What to see in Petersburg? Palaces, museums, cathedrals. Part 1.

Saint Petersburg is called the "Northern Venice" and the cultural capital of Russia. The city and its suburbs contain numerous historical and architectural monuments. The historic center of Petersburg especially attracts tourists: wide squares, avenues, boulevards, parks and gardens, picturesque embankments of the Neva and an intricate network of rivers and canals. We have compiled a list of sights worth seeing.

MUSEUMS, PALACES, CATHEDRALS AND GALLERIES

The State Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace)

The Hermitage is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. The main complex is located in the Winter Palace, the former imperial residence. The main museum complex includes six interconnected buildings: the Winter Palace, the Winter Palace Reserve House, the Small Hermitage, the Large (Old) Hermitage, the New Hermitage and the Hermitage Theatre. The collection numbers over 3 million works of art and monuments of world culture. The museum's collection of European painting includes more than 8,000 works by masters of different schools, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian and Rembrandt. The Winter Palace building is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The State Russian Museum

Russian Museum. Photo: Pixabay.

The first state museum of Russian fine art in the country, founded by decree of Alexander III. The exposition includes more than 400,000 exhibits and presents the history of Russian art over 1,000 years—from ancient Russian icons to 20th-century art. The museum complex includes the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Benois Wing, the Stroganov and Marble Palaces, the Mikhailovsky Castle, the Mikhailovsky and Summer Gardens, Peter I's Little House and other sites.

Fabergé Museum

The Fabergé Museum is located in the Shuvalov Palace. The private museum houses a unique collection of Russian jewelry and decorative-applied arts of the 19th–20th centuries, primarily the nine Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs.

Russian Museum, Benois Wing

Photo: extraguide.ru

The Benois Wing was originally intended for exhibitions by various artistic associations and unions. In the early 1930s the building was transferred to the Russian Museum. Today you can see permanent exhibitions of art from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries, including works of the avant-garde, Socialist Realism, the severe style, nonconformists and conceptualists. Temporary exhibitions are also held.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

A unique architectural monument built on the site of the fatal wounding of Emperor Alexander II between 1883 and 1907. The church interior is decorated with mosaics covering more than 7,000 square meters. It is a branch of the State Museum-Monument "St. Isaac's Cathedral."

St. Isaac's Cathedral (St. Isaac's Cathedral Colonnade)

One of the largest and most beautiful cathedral churches in the world, functioning as a museum. Built in the late Neoclassical style, it is decorated with numerous sculptures, mosaics and paintings. From the observation deck on the colonnade there is a panoramic view of the city.

Russian Railway Museum

Photo: rzd-museum.ru

At the Russian Railway Museum you can see pre-revolutionary steam locomotives, limited trainsets, models of the country's first railways and other historical artifacts of the past century. It is one of the largest railway museums not only in Europe but in the world, and is also virtually the only closed-type railway museum.

Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)

Photo: Pixabay.

The Kunstkamera in Saint Petersburg is one of the largest ethnographic museums in the world and the first public museum in Russia. It was founded by decree of Peter I—the great reformer who strove to educate the Russian people. The museum's exposition is based on Peter's personal collection acquired during his first trip to Western Europe.

Yusupov Palace on the Moika

Photo: A. Savin.

The former residence of one of the wealthiest and most influential aristocratic families of Russia—the Princes Yusupov. The palace is known for its lavish interiors and for being the site of Grigori Rasputin's assassination in 1916.

State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo" (including the Catherine Palace and the Amber Room)

The State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo" is an architectural and park ensemble of the 18th–early 20th centuries, located in the town of Pushkin (part of the Pushkin district of Saint Petersburg). The Catherine Palace was built in the Baroque style. One of its halls housed the Amber Room, which contained amber panels presented to Peter I by the Prussian King Frederick William I.

Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art

Photo: erarta.com

The largest private museum of contemporary art in Russia. Its collection contains thousands of works by Russian artists, and it regularly hosts temporary world-class exhibitions. In addition to exhibition halls, Erarta has a cinema, a theater, an art shop and a café.

ROSFOTO, State Museum and Exhibition Center of Photography

Photo: rosfoto.org

The only federal institution in Russia wholly dedicated to photography, with an extensive archive. The museum hosts exhibitions by both Russian and foreign photographers. A great place for photography enthusiasts.

Art Center "Pushkinskaya 10"

A historic site that became the cradle of the Petersburg underground. It is an entire art cluster where most spaces (such as the Museum of Nonconformist Art, the Museum of the New Academy of Fine Arts, various galleries and studios) are private initiatives offering a wide range of alternative art.

A. A. Blok House-Museum

Photo: culture.ru

The museum is located in the house where Blok lived for the last nine years of his life. The museum presents a literary exposition dedicated to the poet's creative path. Walking and bus tours, literary-musical evenings, lectures and exhibitions are held here. Interactive activities for children aged 5 and up are provided to introduce them to the world of poetry and develop their own creative potential. Visitors are offered group or individual overview tours that recreate the atmosphere of that time.

A. I. Kuindzhi House-Museum

The Kuindzhi House-Museum recreates the atmosphere that surrounded the legendary painter during the last thirteen years of his life. The studio presents an exhibition reflecting his pedagogical work at the Academy of Arts, where he was a professor of landscape painting and headed a studio from 1894 to 1897. Kuindzhi was drawn to the apartment because of its large attic, which offered views of the city, Vasilievsky Island and the Petrograd side. After the master's death, his pupil Nicholas Roerich proposed turning the studio into a museum, which was done for the 150th anniversary of Arkhip Kuindzhi's birth.

I. I. Brodsky House-Museum

Photo: fotostrana.ru

The I. I. Brodsky House-Museum is located in the very center of Saint Petersburg, on Arts Square. Brodsky lived here for the last fifteen years of his life. In 1949 a museum dedicated to his work was opened in the building. The exhibition features a collection of works by Russian artists collected by I. I. Brodsky and memorial items: furniture, books, photographs with autographs of celebrities. Temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists are also held. On the second floor there is a studio where chamber concerts of classical music take place.

V. V. Nabokov Museum

Photo: mail.ru

The Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov Museum on Bolshaya Morskaya, 47 is the only museum in the world dedicated to the life and work of the writer. It is located in a three-story mansion in the early Art Nouveau style that belonged to the Nabokov family since 1898. The dining room and library interiors in the Louis XV style are preserved. The museum's collection includes the writer's personal belongings, items related to the history of the house and the Nabokov family, first editions of the author's works, and a large research library. The exhibition also features Nabokov's unique butterfly collection, unparalleled in Russia.

Anna Akhmatova Museum in the Fountain House

The Anna Akhmatova Museum in the Fountain House was opened in 1989 for the centenary of the poet's birth and became the first museum dedicated to representatives of the Akhmatova generation. In 2005 the "American Cabinet of Joseph Brodsky" exposition was opened, dedicated to the meeting of Akhmatova and Brodsky. A branch of the museum is the Lev Gumilyov House-Museum, where the authentic interior, library and archive of the outstanding scholar and historian are preserved. The museum's mission is to preserve the memory of Lev Gumilyov and his father—the poet Nikolai Gumilyov.

Fyodor M. Dostoevsky Literary and Memorial Museum

Photo: md.spb.ru

The Fyodor M. Dostoevsky Literary and Memorial Museum is located in the house where the writer lived and worked twice. The museum hosts temporary exhibitions, lectures, literary-musical evenings, concerts, theater performances, and publishes books. The museum also hosts the annual international scientific conference "Dostoevsky and World Culture", which discusses issues of perception of Dostoevsky's work in the modern world, the influence of his spiritual legacy, and other topics. The museum actively participates in preparing and organizing the "Dostoevsky Day" holiday, held each year on the first Saturday of July.

House-Museum of the Samoylov Family (actors)

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

The memorial house-museum of the Samoylov actors is the fifth branch of the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. The owner of the house was the famous actor Vasily Vasilyevich Samoylov. Today the museum is the only museum in the city devoted to dramatic actors. The exhibition is dedicated to the history of the remarkable dynasty of actors of the Alexandrinsky Theater and to the personality of V. V. Samoylov.

A. S. Pushkin Memorial Museum-Cottage

Photo: museumpushkin.ru

The A. S. Pushkin Memorial Museum-Cottage is one of six branches of the All-Russian A. S. Pushkin Museum in the town of Pushkin (until 1918—Tsarskoye Selo). The cottage is recognized as a cultural heritage site of federal significance. The one-story wooden building belonged to the widow of a court valet, A. K. Kitaeva. In this house Pushkin rented eight rooms and lived here with his young wife from May to October 1831. The interiors reconstructed from contemporaries' memories, as well as materials in the exhibition, tell about the poet's life and work during this period.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov House-Museum

The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov House-Museum is located at 28 Zagorodny Prospekt, where the composer lived for the last fifteen years of his life. Eleven of his fifteen operas were created here. After the deaths of Rimsky-Korsakov and his wife the apartment became communal, but the composer's descendants carefully preserved the belongings and furniture.

Museum of Dreams of Sigmund Freud at the East-European Institute of Psychoanalysis

The Museum of Sigmund Freud is located in the building of the East-European Institute of Psychoanalysis. Lectures, exhibitions and scientific conferences are held here; items that belonged to Sigmund Freud as well as materials about him and books on the history of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy are exhibited.

Museum of Emotions

Photo: thecity.m24.ru

The "Museum of Emotions" was created by artist Alexey Sergienko. The space is divided into zones connected by labyrinth corridors, each representing a separate emotion. Objects, scents, sounds—all create an atmosphere for immersion in various emotions and moods.

Museum of the Brain

Photo: official VKontakte group of the museum.

The museum is divided into 3 parts: exhibits with an audio guide, an attraction "The World Through a Baby's Eyes" and an interactive section consisting of neurointerfaces—gadgets through which, using force and concentration, one can control spider-robots.

Museum of Body Anomalies

Photo: art-attractions.ru

The museum is dedicated to physiological pathologies of humans and animals. The exhibition includes shocking antique medical instruments and remedies, photo zones and installations.

Grand Maket Russia

This interactive museum is the largest model of the country in Russia and the second largest in the world, depicting everyday life in miniature from Kaliningrad to the Far East. Trains and cars move on the model, the time of day changes, and many scenes from people's lives are played out.

Museum of Shadows

Photo: Oleg Zoloto.

The museum's founders were inspired by shadow art. The "Petersburg of Shadows" exhibition features contemporary art objects in the shadow art style. Here you can see mysterious shadows of multifaceted Petersburg, Peter I, a griffin, Pushkin, Gogol and others. The ticket price includes: a tour, tea/coffee, the opportunity to create your own work, an interactive zone and a visit to the secret room.

Museum of Sound

Photo: official VKontakte group of the museum.

The Saint Petersburg Museum of Sound is a unique place studying and promoting contemporary experimental music, sound art, author-built musical instruments and sound extraction technologies. The museum hosts concerts, lectures, exhibitions, master classes and creative meetings. In addition, an Improvisational Music School operates under it. The museum's expositions include author-made instruments, graphic scores, multi-channel soundscapes and a sound map of Saint Petersburg.

Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines

The museum displays famous arcade machines of the Soviet entertainment industry such as "Sea Battle", "Safari", "Sniper", "Magistral" and others. To start them you need 15-kopeck coins included with the ticket. The museum has ride-on machines for the youngest visitors. Once an hour a tour is held during which you can learn many interesting facts about the Soviet Union. You can also refresh yourself with syrup soda, call a friend from a phone booth and take a photo in an analog photo booth.

State Museum of Urban Sculpture

Photo: novayagazeta.ru

The State Museum of Urban Sculpture is the only museum in Russia devoted to the study, protection and restoration of monumental art monuments in the open urban environment. The initiative to organize it belonged to the "Old Petersburg" society. In 1932 the "Museum-Necropolis" was created, and in 1939 it was reorganized into the Leningrad Museum of Urban Sculpture. Currently the museum presents more than 200 city monuments and 750 memorial plaques. In 1987 a new exhibition space—the Narva Triumphal Gates—was opened. In 2002 a New Exhibition Hall was opened for solo exhibitions of artists and sculptors and contemporary art exhibitions. In 2004 the museum was given the workshop of M. K. Anikushin, and in 2015 a memorial exposition and a platform for contemporary exhibition projects were opened.

State Museum of Sport of Saint Petersburg

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

The State Museum of Sport is located in the heart of the city, in the former mansion of Prince Abamelek-Lazarev. The exhibition space is in two halls. In the permanent exhibition "History of Domestic Sport" visitors immerse themselves in the history of sport and travel along a timeline covering over 100 years of the country's victories and sporting achievements. The second hall is for temporary exhibitions. The main museum collection includes over 500 artifacts, among which awards and prizes created by outstanding Leningrad artists hold a special place, cups from major all-union competitions, memorial items of athletes from Saint Petersburg, as well as medals and badges, equipment and gear, archival posters, certificates, documents and photographs.

Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation

The museum building was built in 1902 to a design by Petr Kupinsky. The Central Museum of Railway Transport of Russia holds 71,000 exhibits, many of which were made more than 150 years ago and have historical and cultural value. For example, over 30 unique items represented Russia at the 1900 World's Industrial Exhibition in Paris, where they were awarded gold medals. The museum also presents a collection of bridge models. All exhibits are organized thematically in chronological order, beginning with the first third of the 19th century.

Museum of Urban Electric Transport

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

The first museum in the city's oldest tram depot (then the Leonov Tram Depot). Its opening date was timed to the 60th anniversary of the tram's launch in Saint Petersburg. The exhibition covers the period from the early 20th century to the late 1980s. It includes more than 30 trams and 7 trolleybuses previously used on Leningrad and Saint Petersburg routes.

Museum of Optical Illusions at Nevsky Prospect, 3

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

The museum has several thematic zones: the hall of optical illusions—classic illusions based on plays of light and shadow, perspective and color contrasts. Impossible objects, disappearing items and people of unusual sizes are presented. The 3D drawings zone—huge drawings on walls and floors create a sense of volume and immerse you in the atmosphere of a fairy tale or cartoon. The room with attractions—here you can test your strength and agility on various interactive attractions, e.g. walk over a shaky bridge above an abyss, look into a bottomless pit or become part of a painting. Photo zones—the museum offers many ready-made photo zones for original photos.

Grail Museum

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

The research center "Grail Museum" under the direction of Konstantin Yuryevich Sevenard together with the Saint Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology carries out the "Limitless Youth" project. Under Konstantin Yuryevich Sevenard's leadership many years of work were carried out to search, analyze and model the characteristics of one of the places associated with prolonging life and youth. The result of this work was the theory of external causes of human aging from which one can protect oneself without, in general, changing one's usual lifestyle.

State Complex "Congress Palace" (Konstantinovsky Palace)

Photo: nevatravel.ru

An 18th-century architectural monument forming a palace-and-park ensemble in Strelna; since 2003 it has been the State Complex "Congress Palace." The complex is located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland on the Strelka and Kikenka rivers along the Peterhof Road, 19 km from the center of Saint Petersburg.

State Museum of the History of Religion

Photo: idemvmuzei.ru

There are few museums in Russia and the world devoted to the history of religion. One of them is this museum of religion, which contains more than 180,000 exhibits dating from the 6th millennium BC to the present. The main activities of the museum are the study of cultural monuments and exhibition activities, as well as the creation of various educational and museum-pedagogical programs.

Museum of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet

Photo: vaganovaacademy.ru

The museum's collections include photographs, portraits, memoirs, diaries, personal autographs, rare books, iconographic material, theatrical photography and artists' paintings, sculptural works, sketches of stage costumes. The museum hosts round tables, lectures, exhibitions and performances that trace the history of the Russian ballet school. The museum's collection is constantly expanding and updated.

Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music

Photo: oteatre.info

The Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music unites five museums in historical buildings of Petersburg: the Sheremetev Palace—Museum of Music, the Theatre Museum in the former building of the Directorate of Imperial Theatres, the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Museum, the Samoylov Actors Museum, and the F. I. Shalyapin House-Museum. The museum's collections hold almost half a million items reflecting 250 years of Russian theatre and music history. You can see one of the largest collections of musical instruments in the world, stage costumes from the Imperial Theatres wardrobe, painted portraits of artists, sketches of decorations and costumes, unique photographs and rare books. A gem of the collection are the miraculously preserved sketches by Malevich for the futurist opera "Victory Over the Sun", and the collection of theatrical-decorative art by Nina and Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky featuring masterpieces by Bakst, Goncharova and Larionov, Vrubel, Sapunov, Sudeikin and others.

State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg

Commandant's House. Photo: Andrey Butko.

The State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg is one of the largest historical museums in Russia. Its collections contain more than 1.3 million artifacts reflecting the history of the city on the Neva from its founding to the present day. The center of the museum is the Peter and Paul Fortress—a unique monument of history, architecture and fortification art of the 18th–20th centuries. The State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg unites several branches: the Rumyantsev Mansion on the English Embankment, the A. A. Blok House-Museum, the S. M. Kirov Museum, the "Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad" Museum on Victory Square, the Press Museum, the Petersburg Avant-Garde Museum (the Matyushin House), and the Shlisselburg Oreshek Fortress.

Museum of Art of Saint Petersburg XX–XXI Centuries

Photo: Oleg Zoloto.

The Museum of Art of Saint Petersburg XX–XXI Centuries (MISSP) has a notable and distinctive cultural profile. It presents, popularizes and studies visual art born in Saint Petersburg, historical and contemporary artistic processes that arose in the space of the northern capital.

Artmuza Museum of Contemporary Art

Artmuza is a museum of contemporary art and a creative cluster. Until 2013 the building housed a former musical instrument factory, which was then transformed into a cultural space. The museum presents different galleries and art residencies: theatrical, musical, artistic studios and schools. In 2017 a concert venue was opened on the roof.

Museum of Nonconformist Art

"Nonconformism" is a phenomenon in the unofficial culture of the Soviet period that manifested in visual art, music and literature. The Museum of Nonconformist Art was founded in 1998 and declared its mission to preserve and study the heritage of the USSR's unofficial culture. The museum's collection includes over 3,000 works. The museum cooperates with various museums and galleries in Russia, Europe and the USA, specialized universities, and is also part of the ICOM network.

Museum of the Petersburg Avant-Garde (M. V. Matyushin House)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Museum of the Petersburg Avant-Garde (M. V. Matyushin House) is dedicated to the Russian avant-garde, the former home of Mikhail Matyushin and Elena Guro. It is a branch of the State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg. The museum demonstrates the main stages of formation and the diversity of Petersburg avant-garde culture. It presents a collection of paintings and graphics (works by Mikhail Matyushin, Elena Guro, Alexey Remizov, Nikolai Kulbin, Vladimir Sterligov, artists of the Malevich and Filonov schools), objects, books, manifestos, brochures, photographs and publications related to the history of the avant-garde movement of the 1910s–1930s. The memorial part of the exhibition recreates Mikhail Matyushin's studio and Elena Guro's room.

Summer Palace of Peter I

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Summer Palace of Peter I is located in the Summer Garden. It is one of the oldest buildings in Saint Petersburg preserved in its original form. In Peter's time the palace could be reached both by land and by water—the Fontanka River flows nearby. The Summer Palace was built to a design by the Italian architect Domenico Trezzini and is executed in the Petrine Baroque style. The interior works were by architect Alexander Leblon. The Summer Palace became a reflection of the era, an example of the Petrine style and the innovations of its time. The palace is open only in summer and in dry weather because the historic layout does not allow it to be insulated, and high humidity can damage the old interiors.

Peter I's Little House

The Summer Palace of Peter I is located in the Summer Garden. It is one of the oldest buildings in Saint Petersburg preserved in its original form. In Peter's time the palace could be reached both by land and by water—the Fontanka River flows nearby. The Summer Palace was built to a design by the Italian architect Domenico Trezzini and is executed in the Petrine Baroque style. The interior works were by architect Alexander Leblon. The Summer Palace became a reflection of the era, an example of the Petrine style and the innovations of its time. The palace is open only in summer and in dry weather because the historic layout does not allow it to be insulated, and high humidity can damage the old interiors.

Stroganov Palace

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Stroganov Palace in Saint Petersburg is an example of Russian Baroque, a branch of the State Russian Museum. The permanent exhibition is "Russian Empire style. Decorative and applied art of the reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801–1825)". Visitors can also see the mineralogical cabinet designed by architect A. Voronikhin in 1791–1792, intended to house Count A. S. Stroganov's book collection and to display his mineral collection.

Mineralogical Museum

Photo: culture.ru

The Mineralogical Museum was founded in 1785. Since 1838 it has been located in the main building of St. Petersburg State University—the Twelve Collegia building, in its southern end facing the Neva, on the second floor. The museum's collections contain over 30,000 specimens (870 mineral species). The museum houses minerals from which new chemical elements were obtained by D. I. Mendeleev and subsequent scientists.

Museum of the Saint Petersburg Metro

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The exhibition is devoted to the history of the Saint Petersburg metro from its inception to the present day. In the museum you can learn about the metro's construction history, its engineering, architecture and design, as well as biographies of metro builders and employees. The museum also has interactive exhibits, for example a model of a metro tunnel traveled by a 1960s model train, or an interactive construction cage.

G. R. Derzhavin Museum-Estate

The museum was recreated in 2003–2011. In addition to the Central Building—the mansion, the complex includes West and East wings, a greenhouse and an estate garden. The Central Building houses the G. R. Derzhavin Museum and exhibits on Russian literature of his time. The West wing presents the permanent exhibition "In the White Gloss of Porcelain" (porcelain items from the late 18th–20th centuries). On the second and third floors of the East wing are exhibition halls where temporary exhibitions are held presenting materials and exhibits not included in the permanent displays.

Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic

Photo: polarmuseum.ru

A museum dedicated to the historical pages of scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as Soviet and Russian territories adjacent to the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route.

Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The oldest zoological museum in Russia, one of the three largest in the world. The exhibition collection counts about 30,000 specimens. The museum's exhibits include the world's largest museum specimen of a blue whale (27 meters), as well as unique specimens of extinct animals: a stuffed thylacine and its skeleton, and the skeleton of Steller's sea cow.

Museum 'House of Angels'

Photo: culture.ru

An art space created by Alexey Solovyov. The 'House of Angels' collects author-made angels from around the world—creations by artists, ceramists, puppeteers and prop makers.

Projection Museum 'Lumiere Hall'

Photo: lumierehall.ru

A projection museum located in the building of the former gas holder of the 'Capital Lighting Society'. The museum hosts multimedia exhibitions with "living canvases" of works by famous artists. Visitors can also attend immersive shows and lectures on painting, classical and contemporary art.

Museum 'ArtDynamics'

Photo: official VKontakte group of the museum.

A museum of a new format combining art and technology in a single concept. Located in the creative space SENO. The museum hosts immersive multimedia exhibitions and virtual reality projects.

Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Contemporary Art

The Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Contemporary Art is a commercial cultural center in Saint Petersburg founded in 2004. The center hosts visual art exhibitions, artistic events, festivals of experimental music, film and art, and conducts archival-research activities related to Kuryokhin's legacy and the development of the Leningrad avant-garde of the late 20th century. Since 2010 the center has presented the Sergey Kuryokhin Prize in contemporary art and hosts international festivals "Videoforum", "Electro-Mechanics", SKIF and "Ethno-Mechanics."

Smolny Historical and Memorial Museum

Photo: peterburg.center.ru

The Smolny Historical and Memorial Museum in Saint Petersburg is located in the former building of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens. The museum's exhibition reflects all major stages of the building's history. Some sections include: "Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens", Memorial Lenin Complex, "Smolny's Underground Floors. War and Siege. 1941–1945."

Central Museum of Communications named after A. S. Popov

One of the oldest scientific and technical museums in the world, dedicated to the history of the development of different types of communication: mail, telegraph, telephone, radio communication, broadcasting, television, space communication and modern communication technologies.

Research Museum at the Russian Academy of Arts

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The first art museum in the building of the Imperial Academy of Arts on the University Embankment of Vasilievsky Island. Founded in 1757. Claims to be the oldest art museum in Russia.

Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy 'Retro Pharma Med'

The museum presents a collection of medical instruments, apparatus and medicines from the 16th–20th centuries brought from countries of Europe, the East, South and North America, as well as the Russian Empire. The exhibition also shows equipment and instruments used in surgery, urology, obstetrics, gynecology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology and other fields. A significant part of the exhibition is devoted to pharmacy.

Art and Facts Museum • MAF

Photo: maf.museum.ru

The MAF collection gathers unique exhibits from around the world: a golden Lego brick, a megalodon jaw, a tiny bicycle and much more. The museum's exhibition will be equally interesting for children and adults.

Museum of Applied Arts of the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design

The museum is associated with the founding in 1876 of the Central School of Technical Drawing funded by patron Baron A. L. Stieglitz. Initially the museum was housed in the school's building, but in 1885 construction of a dedicated museum building began to a design by M. E. Mesmakher. The museum's collections contain over 35,000 items including textiles, costumes, tapestries, ceramics, porcelain, furniture, metal and glass objects, tiled stoves and clocks.

Bridges Museum

The museum's exhibition presents bridge models, paintings, watercolors, photographs, drawings, as well as miniature replicas of Saint Petersburg's main symbols.

Coffee Museum

Photo: official VKontakte group of the museum.

The Coffee Museum in Saint Petersburg is the first and only museum in Russia devoted to this beverage. The museum complex includes an exhibition and demonstration hall, a tasting room and a coffee terrace.

Harry Potter Museum

Photo: official VKontakte group of the museum.

An interactive exhibition recreating the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Over 600 m² dozens of interactive locations are recreated: Platform 9¾, Ollivander's wand shop, a greenhouse with mandrakes, the Weasley burrow, the Pensieve, a Triwizard Tournament maze and others. Everything was handcrafted by artists and set designers specifically for the museum.

Polekon LEGO Museum

Photo: tripadvisor.ru

The Polekon LEGO museum is unique in that the exhibition consists of fantastically beautiful palaces and castles built from LEGO. The museum's creator, Vadim, worked on his collection for more than 11 years! This collection is not a copy of any known palaces or castles. It is the fruit of its creator's imagination. The guide shows what's inside the castles and tells an interesting, fun story about each. Visitors can also see the City of the Future.

Yandex Museum

An urban space dedicated to the evolution of digital technologies. It opened in September 2020 at the intersection of Nevsky Prospect and the Fontanka River Embankment. The museum presents computing equipment of different eras in working condition: on each computer you can run a program or play a game. The museum has a repair zone for restoration and repair of computers.

KGallery

Photo: kuda-spb.ru

A well-known gallery specializing in Russian art of the 20th century (especially the Russian avant-garde and Soviet art), as well as contemporary painting and graphics.

Anna Nova Gallery

A contemporary art gallery actively collaborating with Russian and international artists. Its exhibitions often include multimedia installations, video art, painting and sculpture, reflecting the most current trends.

NAMEGALLERY

NAMEGALLERY specializes in contemporary Russian art. The gallery focuses on working with promising artists, organizing their solo and group exhibitions, and participates in various art fairs.

Marina Gisich Gallery

Photo: mydecor.ru

A leading commercial gallery of contemporary art in Saint Petersburg, actively promoting young and established Russian artists internationally. Here you can see current and conceptual art. If you are interested in contemporary art and want to see works by recognized masters of the present, this is a good place to visit.

Cultural Center Beriozka Gallery

A cultural project in Saint Petersburg combining two exhibition halls, a cinema-lecture hall, a shop and a café. Founded in 2022 by the founders of the 'New Art History' Foundation, art historians Ekaterina Dubrovskaya and Kristina Sasonko.

Arts Square Gallery

A multifunctional venue for exhibitions and a creative laboratory with master classes, lectures, concerts and premiere film screenings. The gallery unites different directions and types of art—from folk crafts to antiques, from interior items to jewelry, from works of contemporary artists to recognized masterpieces.

Matiss Club Gallery

Photo: official VKontakte group.

A contemporary art gallery founded in 2003. Main directions: informal Leningrad art of the 1960s–80s, contemporary art (with emphasis on expressive trends). The gallery presents works by Geli Pisareva, Levon Lazarev, Georgy Kovenchuk, Konstantin Simun, Lev Smorgon, Vyacheslav Shraga, Anatoly Zaslavsky, Aron Zinkstein and other artists.

Art-Liga Gallery

Photo: culture.ru

"Art-Liga" is a subdivision of the Pushkinskaya-10 art center. It opened in spring 2008. The exhibition presents works by both well-known and young artists of various directions. The collection includes works by Russian and foreign artists of the second half of the 20th—early 21st centuries. The gallery initiates and supports international exhibitions and exchange cultural projects.

Di Di Gallery

A contemporary art gallery in Saint Petersburg founded in 2003 by the artist, collector and gallerist R. Zhvania. It specializes in the unofficial art of Moscow and Leningrad of the second half of the 20th century. In addition to the "second wave avant-garde" it presents work by some contemporary authors. The collection includes works by Dmitry Krasnopevtsov, Natalia Nesterova, Leonid Purygin, Oskar Rabin, Mikhail Roginsky, Oleg Tselkov, Eduard Steinberg, Vladimir Yakovlev and others. Since its founding the gallery regularly participates in various art fairs: COSMOSCOW, 1703, Blazar and others.

Art Space Zarenkov Gallery

An art space in central Saint Petersburg that unites different forms and directions of art: painting, sculpture, photography and VR technologies. Guests can visit a virtual exhibition, work in a cozy environment, and during a break meet creative people, visit an exhibition and relax. From the open terrace there is a view of all Saint Petersburg. The gallery hosts not only exhibitions of contemporary artists but also lectures on art, creative meetings, conferences, concerts and film screenings.

Bashmakov Gallery

Photo: bashmakovgallery.ru

A contemporary art gallery located in the "Lenpoligrafmash" quarter. The collection includes works by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Mikhail Shemyakin and other outstanding masters of the 20th century. A special place is given to the creative legacy of Salvador Dali—more than 1,000 original objects: graphics, glass and bronze objects, bas-reliefs, photographs, ceramics. Also from September 2025 Bashmakov Gallery hosts the exhibition "Masterpieces of the Paris School", featuring over 100 original works including graphics and sculpture created by more than thirty representatives of the Paris School.