Tourist Attractions & Monuments Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)

In 1971, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, this museum dedicated to the great Russian writer was opened in the last of the many apartments where he lived in St. Petersburg. From 1878 until his death in 1881, Fedor Dostoyevsky lived at No. 5 of this alleyway, not far from the beautiful Church of the Icon of Vladimir, in the heart of a district where he set the scene for many of his novels. It was here that he wrote his Diary of a Writer and finished The Brothers Karamazov, amidst the few personal objects, books, manuscripts, trinkets collected in part by his descendants, which made it possible to reconstruct the modest and austere environment of the brilliant writer. The museum exhibits the writer's complete works, published during his lifetime, as well as books and photos bearing his dedications. It organizes international symposia and seminars dedicated to Dostoyevsky's work.

Yet it is not in this apartment that you will be able to find the most revealing clues to Dostoyevsky's personality; the author could not allow himself to be locked up in a museum, just as he could not allow himself to be locked up in the walls of an apartment during his lifetime. It is true that it is at this address that he ended his days, but isn't the only Dostoyevskian place, his real museum, rather the city of Saint Petersburg itself, whose hidden side he has worked hard to explore, far from the carelessness and splendour of the palaces?

The zoological garden of St. Petersburg has been installed since 1865 in this small portion of Alexandrovski Park along the Kronwerski River. Its occupants are 1,500, with giraffes being the great pride of this zoo and polar bears. Indeed, they rarely reproduce in captivity, but the St. Petersburg Zoo managed to give birth to 16 small (December 1, 2015). It became such a brand that a beautiful polar bear now adorns the zoo logo. The institution is constantly seeking sponsors and patrons to ensure infrastructure development and improve animal welfare. To do this, the Guardianship Program allows donations and sponsorship of an animal. An excellent opportunity to do a good job for one or other of these animals, such as a small raccoon or a Steller Pygargue (majestic bird of prey from the Bering Sea, living up to 50 years old and whose couples remain faithful all their lives), depending on your means and your desires!

Set in 1830 on two natural terraces, it features a centuries-old promenade of oak trees, to which the Pierre fir competes. In the spring, the Rossignol song competes with the children's cries, which engage in echoes under the stone arch of the park.

A beautiful park, located on this northern island of St. Petersburg, with rides for children, boats and catamarans, mini zoo, tennis and badminton courts. Costumed balls are organised frequently for tourist groups and individual visitors. You can rent ski in winter for a small dip in its aisles. Also in this park, the palace (s.) offers a beautiful collection of decorative and applied art.

Created in 1945 on 115 ha of Krestovskiy Island, it is one of the largest green spaces in St. Petersburg. It is situated on a historically heavy site as it was used as a gigantic crematory furnace to burn the bodies of thousands of victims of the Leningrad blockade. It contains 4 bridges and the brand new Gazprom Arena, which was inaugurated for the 2018 World Cup. Today it is one of the most high-tech stadiums in the world and its construction will have cost more than a billion dollars.

The magnificent Orangery transported from Tsarskoye Selo was installed in the Tauride Garden in 1935. This lush island, as if in an eternal summer, is today one of the favourite cultural places of the locals. Equipped with numerous artistic spaces, the Orangery organizes concerts, a festival of ambient electronic music, Abstrasentsia (abstrasension.ru), as well as conferences. During the day, you can enjoy the peace and quiet of its charming Orangery café and flower shop.

These offices, which can be found in several places in the city, have long been the showcase of the total lack of consideration for foreign tourists. This has changed since the city's tercentenary and the World Cup. Now polyglot hostesses are handing out maps, leaflets and information. Other addresses: Sadovaya 37, Milionnaya 25, Ploshchad' Rastrelli 1A, Dvortsovaya ploshchad' 1A, Ligovskiy prospekt 1-k1, Peter and Paul Fortress, Pulkovo Airport.

Welcome to the paradise of grown-ups, geeks and nostalgic for the USSR! This playful museum is an Ali Baba's cave dedicated to Soviet arcade games created between 1974 and 1991. Some 50 different games are gathered together and made available to the visitors-players. The idea is that the visitor becomes a gamer and can therefore switch from one machine to another as in a large games room. Love at first sight guaranteed!

One of the city's most mystical buildings is located a stone's throw from the Chernishevskaya metro station. It is called "Yegipetskiy dom", or the "Egyptian House", by the people of St. Petersburg. Built in modern Russian style between 1911 and 1913, it is richly decorated with Masonic and Egyptian signs, symbols of the god Ra, multiple faces of the goddess of love Hathor, as well as two statues of Ra himself who guard the main entrance of the building. Despite its mysterious appearance, the story of the creation of this building is more prosaic. The wife of State Councillor Nezhinsky placed an order for an apartment building with the Polish architect Mikhail Sogailo, with the aim that its aesthetics should be totally unusual and never seen before. Sogailo certainly took this brief to the letter and probably went beyond the expectations of his extremely wealthy and eccentric client. Being deeply versed in mysticism, occultism and Freemasonry, his inclinations for these fields marked his creation with an unexpected impact. Rich in many details, frescoes of Egyptian pastoral and agrarian life, impassive gods, discs covered with hieroglyphs and strange signs, pilasters and columns carved on the facade where the Art Nouveau motifs join those of Ancient Egypt ... The result astonished the whole city. Perfectly preserved since its creation, it continues today to intrigue both locals and passing tourists.

Russia's first museum of architectural ceramics opened in October 2018 inside the famous Peter and Paul Fortress. It contains some 300 objects used for construction and interior decoration, from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. There will be beautiful fragments of facades of St. Petersburg buildings, rare Dutch tiles, old chimneys and other pieces of the city's history and architectural heritage.