St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is an important Russian travel centre.
St. Petersburg is the most water abundant city in the Russian Federation and one of the most water abundant cities in the world. There are 342 bridges in the city, 22 of which open.
The White Nights are a symbol of St. Petersburg. Various festivals and public celebrations take place during this period.
White nights in St. Petersburg normally last from 11 June to 2 July.
This city is a monument of global architecture and art. There are over 200 museums and their branches in the city. St. Petersburg has more than 70 theatres.
In 1990, the historical centre of St. Petersburg and the palaces and parks in the suburbs were included in UNESCO World Heritage List in Russia.
The following sights are located close to the Hostel:
Potseluev Bridge
Potseluev Bridge (literally Bridge of Kisses) crosses the River Moika in the Admiralteysky District of St. Petersburg and connects Kazansky and the 2nd Admiralteysky Islands.
This is an early cast iron bridge which has preserved its exterior since the early 19th century. It is one of the hallmarks of St. Petersburg full of legends thanks to its name. The view of this bridge, together with St. Isaac’s Cathedral, is often used by artists in their paintings.
135 metres from the Hostel
Mariinsky Theatre
http://www.mariinsky.ru
The history of Mariinsky Theatre dates back to the Bolshoi Theatre founded in 1783 by Empress Catherine the Great. Initially, the theatre was located on the site where the St. Petersburg Music Conservatory is now. The Mariinsky Theatre is named after the wife of Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna. It opened on 2 October 1860 with a performance of Mikhail Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar. In the Soviet period (from 1934 to 1992), the theatre was known as the Kirov Leningrad State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. In 2008 the English magazine Gramophone rated the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre 14th out of all orchestras of the world.
250 metres from the Hostel
Conservatory
http://www.conservatory.ru
Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in St. Petersburg and Russia’s oldest conservatory (1862). Together with Moscow Conservatory, it is one of the leading musical higher educational institutions in Russia.
400 metres from the Hostel
New Holland Island
An island in Admiralteysky District of St. Petersburg, bounded by the River Moika, Kriukov, and Admiralteysky Canals. Moreover, New Holland is a unique monument of industrial architecture of early classicism. The island occupies 7.8 hectares.
625 metres from the Hostel
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
http://www.cathedral.ru
St. Isaac’s Cathedral (official name: Cathedral of Saint Isaac of Dalmatia) is St. Petersburg’s largest orthodox church. The Cathedral has the status of a museum; registered in June 1991 and the church community can celebrate divine services on special days, subject to permission of the museum’s directorate.
960 metres from the Hostel
St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral
The Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas (official name: Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker and the Epiphany) is an orthodox church located in Nikolskaya Square, St. Petersburg.
This shrine belongs to the St. Petersburg Episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its Dean is Archpriest Bogdan Soiko.
It is a monument of baroque architecture.
700 metres from the Hostel
The Hermitage
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org
The St. Petersburg State Hermitage (from the French ermitage, which means a place of seclusion, cell or abode of a hermit) is one of the largest art, cultural, and historical museums in Russia and the world. Initially, it was a constantly growing collection of pieces of art purchased by the Russian Empress Catherine II for her private collection, but since 1852, it has been open to the public. The State Hermitage today is housed in six impressive buildings located along the embankment of the River Neva in the very centre of St. Petersburg. The heart of the Hermitage and all St. Petersburg is The Winter Palace. Over two and a half centuries, the Hermitage has collected one of the world’s largest collections with about three million works of art and monuments of world culture beginning from the Stone Age and going up to the present time. Today, the museum and the palace are an essential destination for Russian and international tourism.
2 kilometres from the Hostel
Kazan Cathedral
http://www.kazansky-spb.ru
Kazan Cathedral Church (Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan) in St. Petersburg is an orthodox cathedral that belongs to the St. Petersburg Episcopate of the Russian Church.
Since 1999, it has been a cathedral church of the St. Petersburg Episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its Dean is Archpriest Pavel Krasnotsvetov.
This is one of St. Petersburg’s largest religious buildings with one facade which overlooks Nevsky Prospekt, the other one Griboedov Canal. Kazansky Island in the Neva estuary, where Kazansky Bridge crosses Griboedov Canal along Nevsky Prospekt, derives its name from the Cathedral.
2 kilometres from the Hostel
Spit of Vasilievsky Island
The Spit of Vasilievsky Island is the easternmost tip of Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, one of the city’s most fascinating architectural ensembles, an example of harmony of the city’s architecture and the banks of the Neva.
2.3 kilometres from the Hostel
Savior on Spilled Blood
http://www.cathedral.ru
The Church of Resurrection on Spilled Blood, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, is a memorial orthodox single altar church in the name of Resurrection that belongs to the St. Petersburg Episcopate of the Russian Church (it was not brought back under the supervision of the Episcopate), museum and monument of Russian architecture. It is situated in the historical centre of St. Petersburg along the Griboedov Canal next to Mikhailovsky Garden and Konyushennaya Square, not far from the Field of Mars. The nine-domed church is 81 meters high. It can hold up to 1,600 people.
The church was built by order of Emperor Alexander III in 1883–1907 by the architect Alfred Parland on the spot where on the 1st of March 1881 Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded. It was built in the “Russian style” imitating Saint Basil the Blessed Church in Moscow.
2.5 kilometres from the Hostel
Russian Museum
http://rusmuseum.ru
The Russian Museum is the world’s richest museum of Russian art. It is located in St. Petersburg in the Mikhailovsky Palace. Mikhailovsky Castle and the Marble Palace house two branches of this museum. Mikhailovsky Garden and the Summer Garden are looked after by this museum as well.
2.6 kilometres from the Hostel
Smolny Cathedral
http://www.cathedral.ru
Smolny Cathedral is part of the architectural ensemble of the Smolny Convent situated in St. Petersburg on the left bank of the River Neva, on Smolnaya Embankment.
6.5 kilometres from the Hostel
