St. Petersburg is a city of majestic architecture, high artistic culture and historical significance. I will never tire of exploring the amazing art collections of the Hermitage and the St. Issac’s Cathedral, nor be bored by the grand facades and the reflections of palaces in the canals. Over time it’s just getting better and better with a brilliant restaurant, bar and cafe scene and exciting creative design clusters. Let’s take a look at the Top 5 touristic attractions of “Venice of the North”

1. The State Hermitage Museum

This grand ensemble of buildings on the bank of the Neva river is perhaps the world’s greatest museum, the Hermitage’s vast collection is quite simply mind-boggling, with Egyptian mummies, more Rembrandts than the Louvre, and a collection of early-20th-century art unrivalled by almost any other in the world. Plus your entry ticket allows you to walk around the fascinating apartments and dazzling staterooms of the Romanovs. On top of this, there are still other Hermitage sites: the Winter Palace of Peter I, General Staff Building, Menshikov Palace, Imperial Porcelain factory and the excellent Hermitage Storage Facility. The most impressive is the Winter Palace, to which Catherine the Great added the more intimate Small Hermitage. In 1771–87, she built the Large Hermitage to house her growing collection of art. The Theatre was built in 1785–7, the New Hermitage in 1839–51. The New and Large Hermitages were opened by Nicholas I in 1852 as a public museum. From 1918 to 1939 the Winter Palace was slowly incorporated into the museum ensemble. In the late 1990s the majestic, Neo-Classical General Staff Building was added. It houses the collections of 19th- and 20th-century art.

It’s said that it would take 11 years to examine every one of the Hermitage’s exhibits.

NEED TO KNOW

  1. Timing : Open 10:30am–6pm Tuesday– Sunday (Wednesday & Friday till 9pm) (Monday closed)
  2. Tickets : Adults ₽600; children and students free (Free to all on 1st Thursday of the month)
  3. For a breathtaking view of the Hermitage, step off Nevskiy prospekt and, sticking to the left-hand side, follow Bolshaya Morskaya ulitsa to its very end – as the street bends round to the arch of the General Staff Building, the Hermitage is revealed in all its glory.
  4. As a visit to the Hermitage can easily take up an entire day, it is a very good idea to have lunch on the premises, making use of the café on the ground floor.
  5. Art enthusiasts should consider a 2-day ticket for ₽1000.
  6. website : www. hermitagemuseum.org

2. Peterhof

The fountains are incredible, the palace is a stunner and the grounds are great for walking, so it’s no surprise that Peter the Great’s summer palace is usually the first-choice day trip for visitors to St Petersburg. Peter the Great commissioned the building of a palace here in 1714. He intended the estate to rival that of Versailles in France.

Peterhof is no secret, however come early in the day or out of season to enjoy it without the crowds.

NEED TO KNOW

  1. Timing and Tickets : Great Palace: 10:30am–6pm Tuesday–Sunday (Closed last Tuesday of month). Adults ₽600; Children ₽300.  Parks: 9am–8pm Monday–Friday & Sunday, 9am–9pm Saturday. Adults ₽700; under-16s free. Fountains: mid-May–October: 10am–6pm Daily (to 8:50pm Saturday & to 7pm Sunday)
  2. An exciting way to travel to or from Peterhof is by hydrofoil. Boats depart from the Gulf of Finland and leave St Petersburg from Dvortsovaya nab, near the Winter Palace. Boats run early Jun–early Oct every hour from 9:30am to 6pm daily. The journey takes less than an hour.
  3. Restaurants and cafés are scattered around the estate.
  4. website : www.peterhofmuseum.ru

3. St Isaac’s Cathedral

Named after St Isaac of Dalmatia, on whose feast day Peter the Great was born, this is one of the largest domed buildings in the world. Most people bypass the museum to climb the 262 steps to the kolonnada (colonnade) around the drum of the dome; the outlook across the city is superb.

The smaller church of the same name commissioned by Peter the Great was destroyed in floods soon after its construction in 1710. The larger, present-day St Isaac’s opened in 1858 and was designed by French architect Auguste de Montferrand. The cathedral weighs 300,000 tonnes and contains 400 kilograms of gold in its interior decoration. The engineering operation needed to erect it was, at the time, of an almost unprecedented scale. Used as a museum of atheism during the Soviet years, the cathedral is the largest in Russia.

NEED TO KNOW

  1. Timing : May–September : 10am– 10:30pm Thursday–Tuesday ; October– April: 10:30am–6pm Thursday–Tuesday. (Closed third Wednesday of month). Colonnaded Walkway: May–October : 10am–10:30pm daily (to 4:30am 1 June–20 August); November–April: 10:30am– 6pm Thursday–Tuesday. (Closed on Wednesday)
  2. Tickets : ₽450
  3. St Isaac’s is most impressive around dusk
  4. During the winter, when it dominates the snowy skyline like some giant sentinel standing guard in the vastness of St Isaac’s Square.
  5. Restaurants and cafés : A popular café, Idiot, is close by and does great set lunches. Another one is an Indian restaurant named Tandoor. 
  6. website : www.eng.cathedral.ru/isakievskii_sobor

4. Church on Spilled Blood

The Church on Spilled Blood, a cacophony of colour just off Nevskiy prospekt, stands out in St Petersburg by nature of its Russian Revival style, something that is extremely rare in this city of Baroque and Neo-Classical architecture. Designed by Alfred Parland and Ignatiy Malyshev, the church, sometimes referred to as “Saviour on Blood”, was built as a memorial to Alexander II in 1881 on the site of his assassination. The sanctuary doors covered in semi-precious stones are particularly awe-inspiring.

This five-domed dazzler is St Petersburg’s most elaborate church, with a classic Russian Orthodox exterior and an interior decorated with some 7000 Sq.M. of mosaics. Officially called the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, its full colloquial name (Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood) references the assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II here in 1881.

NEED TO KNOW

  • Timing : Open 10:30am–6pm (Closed Wednesday)
  • Tickets : ₽450
  • Those keen on Soviet memorabilia should pay a visit to the Souvenir Market located opposite the church.
  • After visiting the church, if the weather is good, head off to the Mikhaylovskiy Garden for a picnic lunch.
  • website : www.eng.cathedral.ru/spasa_na_krovi

5. Peter and Paul Fortress

First built in wood, and later in stone, the Peter and Paul Fortress dates from the founding of St Petersburg in 1703. During its construction, hundreds of serfs and Swedish prisoners of war perished in the murderous swamps that surrounded it. Containing a magnificent cathedral, dark, damp cells, a popular beach and fine examples of Baroque architecture, it is a contradictory wonder that at times exhilarates and, at times, chills the bones.

This large defensive fortress on Zayachy Island is the kernel from which St Petersburg grew into the city it is today. History buffs should definitely schedule a visit here.

NEED TO KNOW

  • Timing :Grounds:6am–9pm Cathedral: 10am–6pm Mon–Sat, 11am–6pm Sun
  • Tickets : Adults ₽450; children ₽250; seniors ₽200 (Ticket price includes entrance to the cathedral and a guided tour.)
  • It is worth setting aside an entire morning or afternoon for a visit to the fortress, and longer if you want to sunbathe on the riverside beach.
  • There are many cafés with in the grounds of the fortress.
  • During summer, another option is to take a picnic to the beach.
  • website : www.spbmuseum.ru
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