The best museums and architectural monuments of St. Petersburg

Palace Square and the Hermitage

The ensemble of the main square of the city was formed in the 18th-19th centuries and includes world-famous architectural masterpieces: the Winter Palace, the General Staff with the Triumphal Arch, the headquarters of the Guards Corps and the elegant Alexander Column in the Empire style topped with the figure of an angel. Military parades and mass events take place here, and since the early 2000s, the Scarlet Sails school graduation has been widely celebrated.

Peter and Paul Fortress

The history of St. Petersburg began right here, with the construction of defensive bastions on Hare Island by personal decree of Peter I. The date of the foundation of the fortress is considered to be the day the city was founded on the Neva. Every day at exactly noon a cannon shot is heard from the Naryshkin bastion of Peter and Paul Fortress – a tradition dating back to the times of Peter the Great.

Peter and Paul Cathedral with a 122-meter spire – the tomb of Russian emperors, one of the main symbols of St. Petersburg and the tallest historical building in the city. There are many museums concentrated on the territory of the fortress; here is also one of the most unusual monuments to Peter I by the architect M. Shemyakin, which at one time caused many cultural battles and disputes.

State Russian Museum

The museum contains an impressive collection of masterpieces of Russian painting – from ancient icons to works of contemporary artists. Of no less interest are the museum buildings with magnificent stucco moldings, ceremonial bas-reliefs and snow-white columns. 

The world's largest collection of works of Russian art is located at five sites: the Mikhailovsky Palace with the Benois exhibition building, the Engineers' Castle, the Marble Palace, the Stroganov Palace and the Summer Palace of Peter I. The Russian Museum also includes the Summer and Mikhailovsky Gardens, the garden of the Engineers' Castle and the House of Peter I on Petrovskaya Embankment.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

An amazingly beautiful church in the late Russian style was built on the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II by Narodnaya Volya bombers. This tragic event gave the temple its name.

The appearance of the Savior on Spilled Blood is atypical for the architecture of St. Petersburg, which tends toward refined restraint. The asymmetrical domes are covered with bright enamel, multi-colored tiles and gilding, the walls with oblong windows are decorated with kokoshniks and beautiful tiles. The interior decoration of the temple is represented by unique mosaic paintings, the total area of which – more than 7000 m2.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

One of the largest and most beautiful domed structures not only in Russia, but also in the world –  St. Isaac's Cathedral invariably amazes with its scale and monumental power. The facades of the temple are decorated with sculptural compositions and multi-figure bas-reliefs; the rich interior decoration uses malachite, marble, gilded bronze, glass and stone mosaics.

Colonnade of Isaac – undoubtedly the main observation deck of St. Petersburg. From here, from a height of 43 meters, a breathtaking panoramic view of the central part of the city opens. The domes of the Kazan Cathedral and the Savior on Spilled Blood, the spiers of the Admiralty and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the buildings of the Kuntskamera and the Twelve Collegiums, the Rostral Columns and many other iconic St. Petersburg attractions, led by the beautiful Neva, are clearly visible from here.