Museums

Hermitage

www.hermitage.ru

The State Hermitage occupies six magnificent buildings situated along the embankment of the River Neva, right in the heart of St Petersburg. The leading role in this unique architectural ensemble is played by the Winter Palace, the residence of the Russian tsars that was built to the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62. This ensemble, formed in the 18th and 19th centuries, is extended by the eastern wing of the General Staff building, the Menshikov Palace and the recently constructed Repository.
Put together throughout two centuries and a half, the Hermitage collections of works of art (over 3,000,000 items) present the development of the world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century.
The basic display areas of the State Hermitage occupy 365 rooms in the Main Museum Complex located in the historic centre of St Petersburg. This consists of six buildings constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries, among which the most important is the Winter Palace, the former imperial residence. The Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage display the collections of monuments of culture and art of the ancient world, Western Europe, Russia and the countries of the Orient, as well as archeological and numismatic collections. The Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House also form part of the Main Museum Complex.

Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya, 34
190000 St Petersburg, Russia
Opening Hours Tuesdays - Saturdays: 10.30 - 18.00
Sundays: 10.30 - 17.00
Closed Mondays Tuesdays - Saturdays: 10.30 - 17.00
Sundays: 10.30 - 16.00
Closed Mondays

On holidays and days preceding holidays (except Mondays and January 1), the museum is open from 10.30 to 17.00

Excursion reservation: incoming@favorit.spb.ru
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St.Peter and Paul's Fortress

The foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress in May 1703 is considered to be the birthday of city of St. Petersburg. The fortress was built in wood and was later replaced in stone by the Swiss architect Trezini.
Originally the fortress served to protect the newly established Russian capital from imminent attacks of the Swedish Fleet, and was later turned into a prison. Many political prisoners were kept or executed on its territory, including Peter the Great's son Alexis, members of the 1812 Decembrists' uprising, Russian thinker Chernyshevsky, Lenin's brother Dmitry, and many others. Nowadays, the fortress serves as a museum of Russian history, as well as houses the Mint of St. Petersburg.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral was the first stone building of St. Petersburg. It was the city's main cathedral until St. Isaac's Cathedral was built over 150 years later. The Cathedral is the official burial place of the Romanov Royal family with monarchs starting from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family resting in peace under its naves.
The adjacent Grand Dukes' Burial Place houses tombs of the Romanovs of the lower rank. The Boat House located next to the Peter and Paul Cathedral is a modern replica of the original boat house of Peter the Great where his first sailboat nicknamed "The Grandfather of the Russian Fleet" was kept.

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Russian Museum

www.rusmuseum.ru

The Russian Museum is the first state museum of the Russian fine art in the country. It was established in 1895 in St Petersburg under the decree of the Emperor Nicholas II. Grand opened for visitors on March 19 (March 7, the Old Style) 1898.
The Russian Museum today is a unique depository of artistic treasures, a famous restoration centre, an authoritative institute of academic research, one of the major cultural and educational centres, research and methodological centre of art museums of the Russian Federation, overseeing activities of 260 art museums of Russia.
The Russian Museum collection contains circa 400.000 exhibits. The main complex of museum buildings - the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing - houses the permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum, tracing the entire history of Russian art from the tenth to the twentieth centuries. The museum collection embraces all forms, genres, schools and movements of art.
The Russian Museum holds many exhibitions both in Russia and abroad. The Museum holds more than 50 temporary exhibitions and organizes more than 10 in other cities and abroad annually. Catalogues, albums and booklets made by museum researchers accompany many exhibitions.
Over the past twenty years, the museum complex has grown to include the Stroganov Palace, St Michael's (Engineers) Castle and the Marble Palace. The complex also includes the Mikhailovsky Gardens, Engineering Gardens, Summer Garden (including the Summer Palace) and the House of Peter the Great.

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St.Isaac's Cathedral

The dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg and its gilded cupola can be seen glistening from all over the city. You can climb up the 300 or so steps to the observation walkway at the base of the cathedral’s dome and enjoy the breathtaking views over the city.
The church itself is an architectural marvel. Built by the French-born architect August Montferrand to be the main church of the Russian Empire, the cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way possible. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - note that the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons (about 177,770 pounds) each. Inside the church many of the icons were created using mosaic techniques and the iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) is decorated with 8 malachite and 2 lapis lazuli columns. The cathedral, which can accommodate 14,000 worshipers, now serves as a museum and services are held only on significant ecclesiastical holidays.

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The Savior on the Blood Cathedral

The dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg and its gilded cupola can be seen glistening from all over the city. You can climb up the 300 or so steps to the observation walkway at the base of the cathedral’s dome and enjoy the breathtaking views over the city.
The church itself is an architectural marvel. Built by the French-born architect August Montferrand to be the main church of the Russian Empire, the cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way possible. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - note that the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons (about 177,770 pounds) each. Inside the church many of the icons were created using mosaic techniques and the iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) is decorated with 8 malachite and 2 lapis lazuli columns. The cathedral, which can accommodate 14,000 worshipers, now serves as a museum and services are held only on significant ecclesiastical holidays.

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Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

One of the oldest architectural ensembles of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Nevsky Lavra, was founded in 1710 on that very place where according to the legend Alexander Nevsky defeated Swedish troops.
The monumental cathedral is crowned with a high dome and harmonizes well with the surrounding monastery buildings. Among the icons of the cathedral the one most honored is the icon of Saint Serafim Sarovsky.
From the very beginning the Alexander Nevsky Lavra got the status of the most prestigious burial place in Imperial Russia. The members of royal family, priests, outstanding governors and commanders were buried there. Among them one should name Commander Suvorov, prince Bezborodko, architects Quarenghi, Voronikhin, Rossi and others.
In 1936-1937 on the territory of the monastery the museum was created. It was called Leningrad Necropolis and in 1939 was transformed into the Museum of Urban Sculpture.
At the beginning of the 20th century there were about 12 churches on the territory of the Lavra. Nowadays there are only two of them that are open. The revival of monkery happened in autumn 1996 and today the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is a functioning monastery of Saint Petersburg eparchy.

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The Kazan cathedral

Whilst taking a stroll along Nevsky Prospekt you cannot fail to notice the impressive Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. The solemn laying of the the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan took place on the 27th of August, 1801. The new cathedral replaced the wooden church that had been constructed in 1733-1737 by architect Zemtsov and treasured the miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Kazan. This icon was a family relic of the Romanovs and was thought to be the patroness of the not only of the ruling royal family but of all Russia.
Kazan Cathedral, constructed between 1801 and 1811 by the architect Andrei Voronikhin, was built to an enormous scale and boasts an impressive stone colonnade, encircling a small garden and central fountain. The cathedral was inspired by the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome and was intended to be the country’s main Orthodox Church. After the war of 1812 (during which Napoleon was defeated) the church became a monument to Russian victory. Captured enemy banners were put in the cathedral and the famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812, was buried inside the church.
The cathedral was named after the "miracle-making" icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which the church housed till the early 1930s. The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and from 1932 it housed the collections of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, which displayed numerous pieces of religious art and served anti-religious propaganda purposes. A couple of years ago regular services were resumed in the cathedral, though it still shares the premises with the museum, from whose name the word "atheism" has now been omitted.

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Summer Garden and Summer Palaсe

Across the river Neva from the Peter and Paul fortress and the wooden Cabin of Peter the Great you can visit the historical Summer Gardens. Behind the beautiful wrought iron fence there is an old park that has witnessed some of the most spectacular moments in St. Petersburg's early history.
The territory was planted with different flowers and trees, the first marble sculptures which had been delivered to young Saint Petersburg from Europe were set. Many writers, poets and artists were fond of strolling along the alleys of the Summer Garden. There one could come across poet Alexander Pushkin, writers Krylov and Goncharov, composer Tchaikovsky, poet Block and other prominent figures of Russian culture.
Tsar Peter commissioned the city’s first and foremost architect, the Italian Domenico Trezzini, to build a small palace in the park. The palace had no heating and was intended only for summer time use, hence its name "Summer Palace", as opposed to the "Winter Palace" that Peter had built just down the same embankment of the Neva. This Summer Palace - a two-storey Dutch-style affair with a high roof and comparatively modest interior - was one of St. Petersburg's first stone palaces. Its original interiors have been preserve to this day.

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The cabin of Peter the Great.

The first house to be built in Peter’s city is still carefully preserved for you to see today…
The first residential building to be built in the newly founded city of St. Petersburg was a wooden house or cabin, intended for Tsar Peter himself. The cabin is very small - only 60 sq. meters in area and is a strange combination of a traditional Russian house - izba - and a Dutch home with large and elaborate windows and high roof, covered with wooden tiles. Tsar Peter lived in this house between 1703 and 1708 and the living room, bedroom and study, still filled with Peter's original belongings, still bear the mark of his presence. Peter the Great wanted all the houses of his new city to be built of stone, the way it was done in Europe. But he could not afford a stone house at the time, so he ordered the walls to be painted as if the house was made of bricks.
Hidden from wind and rain inside a red brick pavilion, which you can see in the picture, the first house built in the city of St Petersburg is still open to the public. During the Second World War the Cabin of Peter the Great was the first museum to reopen in 1944 after the dramatic 900-day Siege of Leningrad

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Yussupov Palace

The most sumptuous non-imperial palace in St.Petersburg was the home of the rich and powerful Yussupov family, who from the mid-18th century until the Revolution, were in the most powerful circles in Russia. It was here in 1916 where the notorious Grigory Rasputin was assassinated. He was lured to Yusupov's palace by several influential figures of the time, given poison cakes, which for some reason had no effect on him, and then shot several times and thrown into the river.

Address : 94 Moika river emb.
Open : 11.00 to 16.00

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Menshikov Palace

www.hermitagemuseum.org

The palace of Prince Alexander Menshikov, first governor - general of St Petersburg, was founded on Vasilevsky Island in 1710. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city, and once combined both residential and administrative functions. As part of the Hermitage, the Menshikov Palace was able to draw on the Museum's large collections incorporating not only former imperial property but also the property of the Russian nobility, including objects confiscated from Prince Menshikov.

Address: Universitetskaya Nab., 15
Open: 10.30-18.00
Closed: MON

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House of Peter I 

The Cabin of Peter I is a unique monument of Saint Petersburg's architecture. The cabin, which is the only wooden structure of the city foundation period that survived until nowadays, was constructed within a very short time - from 24 till 26 May, 1703. The cabin, made of hewn pine-tree logs and painted brick-like, was the first residence of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg.

Address: Petrovskaya Emb., 6
Open: 10:00-17:00
Closed: TUE

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Dostoevsky Museum

The life of Fjedor Mikhailovich Dostoevskij was closely connected with Petersburg. Beginning from 1837 he became a citizen of Petersburg, and in the course of many years he changed about 20 addresses. The streets and the houses of Petersburg are depicted in the works of the writer. However, this house at the corner of Kuznechnij pereulok and ulitsa Dostojevskogo takes a special place among many addresses in Petersburg. The interior is arranged according to the original design of the great writer's last apartment. The exhibition outlines Dostoevs ky's life and work.

Address: Kuznechny Per., 5/2
Open: 10:30-17:30
Closed: MON

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Russian Ethnographic Museum

Russian Ethnographic Museum is one of the biggest ethnographic museums in Europe. Its possessions include cultural heritage of 157 peoples of Eurasia ( territory of the former Russian empire) . Personal belongings, some real objetcs let visitors have a picture about culture and way of life of both big communities and little ones, the number of which does not exceed 100-200 people .

Address: Inzhenernaya Str., 4/1
Open: 10.30-18.00, on SUN till 16.00
Closed: MON

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Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo), incl. Catherine Palace and Amber room

The palace and park ensemble in the the Tzarskoye Selo is one of the most impressive museums in the suburbs of St Petersburg. The Catherine Palace was built in the beginning of the 18th century and named after the wife of Peter the Great. Its exposition reveals the history of the palace construction and decoration. Tourists can also see the famous Amber room.

Address: Pushkin, Sadovaya Str., 7
Open: 10.00-18.00
Closed: TUE, last MON of the month

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Pavlovsk

In 1777 Catherine the Great gave the grounds to the Great Duke Paul as a summer residence. The horseshoe-shaped Paul's Palace was built in 1786. Erected on a hill, the palace takes in the earliest and the latest rays of the sun. The suites of the Pavlovsk palace belong to the best achievements of Russian architecture. The round, oval, octagonal, rectangular and square halls and rooms of the palace are faced with artificial marble or colored stucco and covered with paintings or moulded ornaments. The formation of the collections of the Pavlovsky Palace was closely connected with the trip of its owners to Europe in 1781-1782.

Address: Pavlovsk, Revolutsii Str., 20
Open: 10.00-17.00
Closed: FRI

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Peterhof (Petrodvorets).Kingdom of fountains

Peterhof is a place to visit during the summer when the fountains are operating. In good weather it is well worth spending an entire day here, enjoying the various palaces, the parks, and the sea view. The history of Petrodvorets (called Peterhof until 1944) begins in 1704 when Peter I built a wooden house on the Gulf while overseeing the construction of the nearby Kronstadt Fortress. In 1713 he began transforming the area into an imperial residence. The palace was inaugurated in 1723 and later expanded by Empress Elizabeth. Peterhof is the kingdom of fountains. There are 144 fountains, all operating without the use of pumps by a combination of naturally generated water pressure and magic. Each fountain is unique and once you step in the area of the kingdom of fountains you will be surprised by this splendid oasis, a reminder of the beauty that man can create. You may get there or come back to St.Petersburg by Hydrofoil.

Address : Petrodvorets, 2 Razvodnaya Str.
Grand Palace, all small palaces and park open : 10.30 - 17.00, c losed : on MON, last TUE of every month
Monplesier palace closed : WED, last TUE of every month
Catherine palace closed: THUR, last TUE of every month
Other small palaces closed: MON, last TUE of every month
Park: no days-off

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Konstantinovsky Palace (Strelna)

www.konstantinpalace.com

The Konstantinovsky Palace is not only the architectural centre of Strelna, but also a new symbol of Saint Petersburg. In XXI century the idea of Peter the Great to make Russian Versaliya the diplomatic door to Europe was realized. This was the place for the most important highest-level events attended by statesmen and public figures from all the world during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Saint Petersburg. Today the newly restored ceremonial halls of the Konstantinovsky Palace are regularly used to held different level events: corporate meetings, scientific and political forums, festive banquets and stand-up meals, receptions, balls and fashion shows.

Address : Strelna, Beryozovaya Alleya, 3
Open : 10.00-18.00
Closed : WED, on the days of planned events

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Oranienbaum (Lomonosov)

The Palace-and-park ensemble is situated on the sounthern shore of the Gulf of Finland. In 1743, Oranienbaum became the summer residence of the future emperor Peter III. A fortress ensemble with a petite palace was constructed for him to the design of architect A.Rinaldi. Later, A.Rinaldi was commissioned by the Empress Catherine the Great to erect the Chinese Palace and the Katalnaya Gorka (Sliding Hill) with a pavilion. Chinese Palace is the only Palace in St.Petersburg that survived during the World War II. Oranienbaum is famous for its landscape parks dating back to the middle of the XIX century.

Address: Lomonosov, Dvortsoviy Pr., 48
Open: 11:00 - 17:00, Mon till 16:00
Closed : TUE and on last MON of every month

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Gatchina

In 1765 Catherine the Great gave the Gatchina estate as a gift to Count Grigory Orlov, a favourite of hers. In 1766-1781 the Grand Palace was built and the Palace Park, the first landscape park in the history of Russia, was laid out near the Big and the Silver Lakes. An underground passage led from the palace to the Lake.

Address: Gatchina, Krasnoarmeyskiy Pr., 1
Open : 10:00a.m.-5:00p.m.
Closed: Mon and the last Tue of every month

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