ruled Russia during the reign of Catherine I. The Menchikov Palace was erected from 1710 to 1727 on a large estate donated by the founding czar to him, who was also one of his closest advisers. This sumptuous setting will be the setting for the very first receptions and celebrations of the new capital, and will contribute to forging its reputation for luxury and hedonism. With too much ostentation perhaps. So Menchikov did not have much time to enjoy the splendours of his palace, which overshadowed the Summer Palace, the first and too modest imperial residence: nourishing an ambition that would prove to be excessive, his intrigues after the death of his protector would indeed bring him a severe disgrace. From 1730, he had to exchange his luxurious salons for a Siberian exile that was to have nothing golden about it. At the same time, the socialites deserted the noble residence, giving way to the Spartan austerity of the guards, who now owned the premises.

The interior of the museum in Menchikov's apartments, on the first floor, the walls and ceilings are lined with remarkable Dutch earthenware tiles, which were very fashionable at the time. You will also notice the marquetry floors, the personal objects of Menchikov and Peter the Great (navigation tools, costumes, clocks, etc.), and the very refined oriental-style decorations adorning the apartments of Menchikov's wife (Chinese hangings, porcelain, etc.). The furniture and various objects of daily life are exceptional testimonies of the Russian culture of the early 18th century.

This palace, which had many owners before it became the property of the great Yusupov family, brings together all the architectural styles that blew over the city. In their time, its salons brought together members of the imperial family, European crowned heads, poets, philosophers and musicians. This oversized residence, marked by history, is a string of princess' rooms, music and reading rooms, ballrooms and reception rooms, and ceremonial lounges. The Moorish baths and the small private theatre are real jewels. But the interest of this palace is to make you enter the universe of one of the greatest Russian families by giving access to rooms less luxurious, but in which you still feel the presence of their former owners: the prince's bachelor flat, the library, the family dining room... Russian visitors flock to the room where Rasputin was murdered. Don't miss the palace theatre, a real gem! In 2015, a new multifunctional building was opened on the palace site: the Stables Wing, which hosts temporary exhibitions and events of all kinds, and the Palace Park, restored in 2016, as well as the adjoining Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Finally, on the left side of the main palace building, the newlyweds' wing reopened in 2019 after restoration work.

A masterpiece of Russian Baroque, the Cathedral of the Resurrection is the centrepiece of the monastic ensemble of the Virgin and Resurrection (Voskressenski Novodievitchi, commonly known as Smolny because of its proximity to the court of the same name), an ensemble invested by the apparatchiks during the Soviet period. Restored to the Orthodox clergy in 2009, this superb blue, white and gold baroque monument bears in its baroque elegance the signature of Rastrelli, who worked there from 1748 to 1769. The cathedral was erected at the request of the future Empress Elisabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great, on the site of the palace where she had spent her childhood. Initially prevented from acceding to the throne and sent to a convent, she did not forget her vows after her accession to power in 1741. You can visit one of its four bell towers, from which there is a superb view of St. Petersburg. The Cathedral of the Resurrection houses an exhibition and concert hall, but the Orthodox liturgy has regained its rights there for the main religious ceremonies. The magnificent church is surrounded by monastery buildings which housed Russia's first female educational institution, reserved for the aristocracy. It is hard to imagine that this string of pastel walls also housed the hierarchs of the Communist Party. Yet it was in the monastery's monastery buildings that Lenin set up his staff before moving to Moscow.

The largest railway museum in Europe and one of the largest museums in the city. A collection of steam, electric locomotives and other rare and legendary railway objects are displayed on 55,000 sqm (more than 5 football stadiums). Opened in 2017, it is one of the latest big additions to the Petersburg cultural landscape. Among its 118 exhibits, many are equipped with multimedia installations that will entertain young and old. Audioguide in English.

This Art Center is part of the set of alternative places called "Pushkinskaya 10". This giant squat opened its doors in 1989. Invested by the artists of the city while the USSR was counting its days, it was first registered as an NGO, free culture, which still exists. Workshops, photo exhibitions, multimedia... The program is always very busy, but the occupants have managed to find a balance between creative work and opening to the public. Let's be frank: this place is unique. Comparing it to a Parisian artistic squat would only give an approximate picture. It's a veritable hotbed of culture and life. A sharp electro record store has been set up there as well as a bookstore and a café.

Museum of the Beatles of Kolya Vasin. Another good reason to come to Pushkinskaya-10 is in the 1st courtyard, renamed John Lennon Street, Abbey Road and Temple of Love, Peace and Music. All of them were created by the most famous Beatles fan of all Russia, Kolya Vasin. It all began when Kolya sent a letter to John Lennon on his birthday in the 1970s. A few months later he received an unexpected reply in his mailbox: a vinyl signed and sent by John Lennon himself. This was the first stone in the building of the Temple of Love, Peace and Music, which brings together an impressive collection of objects of all kinds related to the Liverpool Quartet, carefully assembled over 60 years. After Nikolai's departure from this world to join his friends John and George, Vasin's heirs decided to open the collection to the general public. A moving story of great passion and love.

During the summer months, the countless water jets of the Peterhof fountains, which operate without a pump and only with the speed gained from the slope, are in operation all day long. The water symphony is accompanied on the opening day of the season by classical music concerts, ballets, fireworks... The illuminated fountains offer a truly magical spectacle. St. Petersburg tourist agencies organize guided tours of Peterhof on the first Sundays in June and October (beginning and end of the season). If you are lucky enough to be able to join them, you will have unforgettable memories. Peterhof is so densely populated that we advise you to visit it with a guide to get the most out of it, and to spend at least half a full day there!

The Great Waterfall is a fabulous ensemble of tiered fountains and marble and bronze statues, designed by Peter the Great himself. The  vasque of the Grande Cascade bears in its center the sculpted group of Samson tearing the lion's mouth

, a work symbolizing Poltava's victory. La colonne of water gushing from the lion's mouth reaches a height of about twenty metres. Surrounding the basin, statues of maritime deities celebrate the access Peter the Great has gained to the Baltic Sea. La  Grande Cascade is linked to the Gulf of Finland by the Maritime Canal. On its shores, a truly magical spectacle is offered by the water games in the double alley of the Fountains.

The Palais de Marly, designed by the architect Braustein (1723 par), hides behind its apparent modesty rich decorations with an abundance of bronzes, lacquers and crystals. Ce palais miniature one-storey high is a unique building from the petrovian era, and one of the rare examples of early Petersburg country houses. Vous y will see collections of paintings as well as personal objects of the greatest of the czars, whose statue, by the sculptor Antokolski (1883), adorns Marly's driveway. To the south of the Grand Palais are the formal gardens of the Verkhni Park, designed according to the plans of^Pierre Ier, whose large central pond is adorned with a beautiful bronze Neptune from^{XVIIe siècle}

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Superior Park.

Free entrance. Stretching between Prospekt St. Peterburgski and the Peterhof Palace, il est bounded on the west by Razvodnaya Street and on the east by Pravlenskaya Street. From a surface of 15 ha, il a was created in 1724. Between 1733 et 1739 fountains, statues and pergolas were installed there. The Chessboard cascade gathers statues and fountains staggered on three terraces paved with black and white marble checkerboard. The complex is flanked by two imposing fountains - Rimskié Fontani - of Roman influence. The Fountain of the Pyramid consists of a pyramidal assembly of 500 tubes from which jets of water gush forth.

The Fountain of the Sun

is a rectangular basin with, in the centre, sixteen dolphins in gilded bronze from which as many jets of water gush forth.

Finally, some fountains equipped with ingenious joking mechanisms, unexpectedly water the unwary who comes too close près  !

Pavillon de Montplaisir. Designed by Pierre le Grand and located on the edge of the gulf, it consists of a central body flanked by lateral galleries. The Palais de Monplaisir exhibits collections of paintings gathered by^Pierre Ier during his travels in France and Holland.

The Summer "palace" appears very modest in size and volume in comparison with the gigantic silhouette of the Winter palace located just a few meters away. The building, designed by the Swiss-Italian architect Domenico Trezzini, is well worth a visit, especially for its pleasant garden bordered by the Neva River and three canals. With the Fontanka, the left branch of the Neva River, running along its main façade, this palace was built on the instructions of Peter the Great in 1710 and can be considered a remnant of what St Petersburg was before it became the capital. He was facing the Maisonnette de Pierre, where Pierre lived the rest of the year to monitor the progress of the work on the Pierre and Paul Fortress.

At the end of the 18th century, the garden became very fashionable. A certain Svinine wrote at the beginning of the 19th century: "Before ten o'clock, there are only sick people walking around there to follow the advice of their doctors. Between ten and twelve o'clock, the velvety lawns of the garden are filled with groups of children supervised by pretty nannies or governesses. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the scene changes: it's time for the St. Petersburg Beauty Walk. "Every year, a kind of "beauty contest" is organized in the Summer Garden for the daughters of rich merchants: young girls, accompanied by their mothers, stand along the alleys, while the young merchants, while walking, choose a bride. These festivities no longer take place today, but the garden remains a favourite walking spot for the St. Petersburgers, in this city surrounded by water and stingy with green spaces.

If you take the central alley you will soon see Italian statues. A veritable open-air museum of sculpture, the Summer Garden now boasts some 92 statues. The alleys are surprisingly quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the centre. The appearance of these statues gives the Summer Garden the surrealist side of a miniature of Versailles. Be careful, however, in the middle of winter, the statues are protected from frost in small wooden cabins or kept warm. The garden then loses much of its interest.

The palace, at the far end of the garden, attests to the simple tastes of the Tsar and his attraction to the Dutch style. In particular, some of the personal effects of Peter I and Catherine I are on display

Severely damaged during the Second World War, but superbly renovated, the Great Catherine Palace is the baroque jewel of the architect Rastrelli. It offers visitors the suite of stately rooms and private apartments, which have been perfectly restored. A Baroque staircase leads to the exhibition rooms on the first floor, dedicated to the history of the palace. Overlooking the main courtyard and the gardens, the Great Ballroom dazzles with a variety of rococo ornamental details, gilded wood carvings, inlaid parquet flooring and the Triumph of Russia on the ceiling. The reception lounges offer an abundance of Baroque mirrors, overmantels and gilded woodwork. The dining rooms are decorated with paintings with mythological themes.

The ceiling of the Portrait Room features a painting of Olympus by Tiepolo. Among the many portraits, you will notice those of the Empress Catherine I and Elizabeth; the former is the origin of the palace, the latter brought her magnificence to it.

Decorated by Rastrelli, the Painting Room brings together works from the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly from the Dutch, Flemish and Italian schools. The blue salon, with its Pompeian ceiling, crystal torches, carved armchairs, and walls decorated with portraits of Peter the Great and Catherine I, was the favourite room of the Great Catherine. Next came the private apartments of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, where blue and pastel green tones dominated.

The Blue Chinese salon, stretched with Chinese silk, has a marquetry parquet flooring that combines rare woods such as ebony, rosewood, sandalwood... The palace chapel, finally, is one of the most beautiful baroque flights of Rastrelli. Covering the walls of the narthex, the gilded tapestry with bird motifs was made in the 18th century by Russian serfs weavers.

Designed for Catherine II, the Ionic Gallery, located to the south-east, on the garden side, connects the empress's apartments, designed by the same architect in the antique style and decorated with jasper and agate.

The famous Amber Room is a 100 m² room, decorated with amber panels of all shades. A marvel, even if it is in fact only a reconstitution of the work offered in 1716 by Frederick I of Prussia to Peter the Great. The original panels were stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War and could never be recovered.

Contemporary of the one in Smolny, to which it resembles a twin sister, the cathedral of Saint Nicholas of the Epiphany is dedicated to the patron saint of sailors. A fine tribute to him by this bright blue façade, criss-crossed by the white foam of the bas-reliefs and colonnades that give the building its baroque exuberance! Built between 1753 and 1762 by the architect Savva Tchevakinski, a pupil of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and builder of the Imperial Russian Navy. The maritime vocation of this sanctuary, so intimately linked to St Petersburg, perhaps explains why the cult was celebrated there without interruption, sparing it the anticlerical rigours of Soviet power. The cathedral, with its five golden domes, is one of the most beautiful specimens of Russian Baroque. With its elegant façade preceded by a three-storey blue campanile, also topped with gold, at the crossing of the Griboedov and Kriukov canals in the former maritime business district, St. Nicholas' Cathedral is currently the largest working church in St. Petersburg, and the saints depicted on its beautiful icons attract many worshippers. Built in the Greco-Byzantine style in the 17th century, the icon of St. Nicholas the Miraculous, displayed in the crypt, is the most precious relic of this particularly elegant religious complex, where the people of St. Petersburg used to celebrate their weddings.

Located opposite the Hermitage on the other side of the Neva. One of the most beautiful views of the city! Discover two rostrales columns of red colour, symbolizing the glory of the Russian navy, and statues representing the four Russian rivers: La, Neva, Volga and Dnieper. The columns, conçes by Thomas de Thomon to serve as a lighthouse for vessels entering the port and haites of 32 metres, are decorated with proues of metal vessels (called "rostra" in the Romans).

A local substitute for the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the Hermitage Bridge, built in 1766 on the Winter Canal, is one of the most romantic: this elegant arch leading to the Hermitage Theatre is linked to the heroine of Pushkin's Lady of Spades. This is where Lisa, spurned by her lover, threw herself into the water. The bridge is one of the sets in Tchaikovsky's opera inspired by Pushkin's work. A succession of quays border the Neva, along the entire length of its St. Petersburg course.

These two sphinxes of Thebes, 3,500 years old, no longer contemplate the Nile but the Neva. Studied by Champollion and acquired by the Tsar in 1830, they now watch over the Academy of Fine Arts. For the anecdote, they had to decorate the banks of the Seine because Charles X had acquired them a few weeks before being deposed during the revolution of July 1830. So it was Nicolas I who pulled the chestnuts out of the fire and took advantage of the political unrest to buy the two chimeras from France.

The St Petersburg Mosque, which has stood unashamedly since 1720 on the edge of the vast park of the Peter and Paul Fortress, bears witness to a certain tradition of religious tolerance in Russia. Its reconstruction in 1910 was financed by the Muslims of Russia with the support of Stolypin and the Emir of Bukhara. It was then the largest mosque in Europe, in the capital of an empire where Muslims represent a large part of the population. Its dome, designed by the architect Nicolas Vassiliev, reproduces the dome of Gour-Emir's mausoleum in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Skilled workers from all over Central Asia took part in the project. With a capacity of up to 5,000 worshippers, the mosque hall, decorated in oriental style with a profusion of prayer carpets from the Central Asian republics or Azerbaijan, seems a little too large today for the limited attendance of Tatars and other nationals of the Muslim republics of the former USSR, who are less numerous in St. Petersburg than in Moscow.

Access for visits is not possible during the prayers and they are usually done with a guide accredited by the mosque (in Russian or Central Asian languages). However, do not hesitate to make a detour on your way to the Museum of Political History, the Pierre-et-Paul fortress or the Aurore cruiser nearby, the architecture of the place of worship is very appreciable even from the outside.

The museum has been fully restored for the centenary of the poet's birth. Moscow and St. Petersburg are snatching up the legacy of the great Pushkin. Although the present Russian capital was his birthplace, St. Petersburg, to which his work is intimately linked, did not really bring him luck: it was in this mansion on the quay of the Moika Canal that the great Russian writer spent the last four months of his life, from September 1836 onwards. An existence tragically interrupted by a duel with G. d'Anthès, who was assiduously courting his wife. In spite of this short stay, the museum housed in this building is rich in many souvenirs related to Pushkin, but also to the great names of Russian history: the former residence was indeed inhabited by Biron, a favourite of Empress Anne Ioannovna in the 18th century.

Pushkin, a true god living in Russia, where he is both the best writer and a kind of founding father of the nation, still moves the crowds who religiously crowd into this apartment museum. Another sign of the fervour, already evident during his lifetime, is the note from his doctor on the door of the staircase informing his admirers of his state of health. The museum is more interesting with a guide, who passionately narrates the last days of Aleksandr Sergeyevich's life: the insulting letter received from d'Anthes, the fateful duel on a January morning, the agony on the bedroom couch.

The entrance hall, dining room, living room, bedroom, study and children's room have been reconstructed with a remarkable concern for authenticity from the furniture and possessions that belonged to the Pushkin family. A few objects dear to the poet were preserved: portraits of his four children and a few friends, a copy of Charles Perrault's tales, his cane, his pipes, his pen... Riddled with debts, the poet was unaware of the luxury, if not that of a library with 3,000 books. You will stop with emotion in front of the desk where he wrote his last works, as attested by some of his manuscripts exhibited in the room, in front of the sofa where he breathed his last and in front of his death mask, kept in the museum next to a medallion containing a curl of his hair collected by Turgenev. Every year, on January 29, the museum pays tribute to the writer by organizing the "Pushkin Day".

Place des Décembristes, facing the Neva River, the Bronze Knight, the oversized homage of Catherine II to Peter the Great, is historically the first monument erected in Saint Petersburg. The orthodoxy forbidding the sculptures, Great Catherine, on Diderot's recommendation, called upon the Frenchman Falconet. With one hand, the tsar holds the reins of his rearing horse and, with the other, points to the Pierre-et-Paul fortress, the very first building in the city. The hero of Pushkin's last poem, Eugene, is an obscure employee whose fiancée has just been swept away by a flood of the Neva. Desperate, il passe in front of the statue and attacks the tsar, whom he holds responsible for his misfortunes. Le souverain outraged then descends from its granite pedestal and throws his mount into the streets of the city. Eugene, panic-stricken and chased by the Bronze Horseman, sinks into madness.

The founding czar of the city crushes with his hooves any attempt at rebellion, even that of a desperate young man. Pushkin was the first to scratch the cult devoted to Peter the Great and his reforms, certainly modernist but which propelled Russia into a world that was not his own. The image of the flood is reminiscent of the ambiguity of the myth of St. Petersburg. Splendid by its architecture, the city is always at the mercy of a flood of the Neva. Its very origin seems almost unreal, since it was built on a huge swamp deemed uninhabitable and at the cost of thousands of deaths.

Peter the Great had a shipyard built here in 1704, but an attack by the Swedes led to the fortification of the yard and its transformation into a fortress surrounded by ramparts and a canal. The Admiralty became a place to stroll in the 19th century when the ramparts were destroyed and the canal filled in to make way for a grand boulevard and a garden that extends over an area of 9 hectares leading to the north façade of the Saint-Isaac Cathedral.

The small 28-metre long Bankovskiy suspension bridge has spanned the Griboedov Canal since 1826. It is modest in size but very elegant. And you can see it from afar with its 4 mythical golden griffins guarding the passage, which is only pedestrian... It owes its name to the neighbourhood of the former Bank of Assignats, which today houses the students of the Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics. It is particularly beautiful since its complete restoration in 2019.

A vibrant testimony to Peter the Great's insatiable curiosity for science, the Kunstkamera is one of the oldest and richest ethnographic museums in the world. Founded in 1714 by special decree of the Tsar, it occupies a large building in Baroque style. It is on these docks that the founding czar chose to store his private collections. In Amsterdam, Peter the Great bought Professor Frederic Ruysch's collection of anatomical preparations, which he enriched with other acquisitions: foetuses preserved in formalin, skeletons of Siamese babies, deformed toads... all embellished with stuffed animals, rare stones and crystals, mechanical toys and medical instruments... You can notably observe the skull of Khadji-Mourat, hero of the Caucasian wars against the Russians, immortalized by Tolstoy, as well as teeth pulled out by Peter the Great himself. In short, a magnificent gallery of horrors that testifies to the sometimes strange tastes of the czar builder, and illustrates his passion for the discoveries of his time! Today, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) is also one of the main centres of the Russian Academy of Scientific Research. The three-storey building housing this cabinet of curiosities is surmounted by a tower serving as an observatory. Like many other museums in the city, the Kunstakamera unfortunately does not have a translation of the descriptive plates of its pieces.

For a while there was talk of replacing this institution of cultural life with a bank. But a popular mobilization finally prevented the project from being fully implemented, and the Dom Knigi, "house of books", still stands on the banks of the Griboedov Canal. There you will find very good books on St. Petersburg, including in French, and also many good souvenirs. For geographers, there are also maps on the second floor. Renowned authors regularly hold lectures and autograph sessions there.

On the ^2nd floor is the Zinger café which offers simple and inexpensive cuisine with a beautiful view of the Notre-Dame-de-Kazan cathedral just across the street. Ideal for a coffee or tea break during a day of sightseeing.

The Singer building. The bookshop is located in one of the most beautiful showcases: the Singer building. It is one of the emblematic buildings of the Nevski perspective. Built at the very beginning of the 20th century by the triumphant sewing machine multinational, it served as a model for the creation in 1908 of the Singer skyscraper in Manhattan. This modernist corner building with 6 floors and a tapered attic was designed by the architect and Count Pavel Suzor. It is the very first iron-cast building in the country. Above the bookshop, its top floors, including the magnificent dome with a view of the entire centre of St. Petersburg, house the premises and headquarters of the VKontakte social network, the "Russian Facebook". They are not open to the public.

Let his little train walk through the aisles of what was once one of the most beautiful zoos in Europe. The zoo, in the heart of the city, is very popular with locals who enjoy walking in every season. Built in 1896, the zoo now counts 300 species and 2 000 animals, such as: giraffes, hippos, tapirs and leopards. A winter garden identifies some varieties of exotic plants.

St. Petersburg the pompous one with its palaces in spades and its fallen dreams of triumphant aristocracy has made its moult. This is what the Loft-Project Etazhi artistic and commercial space tends to prove. Within the walls of a former bread factory, five storeys of exhibition halls, shops, restaurants, terraces, bookshops, bars have been set up under the beams and rivets. It is one of the first experiments and large-scale project of reinterpretation of a disused industrial site in the city and it is doing well. More than a centre, Loft-Project Etazhi is a ship, a wreck that has been stranded, found and rebuilt by volunteers dreaming of a new way of life combining pleasure, creation and conviviality. Then this trendy Kon-Tiki is put back in the water and seems to sail above the tumult of the Ligovsky prospekt and the Moscow train station. Loft opens the doors of its roof to visitors every day. Beautifully furnished and 100% secure, this space with spectacular views is perfect for photo shoots and dates. Life seems to generate itself in this beehive with a youthful atmosphere that never sleeps and where you hurtle down the stairs in search of new sensations.

Soviet nostalgia... After leaving St. Petersburg for nearly 3 years of renovation, the cruiser Aurora returned with great pomp and circumstance on July 19, 2016. Moored at the confluence of the Neva and the Great Neva, this battleship more than a century old (built between 1897 and 1900 on the orders of Nicholas II) of impeccable metallic grey is to Saint Petersburg what the mausoleum of Lenin is to Moscow in terms of revolutionary symbolism. It was indeed from the cruiser Aurora that the signal for the revolution of October 1917 was given, marking the dawn of a new era for the country and the world. It was indeed his cannon shot fired with blanks that announced to the revolutionary soldiers and sailors the moment of the assault on the Winter Palace. Before that, he had fought in the Pacific waters against the Japanese in 1904 and then crossed swords with the German navy in the Baltic. Since 1948, when it was permanently anchored at Petrogradskaya Quay, east of the Peter and Paul Fortress, its long grey hull topped by three chimneys has been an integral part of the urban landscape of Leningrad and is likely to be part of the urban landscape of St Petersburg for a long time to come. There has been talk of moving it, scrapping it, not to mention more or less far-fetched projects such as turning it into a discotheque. The USSR is no more, but its legacy lives on. Although it is not the most interesting museum in the city, the visit is nevertheless very popular with children.

Krestovskiy Island (just north of Petrogradskiy Island, to which it is connected by two bridges) is home to the most modern stadium in Russia. A new arena for Russia's most powerful club, Zenit St. Petersburg, owned by the giant Gazprom, this ultra-modern sports arena was one of the flagship stadiums for the 2018 Football World Cup (including the France-Belgium semi-final on 10 July). 69,500 seats facing the Gulf of Finland and a spaceship design fantasized by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

In addition to helping you organize your trip (visa, accommodation), this effective Anglophone agency offers trips to the city and the region, including: fishing and hiking in summer, skiing in winter and excursions in Scandinavia. Possibility of a Francophone guide.

This icebreaker was built for the Czar's navy in Newcastle in 1916. But, after the revolution, England confiscated it, until Krasin, the People's Commissar, recovered it in 1921 for a fee. Krasin was at the forefront of the international mission to save the Italian Nobile expedition in 1928, whose airship was damaged on its return from the Pole. During the Second World War, she was the only Soviet ship to take part in the convoy to Murmansk, which was under fire from Nazi warships, with the aim of distributing war material to the USSR. It also receives Gagarin at the time of its landing. An exhibition with many photos retraces all these anecdotes.
But the highlight of the visit remains the boat itself. Its spacious deck contains both old and recent navigational instruments. We also visit the engine room, and the cabins of the various crew members, from the captain's to the machinists' cabins. A very fun visit, as you immerse yourself in the intimacy of life on board. Beware, the icebreaker Krasin is not open to the public, but only through excursions organized by the conservation team in charge of the administration of the precious ship, now retired. Guided tours depart at fixed times, at the beginning of each hour.

Night of the Museums: The icebreaker is a great fun to visit during the Night of the Museums, on June 15.

Bring sturdy footwear.

The west side of the Mendeleevskaya linia includes one of the oldest monuments on the island and the largest Baroque building in the city, the Twelve Colleges. With its 400 m long façade, its sienna red colour and its white pilasters, it is easily recognizable. It was to house the 12 identical ministries of three levels (called Colleges) founded by Peter the Great. Built between 1722 and 1742 by the Swiss-Italian architect Domenico Trezzini (who also designed the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Summer Palace), this building was to correspond to the modern idea of bureaucracy as conceived by Peter the Great. It also attests to the Tsar's desire to make Vasilyevsky Island the great administrative district of the new imperial capital. It therefore hosted Russia's highest authorities for much of the 18th century. The separate doors between the twelve colleges indicated their autonomy, while their common facade indicated their common purpose. In 1819, these buildings were assigned to the university, and it was here that Mendeleyev set up his Periodic Table of the Elements and Pavlov experimented with conditioned reflexes.

A rather tedious official authorization is required to visit the premises, so you will certainly have to be content to admire the building from the outside. Contact a local agency in advance to arrange a visit.

This museum devoted to the history and culture of the peoples of Russia occupies the left wing of the Mikhailovsky Palace (Russian Museum). This museum of the ex-Homo sovieticus has more than 500,000 pieces from 150 peoples living on the territory of the former USSR, from the Caucasus to Yakutia, from Moldavia to Sakhalin through Central Asia: an invaluable testimony to the cultural traditions of these peoples, through their ritual objects, their crafts, their weapons, their clothing.

Impossible to miss this magnificent mansion designed on the Quai des Anglais, by Vallin de la Mothe. In the 19th century, it housed the collections of Count Nikolaï Roumiantsev, a diplomat and man of culture. Today it is annexed to the History Museum of Saint Petersburg and hosts the exhibition Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. More than 2,000 objects are on display: photos, weapons, personal belongings of the inhabitants and defenders of the city under blockade.

The museum is located in the apartment where Kirov lived between 1923 and 1934, the year of his assassination, in conditions still unsolved, which gave the signal for the Great Stalinist Purges. Many people today regard Stalin as the person who ordered the assassination of this very popular member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Stalin decrees that Kirov is the victim of a conspiracy by his rival Grigory Zinoviev and his supporters, accused of launching a "campaign of terror" against the Party. The investigation of the trials and the judicial proceedings are accelerated on the very evening of the assassination by exceptional decree. The "law of ¹ December" will be the tool of the purges. But the most important part of the museum is located on the floor above. Entitled "For Our Happy Childhood", the permanent exhibition describes the birth of the scout movement, its transformation into a pioneer movement and the lives of children during the early years of Soviet rule. A large part of the exhibition is devoted to the children's counter-revolution during the Civil War: secret documents on children's protests against the Bolsheviks' ruin are shown, as well as the cruel repression of abandoned children (Bezprizornikis). A classroom from the 1930s is reconstructed, with a map hanging on the wall showing the routes of exile taken by white Russians, the social strata close to the Tsarist power.

Visible from Saint-Nicolas-des-Marins Cathedral, the neoclassical-style Trinity Cathedral is at the antipodes of the latter's Baroque exuberance. It must be said that its martial vocation - it is dedicated to the imperial Izmaïlovski regiment, one of the oldest in Russia - did not invite the lightness of the Baroque. The cathedral has marble plaques on its walls with the names of the fallen officers of this regiment engraved on them. Although it follows the rigorous models of Greco-Roman antiquity, it is nevertheless not lacking in elegance with the classic pediment and colonnade of its façade, whose immaculate white contrasts with the blue of its five domes. It was designed by the architect Vladimir Stassov, one of the most eminent representatives of the neoclassical style, who designed the refurbishment of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration and the completion of the Smolny Cathedral and Convent.

Among the church's titles of glory is the fact that Dostoyevsky was married there. Less glorious episode, the church will be disused during the Soviet period to serve as a warehouse for the sets of the Kirov Theatre. The Cathedral regained its original vocation and, in 2006, survived a terrible fire that destroyed the large and small domes. The main dome was known as the largest in the world with a wooden frame. The restoration work lasted 11 years and was completed in 2017.

This 68 ha park, south of St. Petersburg, was created in 1945 to celebrate victory at the end of the Second World War. Sport is at the honor, with a rink and cross-country skiing trails in winter, and rowing on the summer basin. Tennis courts are located in the part of the park that overlooks the Gagarin perspective.

The old garden, the regular part of the park is to the south-east of the palace. The central aisle is oriented towards the Hermitage Pavilion. On the city side, the old garden is bounded by the waterfall canal; to the south-east, by Sadovaya Street (of the park); to the south, il donne on the large pond. This large pond includes a small island that you can reach with a kind of small towed ferry, which is taken at the Admiralty. The passage costs RUB 200 per person, but there is not much to see on this island.

The old garden is divided into four parties : the Upper Garden, on the three upper terraces facing palais ; the Lower Garden, from the third terrace to the canal at Poissons ; the Hermitage plot, from the canal to the Ponds at Cascades ; and the last, unnamed, from the Ponds of the Waterfalls to Sadovaya Street. In the Lower Garden, along the Hermitage Alley, were dug in 1719-1722 deux rectangular ponds. The Hermitage Pavilion, which gave its name to the part of the old garden, was built between 1744 et 1749 par Zemtsov and then, after 1754, by Rastrelli. Its facades echo the Catherine Palace.

Le chaînon connecting the old garden with regular lines to the landscaped park around the large pond is the Grotto Pavilion, built in 1749  by Rastrelli. Il s is one of the best examples of late Baroque. On the south-eastern edge of the pond, there is a group of three Admiralty pavilions built of red bricks. Not far from the island rises above the water the column of Tchesma, high above 14 m. Built to celebrate the memory of the victory over the Turkish squadron in the Bay of Tchesma in 1771, this column is decorated with symbolic rostrums and crowned with a bronze eagle breaking a crescent moon (symbol of victory). To the south-west of the pond is the light-coloured Turkish bath building, reminiscent of a mosque, built in 1850. Further down, the Podkapriznaya road got its name from the Grand Caprice and Petit Caprice, large rocky mounds and small tunnels under which this road passes. At the top of the Grand Caprice rises the Chinese bower, from which there is a beautiful view of the park (the name "caprice" is usually attached to the fact that after these mounds the path divides, and that it was here that Great Catherine, when she was walking, chose her route at the very last moment).

Built in 1900-1908, this 25 m high tower is the city's visiting card. In 1978, a solar dial was added. Adjacent to this one, a new art nouveau style public bath (city symbols, these two buildings were even represented on Soviet stamps).

This botanical garden is unique in its location and in the species it contains. In addition to the vegetable varieties in the region, it contains species originating throughout Russia and elsewhere, as well as tropical greenhouses. Furthermore, this place is very pleasant to walk in summer. A small museum is located at the entrance to the park.

Founded in 1930, the museum of the Geological Institute of the local centre of the Academy of Sciences displays nearly 10,000 mineral samples from the region, particularly from the Khibiny Mountains. The collection is of unparalleled richness and is well worth a visit. It is easy to understand why the Kola Peninsula and the city of Apatity are major centres of scientific and extractive activities: the soil is richer there than anywhere else in Russia.

Having regained his name in September 1991, St. Petersburg did not forget that she first called Leningrad, a name loaded with the weight of a often tragic story. Dedicated to the heroic resistance of its inhabitants during the long blockade imposed by the Nazi armies, this monument erected on the square of Victory, in the south of the city, forcefully recalls this. Built from 1957 by the famous architects Anikouchine, Speranski and Kamenski, who were all veterans of the war, the monument was officially inaugurated only on May 9, 1975, on the occasion of Victory's 30 ^th anniversary. A set of sculptures on Victory Square illustrates the courage of the Russian population during the blockade, and especially solidarity between generations and social classes.

Inaugurated three years later, the memorial of the monument, in the basement, is struck by all the names of the heroes of the Soviet Union, knights of the 3rd rank, hero of socialist work, who have distinguished themselves in Leningrad; adding to the solemnity of this place of remembrance, 900 lanterns illuminate the underground room, one for each day of the blockade of the city. Unfortunately, a blockade that has been long enough to allow this symbolic light to be able to see without difficulty the documents exposed behind the windows that tell the history of the defence of the city. A poignant black and white documentary shows daily life during the terrible winter of 1941-1942: 41 ° C thermometer, streets strewn with corpses, bombed buildings… In the centre of the room, a model shows the line of the Leningrad blockade. Hitler thought it easy to obtain the surrender of this city whose reserves were bombed. But the population resists, and the city is encircled by September 1941. For some time, the city is ravitaillée by Lake Lagoda, on which the trucks can pass in winter. But famine is fast and, allied to cold, more than 1 200 000 deaths out of the 3 million Leningrad people, almost half of the city… At the end of 1943, Russians receive significant quantities of armaments from the west Ural and can counter.

In January 1944, the blockade was lifted. The exhibition also commemorates this immense relief by a large mosaic fresco representing the liberation of the city. It contrasts with a second fresco, on the opposite wall, which illustrates the distress of the people in these terrible days.

It is a kind of open geological museum of the main minerals in the region. Unfortunately, the explanations are almost unreadable, due to lack of maintenance. Take a walk in the basement of this park.

Armenians were never very numerous in St. Petersburg, but they founded the Armenian Apostolic Church there, independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. St. Catherine's Church was built at the end of the 18th century. It is noteworthy for its baroque facade, its bright colours and its astonishing appearance set on the edge of the wide open spaces of the Nevsky perspective. It is one of the favourites of tourists who stop intrigued by this building with its rather un-religious appearance.

A chapel opened in 1994 in honour of the children who were victims of the crash of a Soviet military aircraft in 1972.

Сe a new and beloved eco-district has been built on the site of a former cable factory with a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Finland. There is a mix of shops, bars and restaurants, a concert hall (Morze), an open-air ice rink in winter, a skate park, tattoo studios, beauty salons, etc. The list is getting longer and longer, so it will take at least a few hours to discover this beautiful place that brings the island of Vasilyevsky back to life.

One of the most remarkable bridges over the Fontanka dates from the 18th century (1787) and has retained its original appearance, with its four Doric turrets in particular, the Lomonossov Bridge (Most Lomonossova), faces the square and is extended on both sides by the eponymous street. It is the best preserved of the city's turret lift bridges. Originally called the Chernyshev Bridge, it was renamed in 1948 in honour of the great man of science and founder of Moscow University.

It is perhaps the most famous and most photographed bridge in the neighborhood! It was born on a royal road, since the Anitchkov Bridge extends the Nevsky perspective by making it span the Fontanka (the left arm of the Neva). Built in 1850, it is famous and has a very proud appearance thanks to its four equestrian statues by Piotr Klodt, Nicholas I's favourite sculptor. It is named after Anitchkov, who had built the very first bridge at the same place in 1715.

One of the largest and most beautiful bridges in the city connects Petrogradskaya Island and the Champ-de-Mars to the city centre. Spanning the Neva since 1903, the Troïtsky Bridge is worth a visit if only for the incomparable view of the city you will discover there. On one side, the Summer Garden, the St. Petersburg Hotel, Petrovskaya Quay, on the other - the Peter and Paul Fortress, the tip of Vasilyevsky Island, the Dvortsovaya Quay bordered by the succession of wings of the Hermitage.

Close to the Mariinsky, the small triangular island of New Holland at the end of the Moska Canal and bounded by the other Admiralty and Kryukova canals, has undergone a complete metamorphosis. This island used by the army has become a new eco-district of contemporary cultural life in St Petersburg. Created in the 18th century by the national navy, which used it as a warehouse area, the island of Novaya Hollandiya was also used as a storage area and water reservoir during the Soviet period. The complex had been somewhat abandoned since the beginning of the 21st century.
The official launch of the project took place on 27 August 2016 with many concerts and performances on the main stage of the park. Many historic buildings have been renovated, but the most interesting and lively of them is certainly the former prison, now called Boutilka (the bottle). This round-shaped building houses a dozen cafes on the ground floor, shops and showrooms on the ^first floor and a health and beauty area on the ^third floor. In winter, the green park is transformed into a beautiful skating rink. Free concerts, lectures, masterclasses and charity vinyl markets frequently take place on the main stage and in the inner courtyard of the Boutilka. The ^2nd floor houses Imagine, a beautiful vinyl record shop that also houses the studio of the official New Holland radio station: nhi.fm. To be visited without hesitation!

This huge neo-Gothic-inspired park built between the 18th and 19th centuries is located on the grounds of the former estate of Baron von Nicolay. Of Strasbourg origin, scholar in the languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome, the poet Ludwig von Nicolay (1737-1820) was the tutor and then private secretary of Paul I of Russia. With its necropolis-island with buildings of ancient inspiration, its romantic alleys winding along the Gulf of Finland, it offers possibilities for walks conducive to poetic dreams.

This museum retraces in miniature the history of the city in an interactive tour. Many of the scenes are triggered by pressing a button (dance of the favourites, cooking a wild boar on a spit, etc.). Thanks to the archives in its possession, the museum recreates streets, old houses and palaces that have disappeared. The model is equipped with a nocturnal phase system: at nightfall, it is an enchantment to see the lights glowing inside the houses and in the streets.

Founded in 1760, this pharmacy is the oldest in the city. It owes its reputation and aura to the famous Dr. Poehl and his sons. As early as 1871, it was the official pharmacy of the imperial court. Dr. Poehl's heir, his son Alexander, is famous for the introduction of dosed tablets and the invention of an ampoule for dosing and storing sterile injectable solutions. Located on the ground floor of a private medical centre, this venerable house served as a pharmacy until 2019, when it was converted into a pharmacopoeia museum. The period furniture has remained (or has been recreated identically following the terrible fire of 2005). Medical and laboratory utensils, copper, brass and woodwork, and even a stuffed crocodile (once the local symbol of pharmacies) can be seen. The good doctor's telephone is still there as well as a genuine National cash register that still works. We are greeted by guides dressed in white lab coats. Alas! the visit in French or English is not yet available, but you can still explore this small museum on a self-guided tour if you are not Russian-speaking. In the courtyard of the building remains the old chimney of the brick oven of the Doctor's laboratory covered with figures up to its ridge. The urban legend says that Poehl was an alchemist, that he succeeded in creating griffins (creatures half eagle, half lion) that would still fly over the city at night. Another legend says that the Doctor worked on turning mercury into gold while finding the Philosopher's Stone. Some of these legends were inspired by an enigmatic and offbeat artist who lived in the building during the 1990s, Sergei Kostroma. He is notably responsible for the mysterious figures on the tower, which was overhung by a giant egg in a false cardboard nest until the 2000s. The installation was called the "Egg Monument". It was a double homage to Workers' Solidarity Day (May ^1st) and Orthodox Easter. The installation of the egg on the chimney symbolized the union of workers, artists and religious figures. And the numbering of the bricks on the Tower is a reference to the pharmacist who patiently drew up his inventory by putting numbers on his drugs and preparations in his official register.

If you've already visited the main sites and want to dig deeper, get to know the city from the inside and an unconventional approach, the guys at "Informal Walks" are the right guys for you! Among the tours they offer: romantic rusty pipes (rooftop walks), underground bar crawl, cultural centres... Strolls in intimate places where they will bring you many anecdotes and little-known facts.