Stories of Drawbridges

The first building on the left bank of the Neva River and it's one of the most important sight of St. Petersurg

Originally the Admiralty reflected Peter I only as shipyard, according to his project it was put on November 5, 1704. The modern building of the Admiralty consists of two P-shaped cases – internal and external. Length of the main facade of the Admiralty – 406 meters, lateral – 163 meters. Six multicolumn porticoes decorated the central facade of the building. In the center of a facade the many-tier tower with an entrance arch is located. The spike making 72 meters in height, is topped with a weather vane ship which became one of symbols of Leningrad. The building of the Admiralty is decorated by bas-reliefs, statues and stucco mouldings. It is constructed in 1727-1737, it is reconstructed in 1806-1823. Architects: I.K. Korobov, A.D. Zakharov

Firstly having been constructed as a shipyard, at present the Admiralty building is the Headquarters of the Russian Navy.Three central streets of St. Petersburg split off from the Admiralty Spire as three rays.: Nevsky prospekt, Gorokhovaya ulitsa and Voznesensky prospekt. On the top of the 72,5 meter spire one can see the symbol of St. Petersburg - a gilded weather vane in the form of a ship.

According to the legend, the silhouette of the weather vane repeats a contour of the first ship which came into the port of St. Petersburg soon after the foundation of the city.

Find the Admiralty spire from Gorokhovaya ulitsa, Voznesensky and Nesky prospekts. Just because of this interesting possibility - one can see the spire from these 3 streets -  in the 19th century the Admiralty was jestingly called  a "Pole Star" or "Nevsky trident".

The collection of the State Hermitage includes more than three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture

The State Hermitage Museum is one of the largest artistic and cultural and historical museums in Russia and one of the largest in the world.The museum starts its history from collections of works of art which were gained by Russian empress Catherine II in private capacity.

The main expositions of the State Hermitage are placed in the Main Museum Complex, which is situated in the historical centre of Saint Petersburg. It is represented by  the Winter Palace, which is a former emperor's residence, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage, and also Hermitage Theatre.

In the Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage are presented the monuments of culture and arts of the ancient world, Europe, Russia, the East, archaeological and numismatic collections. In the  Hermitage collection there are two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and sculpture by Michelangelo, which can be found nowhere else in Russia, as well as the  largest collection of Rembrandt's paintings outside Netherlands.

The expositions of the State Hermitage Museum are also located in the General Staff, the Winter Palace of Peter I, Menshikov Palace, the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre.

Ticket price — 600 roubles

300  roubles – entry ticket to one of the Hermitage branches (Winter Palace of Peter the Great, Menshikov Palace, the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre)

The third Thursday of each month is a day of free entrance to the museum for all individual visitors (with free tickets).

Free entrance: preschool children, school children, students.

A unique historical, architectural and fortification art monument of XVIII-XIX centuries

Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, St. Peter and Paul Fortress is considered to be a unique fortification monument of XVIII-XIX centuries. Its architectural ensemble is focused around St. Peter and Paul Cathedral where the tombs of all the Russian emperors can be found.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is put on May 27, 1703. According to the legend, Peter I himself chose a place for new fortress – the small Hare island (in Finnish – Enisaari), located in the Neva River mouth. The citadel in the form of a six-pointed star was constructed according to the project made by the French engineer Zh.G. Lamber with the participation of the tsar. Six curtains connect six powerful bastions, the associates of Peter I called by names.

The defensive system from the West and the East is closed by Ioannovsky and Alekseevsky ravelins. Two bridges — Ioannovsky and Kronverksky - connect the Hare island with Petrograd. On October 1, 1703 fortress consecrated. On the Monarchic bastion the Andreevsky colors were hoisted, on ramparts three hundred tools are installed. On June 29, 1703 in the center of the Peter and Paul Fortress put small wooden church for the sake of apostles Pyotr and Pavel on which place in 1712-1732 built a stone cathedral. From 1731 to 1858 Peter and Paul Cathedral had the status of the cathedral temple of the capital, then was ranked as court department. The cathedral served as a tomb of reigning House of Romanovs. Here the Russian emperors and empresses from Peter I to Nikolay II, except for Pyotr II and Ioann of VI are buried. To a cathedral the covered gallery connected the Grand-ducal tomb.

Within the XVIII-XIX centuries in the territory of fortress buildings and constructions of different function were built: Botny house, Artillery, Mint, Commandant's and Engineering house, an also guardroom and others. In the XVIII century fortress became a jail of the state criminals, in XIX — the main political prison of Russia. At the emperor Alexander I at the beginning of the XIX century fortress was for the first time open for visitors. In the 1900th years in Peter and Paul Cathedral tours on an imperial necropolis were conducted. In 1924 Trubetskoy's prison of a bastion turned into the museum. In 1954 the complex of buildings of the Peter and Paul Fortress was passed the State museum of history of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

The territory of the fortress and the beach are open for public. The main cites include the history of everyday life in St.Petersburg in the XVIII-XIX centuries in the House of the Commandant of the garrison. One may visit the prison of Trubetskoy bastion that once used to be the political prison. Among those prisoners who are well-known in the world were L.Trotsky and F.Dostoyevsky. The Boat house shows the first ship that started the history of Russin fleet.

Nakhimov School offer a military education for teenagers

The school is named after Imperial Russian admiral Pavel Nakhimov.

It was created upon the Decree of the Council of the People's Commissars of the USSR of 21 July 1944.

Besides general education, the program specialised in navy and combined arms study, as well as intense physical training. Many of the school's graduates continued studying at higher navy educational institutions. 

The monument of Islamic religious architecture

The Great Mosque of St. Petersburg is the biggest Mosque in the European part of Russia. The building was constructed in 1909-1920 by the architect Nikolai Vasilyev, also involving the engineer S. Krichinsky and the architect A. von Gauguin. Its construction in 1913 was dedicated to the tercentenary of the Romanov house. However, it took another seven years to finish the work on the interior decoration of the temple. The St. Petersburg Mosque is one of the largest in Europe - it can accommodate up to 5,000 people.

Among people, the first mosque in St. Petersburg was called Tatarian for a very long time, and the area near the temple held the name of Tatarstan. Most likely, this can be explained by the fact that at some point the Tatar community was actively involved in the construction of the mosque.

21.09.2014 the ship was transferred to the Kronstadt shipyard`s dockage facility till 2016