What to visit and see in St. Petersburg? Photo, description and map of the main attractions of St. Petersburg for children, excursions, objects of the world

The article will help to navigate in St. Petersburg and visit all the most outstanding sights of this city.

St. Petersburg is one of the main cities of Russia, the second capital, (from 1712 to 1918, St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire). Other names of St. Petersburg emphasize its main features-the northern capital, the cultural capital of Russia, the North Venice.

The city was built by order of Tsar Peter 1 and was named in his honor. True, the city changed its names - Petrograd, Leningrad, but now it bears its original name.
St. Petersburg began from the hare island where the Peter and Paul Fortress was built, the first stone building of the city. The fortress played a protective role and overlapped the fairways of the sleeves of the Neva Delta. Other buildings were not so fundamental, or simply wooden, so after a while they dilapidated or were destroyed by fires, floods, and time. The heyday of the construction and the appearance of the architectural ensemble that makes the face of St. Petersburg is attributed to the second half of the 18th century and further.

Important: today St. Petersburg is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and this attracts many tourists in it. St. Petersburg is included in the top 10 of the most visited places in Europe and TOP 20-the most visited cities in the world

VIDEO: St. Petersburg. City tour by bus

Travel map of St. Petersburg with sights

In order not to get lost in St. Petersburg and successfully visit all its attractions, tourists are recommended to arm themselves with a tourist map of the city.

Attractions of St. Petersburg: metro stations

The construction of the metro in St. Petersburg began in the 50s of the last century.
A feature of the St. Petersburg metro is the deep location of many of its stations. For example, the Admiraltyskaya station goes deep into 86 m, and the distillations between the Nevsky Prospekt stations are Gorky and several others are at a depth of about 100m.
The metro of St. Petersburg is branched into 5 lines connecting different areas of the city:

1. Kirov-Zorgog
2. Moscow-Petrograd
3. Nev-Vasileostrovskaya
4. Right -bank
5. Frunze-Primorskaya

There are 67 stations in the St. Petersburg metro and the total length of tracks of more than 110 km.

Winter Palace

Located: Palace Square, 2, Palace Embankment, 38.
How to get: Art. Metro "Nevsky Prospekt", exit to the Griboedov channel.
Opening hours: 10.30 - 18.00 (on Wednesday - until 21.00).
Closed: on Mondays, January 1 and May 9.

The Winter Palace is a former residence of Russian emperors, currently a museum, a state Hermitage, which stored treasures of world art. The Palace itself, the palace square Ts Palace Embankment, is a single magnificent ensemble of the Elizabethan Baroque era.

The construction of the palace had several stages, and what we see now is the so -called fifth Winter Palace.

1. The first winter palace It was laid even under Peter 1. Its construction was a wedding gift to Peter and Catherine 1 from Menshikov, so it was called the wedding chambers of Peter 1
2. The second winter palace
   It was also built for Peter 1 and his family, in which there was a winter residence of the king. In it, Tsar Peter 1 and died in 1725
3. The third winter palace
   It was then, during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the chief architect F.B. Rastrelli. The construction of a four -story building facing the Neva facade was completed in 1735. At that time, it had more than 79 ceremonial halls, theater, chapel, a large gallery, about 100 bedrooms, many stairs, service and guard premises.
   Empress Elizaveta Petrovna later added more service buildings to the palace, and also ordered Rastrelli to add several more buildings
4. The fourth winter palace
   Rastrelli was built in the adjacent plots of the land, but subsequently was dismantled
5. The fifth winter palace
   It was built in the period from 1754 to 1762. And it is an existing winter palace. The construction of the palace ended already under Empress Catherine II

The palace has 1,500 interior premises on an area of \u200b\u200b60. 000 square meters.
Architects Yu.M. were engaged in the creation of the interior decoration of the premises Felten, J.B. Valen de Lamot, A. Rinaldi and Betsky. Later they were invited by I.E. Stasov and J. Quarengi. The external painting of the palace resembled the palaces of Versailles and Shenbrunn. Along the entire perimeter of the palace in special niches there are vases and sculptures that adorize its appearance.
The interior decoration and decorations of the interiors of the Winter Palace are architectural masterpieces and can serve as a theme of a separate excursion to the State Hermitage Museum.
Then, in the days of Catherine II, the beginning of a collection of paintings and other objects of art that the palace is famous for.
The collection of painting by the Winter Palace began with paintings by the Dutch-Flamand school and was originally located in the Hermitage, that is, in the place of solitude.
Since Catherine was inconvenient to let the audience to the paintings through her chambers, she ordered to build another wing to the palace, where the collection was postponed.

Internal premises of the Winter Palace:

Jordanian staircase
The front staircase, elaborately decorated with columns, mirrors, gilded stucco molding, Baroque style.
It was assumed that through it the imperial family can go down to the Neva for the rite of watering, that is, to serve as a “course to the Jordan”. Hence the name

Big Church, Baroque style
A large enfilade leads to it, its golden dome rises above the palace

Big throne room or St. George Hall
Created according to the project of J. Quarengi, decorated with colored marble, bronze and gold. In the center of the hall was a majestic throne

Military gallery
Was a passage to the Georgievsky hall. Contains portraits of generals of the Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812

In addition to the ceremonial and solemn premises of the Winter Palace, it also has a large number of luxuriously decorated rooms of smaller sizes. Each of them is distinguished by the magnificence and individuality of the finish. So, for example, a malachite hall.
It is decorated with eight malachite columns and pilasters, and the fireplaces located in it are also decorated with malachite.

Interesting: in the basements of the Winter Palace there are approximately 50 cats hired for official work on fishing mice. The tradition with cats has been supported today since the time of Catherine the Great

Cruiser Aurora

How to get: Art. Metro "Gorky" or "Lenin Square", not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Museum "House of Peter the Great".

The Aurora cruiser was launched in 1900. He took part in the Russo-Japanese War, in the First World War, but became most known when a single shot from Aurora was given a signal to the assault on the Winter Palace during the October Revolution .
The place of constant parking of the historical symbol "Aurora" was the Petrograd embankment.

Bronze Horseman

How to get: Art. The metro “Admiralteyskaya and 10 minutes on foot, twice turning left: first on a small sea, then once again on the pl. Decembrists.

This very first monument in the city is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.
It is located on Senate Square and erect to perpetuate the exploits of Peter 1, a reformer that transformed the country.
With the light hand of the poet A.S. Pushkin began to be called a copper horseman. The monument to Peter 1 was ordered by Empress Catherine, and in fact it is cast from bronze.
The sculptor E. Falcone performed the equestrian statue of Peter, and the foot for the statue, the so -called thunder stone, was delivered from the surrounding village.
The monument and the bronze figure of Tsar Peter are filled with symbols. A setting stone has the shape of a wave, which symbolizes the fact that Peter opened the path to the sea.
The king with a strong hand restrains the horse on the hind legs, and the horse tramples the snake spread at his feet. The snake is a Christian symbol of evil, but the symbolism of the monument suggests that in this case the snake means defeat in the northern war of the early 18th century of the Swedish army and the victory in it of Peter 1. On the king’s head - a laurel wreath, a symbol of victories. The king’s hand indicates the Academy of Sciences (Enlightenment), the Perepavlovsk fortress (trade and military power). The pupils of the king's eyes are made in the form of hearts - a symbol of love for the brainchild he created.

The weight of the statue is 8 tons, its height is 5 meters.
Interestingly, the tsar statue on a horse has only two supports - these are the legs of a horse.

Hermitage

Interesting: a collection of world masterpieces of the art of the State Hermitage, is located in the Winter Palace. This is one of the richest collections of classical painting, sculpture, decorative art from around the world. It is difficult to imagine, but the number of exhibits is calculated by three million!

The collections of the Hermitage are exhibited in the Winter Palace, in the Small Hermitage, in the Great Hermitage, in the New Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater, interconnected.

To inspect all the museum expositions, it will take at least a month. For the first inspection, you can draw up several thematic routes to make an idea of \u200b\u200bthe museum and enjoy the excursion.

The art gallery exhibits masterpieces:

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Rafael
• Rubens
• Rembranda
• Van Dyck
• El Greco
• Pusen
• and many other masters

On the third floor there is a constant exposition of impressionists from Monet to Picasso.
Below, on the lower floor, there are collections of monuments and art objects of ancient civilizations.
Fans of jewelry can admire the jewelry of the Imperial House of the Romanovs in the diamond and gold pantry.

VIDEO: Hermitage. Zimni Palace

Theaters, palaces and museums of St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg has about 4,200 objects of cultural heritage of Russia, including a number of cultural objects of the UNESCO cultural heritage, including the central part of the city. It is unlikely that you can visit all these objects in one visit, even the longest. You can dwell on the most famous and famous theaters, palaces and museums. For example,

State Russian Museum
Address: Engineering Square, 4.
It is located in the territories of Mikhailovsky, Marmore, Stroganovsky, Summer Palaces, as well as an engineering castle. The summer garden and the Mikhailovsky Garden are also parts of the complex of the Russian Museum.
The Russian Museum presents the richest collection of Russian art in 410 945 exhibits.

Central Naval Museum
Address: Labor Square, 5.
In the museum exposition under 700 thousand items related to ships and marine affairs. Among them are 2000 different models of ships.
The branch of this museum is the famous cruiser Aurora

Museum of the Academy of Arts of Russia
Presents the work of graduates of the Academy, other works of art

Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic
The exposition talks about the research of the Arctic and Antarctic from history to the present day

Museum of the History of St. Petersburg
The Museum Complex includes the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where the Romanov’s tomb, Rumyantsev mansion, Museum-Quarter A. Blok, the Press Museum, the Museum of the St. Petersburg Vanguard, the Shlisselburg fortress, the fortress of Oreshka and others are located

Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great (Kunstkamera)
The museum developed on the basis of a collection of wonders belonging to Peter 1.
Now it is the world's largest collection (1, 2 mil.) Anthropological and ethnographic objects related to different cultures and peoples. The museum has ethnographic, Asian, anatomical, Egyptian, mineralogical, zoological, botanical, archaeological departments

Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism
The museum exposition gives a complete idea of \u200b\u200bvarious religions and beliefs of the peoples of the world, and also contains special libraries in the main religions

Theaters of St. Petersburg: in total-about 70.
Among them:

1. Mariinskii Opera House
2. Alexandria Theater
3. Big Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov
4. St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after Lensovet
5. Academic Drama Theater named after V.F. Komissarzhevskaya

Stone Island

It is located between the nurse rivers, large and small, as well as between the Krestovka river.
Known for his historical monuments, parks, dachas and estates.

Peterhof

The palace and park ensemble of Peterhof (Petrodvorets) was founded as an imperial suburban residence in 1710. According to the plan, the palace and the Peterhof Park should have resembled the French Versailles, but in its beauty, luxury and scale, Peterhof, perhaps, surpassed Versailles.
Located 29 km from St. Petersburg on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland.
The ensemble includes:

1. Big Peterhof Palace with its luxurious interiors
2. Gardens (upper and lower) with numerous fountains, greenhouses, alleys, arbors, various other elegant buildings
   Gardens are decorated with sculptures, vases, flower beds.
   Peterhof fountains amaze with their luxury and beauty, but not only. Some of them have their secrets. A special influx of tourists in Peterhof is noticeable in the opening season of fountains.
   The most famous fountain of the Peterhof Palace and Park ensemble is the Samson fountain, tearing the mouth of a lion, located in the very center of the park. The biblical character Samson symbolizes the victory of the Russians over the Swedes in the Northern War

   

VIDEO: Peterhof. Tour of the Great Cascade of Fountains

Admiralty embankment

The magnificent embankment dressed in granite is the most famous historical place in St. Petersburg, along which you can take a walk, admiring the historical buildings and decorations of the embankment itself. Its length is only 414 m, there are 8 houses on it. It extends from the intersection between the palace passage, the palace embankment and to Senate Square.
Famous jewelry of the Admiralty embankment are vases and lions at the eastern pavilion of the Admiralty, as well as the Petrovsky descent.

Peter-Pavel's Fortress

This is the historical core of St. Petersburg, built by the architect Domenico Trezini on the orders of Peter as an outpost to protect the city. However, the Peter and Paul Fortress was never used for hostilities. Instead, she always served as a political prison, which contained such famous personalities as Radishchev, Chernyshevsky, Princess Tarakanov, Decembrists, Narodnoyes, etc.
The Peter and Paul Fortress has 6 bastions. From one of them - Naryshkin bastion - at noon a shot is made from the gun.
Famous buildings on the territory of the fortress are the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Alekseevsky Ravelin, the building of the Mint and others.

Video: attractions of St. Petersburg - Peter and Paul Fortress

Interesting attractions of St. Petersburg for children

In addition to the already mentioned attractions in which there is always something that may interest the child, children in St. Petersburg can directly show:

1. Chocolate Museum
2. The Wax Museum
3. Divorce of bridges of the city and passage under them of ships (at night)
4. Isaac's Cathedral with its observation deck of the city panorama and foucum pendulum inside

VIDEO: Excursion in St. Petersburg