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Landmarks and Sights

Dvortsovaya Square

Dvortsovaya Square in St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful architectural ensembles in the world. The square got its name from the name of the Winter Palace, designed by architect F.B. Rastrelli in the middle of the 18th century. In 1819, on the instructions of the Emperor, the architect K.I. Rossi developed a project for a single architectural ensemble glorifying the victory of Russian weapons in the war of 1812.

Landmarks and Sights

The idea of ​​the architect was to combine the existing original interiors and new buildings. A semicircular long facade of the General Staff building was built along the southern border of the square, the length of which is 580 m (the longest building facade in the world). In the middle of the building there is a grandiose Arch with images of the flying geniuses of Glory, and the Chariot of Glory decorated with the sculptural composition with figures of warriors and the chariot of the winged Victory goddess Nika. In 1834, according to the project of architect Auguste Montferrand, in memory of the victory of Russian troops over Napoleon's army, the Alexander Column was created named in honor of Emperor Alexander I. The column weighing 600 tons, 47.5 m high is crowned with the figure of an angel with a cross trampling a snake trampling the cross - a symbol of the victory of good over evil. The head of an angel is inclined to the ground, so that its face is visible from below (architect B. Orlovsky). The connecting link of all the buildings was the completion in 1843 of the construction on the eastern side of the building of the Headquarters of the Guards Corps (architect A.P. Bryullov). The facade of the building is decorated with a portico of twenty ionic columns. The most beautiful building of Palace Square is the Winter Palace. This grandiose building occupies 9 hectares of land, has about one and a half thousand premises. In those days, it was the tallest building in St. Petersburg. And it was not allowed to build houses taller then the Winter Palace in the city center.

Anichkov bridge

It is one of the first and most famous bridges in St. Petersburg. Of the three bridges crossing Nevsky Prospect, the bridge over the Fontanka river with its amazing horse sculptures by sculptor P.K. Klodt is the most memorable. The Anichkov Bridge was named after the Lieutenant Colonel Engineer Mikhail Anichkov, whose regiment was based in this place and built this crossing. Now Anichkov bridge has a length of almost 55 meters, its width is 37.9 meters and it consists of three spans. During the blockade of Leningrad, the bridge was significantly damaged by artillery attacks. Granite parapets and railings sections were damaged. The crossing became a monument to the blockade: on the granite of the pedestal of Klodt’s horses the trace of the fragments of the German artillery shell wasnt't restored intentionally.

Anichkov bridge

Nevsky Prospect

Nevsky Prospect is the main street of St. Petersburg, stretching for 4.5 km from the Admiralty to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Crosses the Moika River (Green Bridge), Griboedov Canal (Kazan Bridge), Fontanka river (Anichkov Bridge). The greatest width is 60 m (at the Gostiny Dvor), the smallest is 25 m (at the Moika river). Nevsky Prospect is only 10 years younger than St. Petersburg. According to the plan of Peter I, this prospect was to connect the Admiralty with the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Empress Anna Ioannovna called the road Nevsky Perspective, Catherine II - Nevsky Prospect. The facades of 240 buildings overlook Nevsky Prospekt. The right side is informally called “shadow side”, the even - “sunny side” (a popular place for walking). The section from Vosstaniya Square to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is also unofficially called Staro-Nevsky.

Nevsky Prospect

The Bronze Horseman

The Bronze Horseman is a monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Its opening took place on August 7, 1782. The monument got its name from the eponymous poem by Alexander Pushkin.

The Bronze Horseman

The Spit of Vasilyevsky Island

St. Petersburg was built on the islands. The largest island is Vasilyevsky island. Near it, the Neva river is divided into two arms, forming the spit of Vasilyevsky Island. There used to be a large trading port here. Merchants from different countries arrived here on sailing ships. For the convenience of the price agreement, a special building, the Exchange, was built on the spit of Vasilievsky Island. It looks like an ancient Greek temple. From all sides the Exchange building is surrounded by columns. A wide staircase leads to the entrance. The Exchange building was built by architect Jean-François Thomas de Thomon. According to his plan, two rostral columns were placed closer to the water. This is an embodiment of the power and greatness of the state’s navy, as well as a reference to the ancient Roman custom of decorating columns with rosters of defeated enemy ships. The statues at the foot of the columns were created by sculptors J. Camberlen and J. Thib and represent the great rivers of Russia. In the XIX century, the columns served as lighthouses of the port of the northern capital. That was until 1896, when electricity was supplied to the columns. In 1957, lighthouses began to be lit with gas for reasons of economy. Nowadays, lighthouses are lit only on special solemn occasions.

The Spit of Vasilyevsky Island

New Holland

The island of New Holland in St. Petersburg is the only man-made island of the 42 islands of the city. For more than 150 years, access to the island was closed, but now it has become the venue for festivals of culture and art and various eventss. The main attraction here is the arch of New Holland, located on the opposite side of the island. The author of the construction is Jean Baptiste Wallen-Delamot, according to the design of which the arch connected two buildings located along the Moika river. In the 19th century, according to the project of the military architect Alexander Staubert, a Marine prison was built, the shape of which resembled a tower. But the people quickly gave it a different name - 'a bottle'. Nowadays there are cafes and fashion shops, antique and bookstores, a beauty salon, ballet and yoga, as well as an educational space for children in this building. Nearby there is a forge, in which the "Kuznya House" club and restaurant are located. The latest historical building in New Holland is the Commandant’s House, in which the island’s commandant’s family lived. In Soviet times, there were maritime departments, and now the Mayak school of creative industries is working. In Soviet times, the island was a closed zone. Now, large sculptures, art objects and installations of artists from around the world are placed in the park of New Holland.

New Holland

Planetarium 1

The world's largest planetarium, is in the TOP 5 museums of St. Petersburg. Planetarium 1 is located in the building of an old gas tank. One of its main features is a projection dome with a diameter of 37 meters. The dome of the new planetarium is a giant screen on which high-quality image with a resolution of 8000 pixels is transmitted through projectors. It partially comes in contact with the floor, which gives guests a chance to feel at the epicenter of astronomical events. The special slanted dome design allows visitors to take impressive shots of stars and galaxies.

Planetarium 1

Main routes

Smolny and its surroundings

The historic quarter with developed infrastructure and numerous objects attractive for tourists.
Itinerary: Grieving Church - Museum Complex "Water Universe" - Tauride Palace - Smolny Monastery, Smolny Cathedral - Smolny Institute - A.V.Suvorov Museum - Tauride Garden.
On foot.
Duration: 3 hours.

Main routes

Tour of the rivers and canals of "Grand Petersburg"

Colored facades of old mansions, majestic gardens and boundless expanses of water – all this is Grand Petersburg. Day tour of the rivers and canals of St. Petersburg. This is one of the most significant routes through the historical center of the city. It covers the part of the city that was inhabited first. Rivers and canals since the time of Peter I were considered the main entrances to the city, so the most stunning views open from the water. Departure for the tour "Rivers and canals of St. Petersburg" is made according to the schedule, from the Fontanka Embankment, 71.
Route: the first TPP of St. Petersburg – the House with rotunda – Estate of Derzhavin, visited by Pushkin – "Sevenbridges" – Vege house (aka "house of the ultramarine king") – Mariinsky theatre – the Kissing bridge – Yusupov Palace – St. Isaac's Cathedral – Strahovski Palace – Literary café (formerly Confectionery of S. Wolf and T. Beranger) – Museum-apartment of Alexander Pushkin – the Hermitage (Winter Palace) – Peter and Paul fortress – Marsovo field – Summer garden – Panteleymonovsky bridge – Monument to Chizhik-Pyzhyk – Mikhailovsky Palace – Big St. Petersburg circus – Faberge Museum – Sheremetyev's Palace (Fountain House) - Anichkov bridge – Anichkov Palace – Beloselsky-Belozersky Manor – House of count Tolstoy – Lomonosov Bridge – Tovstonogov Bolshoi drama theater – "Twin houses".
Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes.
The route is provided by the shipping company "Teplokhod SPb".
Boarding takes place 15 minutes before departure.
The route can be adjusted due to weather conditions.

Grand Petersburg

Steam train tour "Tsarskoye Selo"

One-day tour. Travel on a real steam locomotive on the first Russian railway from the platform of the Vitebsk railway station to the station "Tsarskoe Selo". Tourists will visit the landscape Park and the Catherine Palace with its majestic interiors and the famous Amber room.
Route: tour of the Vitebsk railway station – departure on a retro train from the Vitebsk station (along the way a guide will tell the history of the steam locomotive and the Russian Railways) – the arrival at the station "Tsarskoye Selo" – a shuttle bus from the station to the Catherine Palace – tour of Catherine Palace with a visit to the Amber room and numerous rooms of the Imperial summer residence – the walk around the Catherine Park – shuttle bus back to the "Tsarskoye Selo" station – the traveling back to St Petersburg on the retro train (along the way, tourists will enjoy a traditional railway tea party) – the arrival of the retro train at the Vitebsk railway station.
Duration: 6 hours.

Steam train tour "Tsarskoye Selo"

Literary Petersburg

St. Petersburg has been a place of concentration of creative personalities almost from the time of its foundation to the present day. Writers, artists, painters and sculptors come and live here from all over the country. Often, it is here that they have a special inspiration that allows them to create great works of art. Literary Petersburg combines the memorable places associated with several prominent artists of different eras - Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Gumilyov.
Itinerary: Cathedral of the Mother of God of Vladimir - Monument to Dostoevsky - House of Alexander Pushkin's nanny - Museum of Fedor Dostoevsky - St. Nicholas Cathedral (Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic) - Museum of Lev Gumilyov.
Duration: 1 hour.

Literary Petersburg

Gastronomic tour of St. Petersburg

The gastronomic tour is a specially designed version of a walk around St. Petersburg, offering an acquaintance with the main attractions, and supplemented with recommendations for visiting the so-called “gastronomic streets” of the city, where famous and less known restaurants, bars and cafes are concentrated, exquisite and varied cuisine which is able to please and surprise the most demanding gourmet, who arrived not only to admire the beauty of St. Petersburg, but also to feel this city to taste.
Route: Vosstaniya Square - Obelisk to the "Hero City of Leningrad" - Nevsky Prospect - Marata Street - Rubinshtein Street - Anichkov Bridge - Belinsky Street - Simeon and Anna Church - Eliseev's Store - Sadovaya Street - Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor - Arts Square - State Russian Museum - Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ - Kazan Cathedral - Stroganov Palace - St. Isaac's Cathedral - The Bronze Horseman - Alexandrovsky Garden - Main Admiralty Building - Monument to the first line of Peterburg tram - Gorokhovaya Street - Dvortsovaya Square - Hermitage - Winter Palace - The spit of Vasilyevsky Island - Zoological Museum - Kunstkamera - Vasilyevsky Island - Menshikov Palace.
Duration: 6 hours.

Gastronomic tour of St. Petersburg

Double-decker sightseeing tour

During the tour you can get acquainted with the main attractions of the city: architectural monuments of different times and styles, beautiful Neva embankments, magnificent palaces, cathedrals and unique bridges.
Route: St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals, Peter and Paul Fortress, Dvortsovaya Square, the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the Bronze Horseman, the Summer Garden, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the Cruiser Aurora and much more. You can learn not only about the sights themselves, but also about the myths and legends of the city on the Neva.
The duration of the route includes 14 fixed stops, at each of which, if desired, you can hop off for sightseeing, and then continue the journey on the next bus. It’s possible to purchase a ticket with a validity period of 24 or 48 hours.

Double-decker sightseeing tour

Hotels

St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia and one of the world-famous tourist centers. According to TripAdvisor, St. Petersburg takes the first place in the ranking of the most attractive cities for travel for Russian people and the 17th among the cities of the world.

Astoria ROCCO FORTE HOTELS

https://www.roccofortehotels.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/hotel-astoria/

The official hotel of the State Hermitage

https://thehermitagehotel.ru/en/

Belmond Grand Hotel Europe

https://www.belmond.com/hotels/europe/russia/st-petersburg/belmond-grand-hotel-europe/

Taleon Imperial Hotel

https://www.taleonimperialhotel.com/

Park Inn by Radisson Baltic

https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/park-inn-congress-st-petersburg-pribaltiyskaya

Original Sokos Hotel Olympia Garden

https://www.sokoshotels.fi/en/st-petersburg/sokos-hotel-olympia-garden

Park Inn by Radisson Pulkovskaya

https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/park-inn-conference-st-petersburg-pulkovskaya

Multifunctional complex «Gornyi»

https://mfk-gornyi.ru/en/

Hotel "Moscow"

https://www.hotel-moscow.ru/en/

Hotel "St. Petersburg"| CITYTEL

https://hotel-spb.ru/en/

Corinthia St. Petersburg

https://www.corinthia.com/

AZIMUT Hotel St. Petersburg

https://en.azimuthotels.com/Russia/azimut-hotel-saint-petersburg/

Hotel Park Krestovskiy

https://otelpark.ru/

CITYTEL Oktiabrskaya Hotel

https://oktober-hotel.spb.ru/en/

Crowne Plaza St. Petersburg Airport

https://cpairport.ru/en/

Hotel Tavricheskaya

https://www.tavricheskaya-hotel.com/

The Baltic Star Hotel

https://www.balticstar-hotel.ru/en

Ambassador Hotel

https://en.ambassador-hotel.ru/

Holiday Inn Moskovskiye Vorota

http://www.hi-spb.com/en/

Author Boutique Hotel

http://goldengarden.ru/en/index.html

Grand Hotel Emerald

https://www.grandhotelemerald.com/en/

Hotel Okhtinskaya

https://okhtinskaya.com/

Country hotel "Raivola"

https://www.raivola.spb.ru/

Four Seasons Lion Palace Hotel Saint Petersburg

https://www.fourseasons.com/stpetersburg/

Rossiya Hotel

https://www.rossiya-hotel.ru/

Courtyard by Marriott St. Petersburg Pushkin

https://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/ledgr-courtyard-st-petersburg-center-west-pushkin-hotel

Kempinski Moika 22

https://www.kempinski.com/en/st-petersburg/hotel-moika-22/

Renaissance St. Petersburg Baltic Hotel

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ledbr-renaissance-st-petersburg-baltic-hotel/

TREZZINI PALACE Hotel

http://trezzinipalace.com/en/

BIP Hotel & Restaurant

https://bip-hotel.ru/hotel-en.html

Useful Facts and Numbers

Public transport

Ground transportation is available from 6:00 to 24:00. Cost: 40 rubles. A minibus operates from 7:00 to 24:00. The average cost in St. Petersburg: 40 rubles. The cost of a trip in a suburban minibus: from 35 to 105 rubles.
The metro is open from 5:45 to 24:00. Token cost: 45 rubles. (One-time fares for travel in public transport in St. Petersburg: http://orgp.spb.ru/tarif_soc/).

Drawing of the bridges

In the summer season, if you move around St. Petersburg at night, on foot or by car, do not forget about the drawing of the bridges. ((Graph https://mostotrest-spb.ru/).

Documents which you use for benefits: school card, student card, postgraduate student card, pension certificate, disability document, etc.

If necessary, you can seek volunteer help: - for the visually impaired - the "Silver Age" volunteer center, tel. + 7 (921) 993 44 73; http://silveryears.ru/ — for citizens in wheelchairs - the organization "On a wheelchair without barriers", tel. + 7 (921) 756-64-15; https://vk.com/bez_barerov

Calendar of events of St. Petersburg: http://www.visit-petersburg.ru/calendar/

Congress & Exhibition Calendar: https://saintpetersburgcb.com/events/