St. Petersburg

• Airport "Pulkovo"
• How to get to the airport
• Useful phones
• Interesting places to visit
• Day of the city

Airport "Pulkovo"

Inquiry desk of airport Pulkovo 1: 7 (812) 723-83-61;
Inquiry desk of air terminal Pulkovo 2: 7 (812) 324-37-87

How to get to the airport

Metro  "Moskovskaya" - air terminal Pulkovo 1
Bus ¹ 39
Route taxi Ê-39
Metro  "Moskovskaya" - air terminal Pulkovo 2
Bus ¹ 13
Route taxi Ê-13
Metro "Sennaya Ploshad" air terminal Pulkovo 2
Route taxi Ê-213

Useful phones

Phone inquiry service	+7 (812) 09, 008
Medicine Inquiry service	+7 (812) 003
Lost property office	+7 (812) 336-5109
Housing and utilities infrastructure service	+7 (812) 004
All-night drugstore	+7 (812) 314-5401
Subway inquiry service	+7 (812) 301-9700
Phone inquiry service for social safety net	+7 (812) 334-4144
Hotel reservation Inquiry service	+7 (812) 325-4190

Interesting places to visit

1. The Cruiser "Aurora"

   A veteran ship of the Russian Navy. The historical ship Aurora has been turned into a museum and is docked just a few hundred yards upstream from the Cabin of Peter the Great, opposite the "St Petersburg" Hotel. The cruiser, built in St. Petersburg between 1897 and 1900, took an active part in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and participated in the Tsusima battle, in which most of Russia's Pacific fleet was destroyed. After the war the ship was used for personnel training and during the October revolution of 1917 gave the signal (by firing a blank shot) to storm of the Winter Palace, which was being used as a residence by the democratic, but largely ineffective Provisional Government. During World War II and the 900-day Siege of Leningrad the guns of the ship were taken down and used on the front line of the city's defenses. After the war the ship was carefully restored and used as a free museum and training ship for cadets from the nearby Nakhimov Navy School.

2. St Isaac's Cathedral

   St. Isaac's Cathedral was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably smaller than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more impressive fades and interiors. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions. Foreign visitors should buy entrance tickets just inside the right-hand door in the southern facade (not at the street-level ticket booth). We also recommend that you climb the 300 steps up to the cathedral's colonnade, and enjoy the magnificent views over the city.

3. The Hermitage Museum

   The Hermitage Museum is Russia's best gallery of world art, one of the most prominent art museums in the world and definitely the main tourist attraction of St. Petersburg. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays a diverse range of art and artifacts from all over the world and from throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage's collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a unique collection of Rembrandts and Rubens, many French Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet and Pissarro, numerous canvasses by Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin and several sculptures by Rodin. The collection is both enormous and diverse and is an essential stop for all those interested in art and history. The main building of the Hermitage Museum is the Winter Palace, which was once the main residence of the Russian Tsars. Magnificently located on the bank of the Neva River, this green-and-white three-storey palace is a marvel of Baroque architecture and boasts 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows and 1,057 elegantly and lavishly decorated halls and rooms, many of which are open to the public. The Baroque Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 and its first resident was none other than the celebrated Catherine the Great. Many of the palace's impressive interiors were remodeled after the huge fire that partly destroyed the building in 1837. Some of the best Russian and most famous foreign architects worked exhaustively to ensure that this Imperial residence was one of the finest and most luxurious palaces in the world. The Hermitage's collections are displayed in adjoining buildings along the Neva embankment, together form an enormous museum complex: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and lastly the New Hermitage. The Hermitage Theater, the private theater of the Tsars, is a beautifully decorated amphitheater and still hosts regular lectures, concerts, opera and ballet performances.

4. The Admiralty

   The original Admiralty was one of the first structures to be built in St Petersburg. It was designed to be a dockyard, where some of the first ships of Russia's Baltic fleet were built (some with the participation of Tsar Peter himself who, was an expert in shipbuilding). The Admiralty was also fortified to be an extra defense for the newly acquired territory of the Neva delta. The Admiralty building we see today was built between 1806 and 1823 by the architect Adrian Zakharov. He maintained the original plan of the building, but turned it into a marvelous example of the Russian Empire style, with rows of white columns, wonderful relief detail and numerous statues. The gilded spire of the Admiralty (and particularly its weather-vane korablik - "the little ship") is another of St. Petersburg’s famous landmarks. The Admiralty tower, topped with its golden spire, is the focal point of three of the city’s main streets; Nevsky Propect, Gorokhovaia Street and Voznesensky Prospect, and can be seen along the entire length of each one. The Admiralty was Russia’s Naval Headquarters until 1917, and now serves as a naval college. The gardens in front of the Admiralty are particularly beautiful in summer, and you might choose to walk through them on your way from the Hermitage to the "Bronze Horseman" and St Isaac's.

5. Alexander Column

   From the creator of the marvelous St. Isaac's Cathedral came this monument to the Russian military victory in the war with Napoleon's France. Named after Emperor Alexander I, who ruled Russia between 1801 and 1825 (during the Napoleonic Wars), the column is a terrific piece of architecture and engineering. The Alexander Column (Aleksandrovskaia Kolonna ), the focal point of Palace Square, was designed by the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand and built between 1830 and 1834. The monument is 155 feet 8 inches tall and is topped with a statue of an angel holding a cross (the face of the angel is said to be modeled on the face of Emperor Alexander I). The body of the column is made of a single monolith of red granite, which stands 83 feet 6 inches high and about 11 feet 5 inches in diameter. It is a terrific feat of engineering that this enormous column, weighing an incredible 1,322,760 pounds (600 tons), was erected in under 2 hours without the aid of modern cranes and engineering machines.
   The pedestal of the Alexander Column is decorated with symbols of military glory. The monument is particularly impressive on a sunny evening shortly before dusk, when the last beams of sunlight are reflected in the polished red granite of the column.
   

6. The Palace Bridge

   Palace Bridge was meant to unite the diverse architectural ensembles of the Winter Palace on the one side of the Neva River with University Embankment and the spit of Vasilevsky Island on the other. Surprisingly, given its location, the bridge is a 20th century creation - before this, the only way across the Neva at this point was by boat. A committee set up to find a design for the bridge reviewed 27 proposals before giving the commission to A. Pshenitsky, and construction work began in 1912. The bridge opened to traffic in 1916, even thought its decorations, including the pavilions and lamps, were far from complete. Although it is 250 meters long, the bridge's design is actually quite simple, comprising five separate spans with two of the middle spans opening up to relatively wide angles to allow river traffic to pass underneath. Nevertheless, today Palace Bridge is probably most famous for the spectacular view of the SS Peter & Paul fortress it creates when it opens up in the early morning hours to allow river traffic through. The silhouette of the bridge's two raised platforms with the thin golden spire of SS Peter & Paul Cathedral rising in the background is one of the landmark views in the city.

7. Gostiny Dvor

   The city's largest department store. Gostiny Dvor is a huge department store, which is being gradually turned into a shopping mall, since a significant part of its 164,690 sq. feet. of trading space is rented out to smaller shops. Constructed between 1757 and 1785, Gostiny Dvor has a reputation for being one of the world's first shopping malls and occupies a whole city block on Nevsky Prospect. Although it originally consisted of just 178 separate shops, Gostiny Dvor was severely damaged during the 900-day Siege of Leningrad and was subsequently renovated to vastly increase its trading space and become the largest store in St. Petersburg. A quarter of the expansive complex is currently under renovation but the store remains open for business.

8. Leningrad Zoo

   Leningrad Zoo is located in Alexander Park - of which it is effectively part - on the Petrograd Side. It was founded by two animal-lovers - Sofia and Julius Gerhardt - in 1865. Today it is the second largest Zoo in Russia (after Moscow Zoo), with 2,000 animals from 410 species. In 1873 the Zoological Garden was taken over by Ernest Rost, who replenished its collection of animals, carried out repairs on all of its buildings and equipment, and made it into a profitable business by splitting it into two parts - zoological and commercial. The Zoo was used for circus performances and concerts by choirs and orchestras, and was also home to restaurants. The Zoo's increased profitability meant it could afford to expand its collection of animals - it gained giraffes, orang-utans, anteaters and African elephants - and create more pleasant living conditions and new enclosures for them. Rost left in 1897, and Zoo began to decline. In 1909 it was closed to visitors. The Zoological Gardens were significantly damaged during the Second World War - but even though the city's residents were themselves starving the Zoo's elephant always was fed. When the elephant was killed in a bombing raid in 1944, the whole city mourned. The Zoo closed during the middle of the War, but opened again in 1944. The animal collection gradually grew to include an Indian elephant, chimpanzee, giraffes, a hippo, and a rhino.

9. The Stock Exchange and the Rostral Columns

   Very early in the history of St. Petersburg the Strelka (spit) of the Vasilievsky Island, the largest island in the Neva delta, was intended to become the heart of downtown St Petersburg. Some of the buildings, such as the Customs House, still remind us today of Tsar Peter’s original intentions. Although the downtown area of the city eventually moved onto the left bank of the river, the architects of the early 19th century did not forget about the Spit of Vasilievsky Island. Neither did the Tsars, since the area could be clearly seen from their royal residence - the Winter Palace. The eastern edge of Vasilievsky Island, adjacent to the Strelka, is one of the cultural and intellectual centers of the city and includes St. Petersburg State University, the Academy of Arts, the Naval Museum (located in the building of the former Stock Exchange) and a number of other museums. The Strelka also boasts one of the best views in the city: you look left to the Peter and Paul Fortress and right to the Hermitage, the Admiralty and St Isaac's Cathedral.

10. The Summer Palace of Emperor Peter the Great

    Emperor Peter the Great's private palace was built by between 1710 and 1712 by St. Petersburg's most celebrated architect, Domenico Trezzini. The small palace, built in the delightful Summer Garden, contains just 14 rooms and was the summer residence of Peter the Great and his family from 1712 until the Emperor's death in 1725. The palace stands on the bank of the Fontanka River where it flows into the mighty Neva River. During the time of Peter the Great a small harbor was constructed next to the entrance to the palace, enabling the Tsar to sail right up to the front door of his residence. A rather overgrown park filled with marble statues and park pavilions now surrounds the Summer Palace, but in the early 18th century, the garden was much more formal and was filled with trimmed trees and bushes (collected from all over Europe), fountains and even a grotto. The park was the site of the famous "Assemblies", social gatherings of St. Petersburg's nobility, prominent citizens and guests of the city. These "Assemblies" inevitably included enormous feasts, concerts, fireworks and all manner of entertainments. Visitors are welcome to tour the rooms once occupied by Peter the Great and his wife Catherine, the future empress Catherine I. If you have not pre-arranged a guided tour, tickets can be purchased in a little green booth opposite the palace.

    Information from International Center of Incoming Tourism