Monuments to visit Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)

One, two, three. The heavy, richly decorated curtain rises at full speed. Tonight again, as they have for nearly 160 years, the musicians, singers and dancers of the Mariinsky will perform the show of life. This theater and ballet troupe has become the most famous in the world. Founded in 1860, opposite the great Kamenny Theatre and named after Empress Mary, wife of Alexander II, the Mariinsky Theatre was the first to present works by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev... It has welcomed the greatest performers, including Rostropovitch and Richter, and the most famous Russian dancers, such as Istomina, celebrated by Pushkin, Pavlova, Nijinsky and many others.

From 1870, the Mariinsky's ballet troupe was directed by the French choreographer Marius Petitpa, to whom the Russian ballet school owes its formidable development, and whose work with the composer Tchaikovsky marked the history of ballet. In 1895, Swan Lake premiered to Tchaikovsky's music, with the same choreography that you will see tonight. It was followed by European tours, Diaguilev's famous Russian ballets, starring Nijinsky and the Pavlova. All this was before the difficult years of the USSR, when the Mariinsky became the Kirov and lost its prestige to the Bolshoi, the capital's theatre promoted by Soviet power. The flight to the West of the star Nureyev in 1961 during a tour in France also caused a resounding scandal.

Since the fall of the USSR, the illustrious conductor Valery Guergiev has restored an aura to the theatre and his company, but more so to operas. So make no mistake, if everyone is rushing to the sumptuous performances of 19th century ballets, don't hesitate to see the operas, especially Russian ones. The stagings are sublime, even if some will regret the academicism and classicism that Mariinsky is gradually trying to get rid of. Today, the theatre company is placed under the high patronage of the President of Russia. Grigorovitch worked there before leaving for the Bolshoi Theatre. The construction of a second stage of very contemporary design inaugurated in May 2013, but not to the taste of all the St. Petersburgers in the historic centre, marks a new stage in the long history of this world monument of music and dance.

From within. Russians love to dress up for shows, so take the opportunity to dress up too. Another great Mariinsky specialty is ice cream or champanskoe (local sparkling wine) with small sandwiches, which can be enjoyed during intermissions.

Mariinsky II Theatre (Ulitsa Dékabristov, 34). In May 2013, the Mariinsky Theatre was expanded with a new stage, Mariinsky II, inaugurated with great pomp by Vladimir Putin. This annex with its very contemporary architecture is connected to the existing theatre by a footbridge and can accommodate up to 2,000 people on 7 levels. This extension has caused controversy throughout Russia, but no one will question its exceptional acoustics.

The theatre is compared to a shopping centre by its detractors. It's up to you to make up your mind! No one, however, will question its exceptional acoustics

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This beautiful classical building was built between 1764 and 1788, during the reign of Catherine II. The Academy trained state-commissioned artists and censored works deemed subversive. The children entered at the age of 6 and graduated at the age of 21, looking for a rich patron of the arts. The collection of some 600 copies of a rare delicacy of masterpieces of sculpture, painting and drawing alone is worth a small visit. We will also see the studio of Taras Shevchenko, the famous Ukrainian poet, who worked here during the last years of his life. The work of today's students is exhibited each year in September in the large parade hall. The Academy also administers several museums in the city:

Museum-apartment of the painter Isaac Brodsky. Ploschad' iskusstv, 3. open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 pm (300 RUB)

Museum-ownership Les Pénates d'Ilya Repine. Poselok repina, Primorskoe shosse, 411. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 5pm in summer and 10.30am to 4pm in winter, from 15 September to 15 May (350 RUB).

Chistyakov House-Museum. Moskovskoye shosse, 23. open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 17h (150 RUB).

Museum-Apartment of Arkhip Kuindzhi. Birzhevoy pereulok, 1/10, app. 11. open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., cash desks close 30 minutes before (150 RUB).

The memorial workshop of T. G. Shevchenko. Naberezhnaya University 17. (150 RUB)

This is where it all began for St. Petersburg. Indeed, it was from this initial "palace", near the Neva River, that Peter the Great liked to direct the construction of his capital. Built in 1703, the Peter's House is quite simply the first and oldest building in the imperial capital. Today, the Dutch-style wooden house, with its small garden, is protected by a stone wall. The rusticity of the place recalls a particular trait of the character: its simplicity. Pierre did not like pomp, and many foreign sailors were aghast to learn that the man in the holed-up shirt who had just offered them a drink was none other than the tsar. Some of the great ruler's personal belongings are on display inside, including his boxwood pipe (a gift from his great friend Menchikov), simple clothes and his cane covered with skate skin. A place full of symbols that the Peter's House, which saw the birth of Saint Petersburg, is full of... This humble building was therefore the first summer palace of Peter the Great, who spent the summer of 1703 there, monitoring the progress of the vast construction site next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The very first imperial residence of the new capital, simply named Maisonnette de Pierre, was this wooden shed, whose construction, entrusted to soldiers on May 16, 1703, took just three days. One thus goes there as if on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the creator of the city.

This palace designed by the architect Ivan Starov in 1783 was built for one of Catherine II's many lovers, Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauride (the name given to the Crimea). It is one of the largest palaces in the city. After Potemkin's death, the palace became state property and was transformed into barracks. Restored at the beginning of the 20th century, it hosted the Duma as well as meetings of the provisional government and the first Council of Soviets. Today, the Palace is the seat of the non-parliamentary Assembly of Independent States. The simplicity of its façades contrasts with the splendour of its adjoining salons, perpendicular to the central façade. A rotunda decorated with mouldings leads to the White Hall. This large reception hall, the first in the history of Russian architecture to have white columns, was to become a model for many palaces and properties of the nobility. In the 18th century, a winter garden, located behind the colonnade of this room, overlooked the park. Some rooms, such as the painting gallery, the Chinese salon or the Gobelins room, have retained their original decor.

The charming garden of Tauride's palace, once adorned with a statue of Venus, was the scene of grandiose celebrations in honour of Catherine II. You can still see an artificial pond, canals with footbridges, hills and exotic plants. We advise you to organize a guided tour of the site via a French-speaking agency.

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.