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Walking routes in Saint Petersburg

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      The colonnade at sunset and New Holland's lights

      ⏱ 3 h 30 min🚶 3 km🍽 1📍 7 stops
      🐢 A little — under 3 km

      We catch sunset on the colonnade of St Isaac's, then follow the lamps along Konnogvardeysky Boulevard to New Holland, the Mariinsky and the Seven Bridges.

      🌙 Evening🏛 History and architecture
      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🏛 St Isaac's Cathedral and its colonnade
        Исаакиевская пл., 4
        🎟 ticket · The cathedral and the climb to the colonnade need separate tickets
        In summer the colonnade is also open at night
        Come by 17:00: the colonnade ticket office is open until 17:30, and it closes at 18:00. In October sunset is around 17:10–17:40 — just right from the top; in November you'll catch dusk and the first lights. From October to April the third Wednesday of the month is a day off.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        St Isaac's Cathedral and its colonnade
        © A.Savin · CC BY-SA 3.0
        • The cathedral is consecrated in the name of St Isaac of Dalmatia because Peter I was born on his feast day, 30 May.
        • According to legend, Montferrand was told he would die right after finishing the cathedral, so the construction dragged on for 40 years, from 1818 to 1858.
        • Each 17-metre, 114-tonne column was raised into place in 40–45 minutes.
        • During the fire-gilding of the dome in 1838–1841, 60 craftsmen died of mercury vapour poisoning.
        • From 1931 to 1986 a Foucault pendulum on a 98-metre cable swung in the cathedral, showing the rotation of the Earth.
        • The cathedral's dome was the third in the world built on a metal frame.
        • The white marble iconostasis is decorated with malachite and Badakhshan lapis lazuli.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🚶 Konnogvardeysky Boulevard
        A wide boulevard with lawns and trees from Senate Square to Truda Square, with columns topped by Victories at the start.
        Go down past the Manege to the boulevard: at dusk lamps come on here, and it is 10 minutes along the avenue to Truda Square.
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        Konnogvardeysky Boulevard
        © Florstein · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Konnogvardeysky Boulevard
        © A.Savin · FAL 1.3
        • From the 1710s until 1842 the Admiralty Canal flowed where the boulevard is now.
        • The name comes from the riding hall and barracks of the Horse Guards regiment and has been known since 1842.
        • The columns with "Victories" at the start of the boulevard were a gift from the Prussian king Frederick William IV to Nicholas I; Rauch's originals stand in Berlin.
        • In 1918 the boulevard was renamed Professional Unions Boulevard, after the Palace of Labour.
        • From 1907 to 1997 a tram ran along the odd-numbered side of the boulevard.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🌳 New Holland Island
        наб. Адмиралтейского канала, 2
        🚪 entrance from the Admiralty Canal Embankment
        🆓 free entry · The island is free; some exhibitions and events are ticketed
        An 18th-century artificial island with brick timber warehouses, lawns, cafés and a pond.
        From Truda Square — over the little bridge across the Admiralty Canal. The island is open until 22:00, Friday to Sunday until 23:00. The arch over the canal is best seen from the Moika embankment.
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        New Holland Island
        © Florstein · CC BY-SA 4.0
        New Holland Island
        © Anders98en · CC BY-SA 4.0
        New Holland Island
        © Ludvig14 · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The island appeared in 1719, when the Kryukov and Admiralty canals were dug for shipbuilders; its area is 7.8 ha.
        • The name comes from the warehouses of ship timber, which was dried the Dutch way — standing upright.
        • Vallin de la Mothe's arch over the canal to the inner basin was built in 1779–1787; it is 23 metres high.
        • The round naval prison building from the 1820s was nicknamed the “bottle” — it is said to be the origin of the Russian idiom for flying off the handle.
        • In the 1894 experimental basin, the shipbuilder Alexey Krylov carried out experiments on ship unsinkability.
        • During the First World War the most powerful radio station in Russia, belonging to the naval staff, worked here.
        • Until December 2004 the island was occupied by Baltic Fleet services, and it was closed to the public.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🍜 Restaurants and cafés in the “Bottle” (New Holland)
        наб. Адмиралтейского канала, 2, лит. Т (Новая Голландия)
        ▮▮▯▯▯
        Dinner in the round Bottle: the cafés on the ground floor are open until about 22:00–23:00, better to be seated by nine.
        🍴 The ground floor of the round “Bottle” building on New Holland Island is filled with cafés and street food from different cuisines, with tables in the courtyard in summer. What to order: shawarma on a plate and hummus at Bekitzer, udon and fried bananas with ice cream at Hagao.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 Mariinsky Theatre
        Театральная пл., 1
        A turquoise 19th-century opera and ballet house, and across the Kryukov Canal a modern second stage.
        Across the Moika to Teatralnaya Square: both stages are lit in the evening, and before a performance the audience gathers at the entrance.
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        Mariinsky Theatre
        © Nikolai Bulykin · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Mariinsky Theatre
        © Ludvig14 · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The theatre traces its history to the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, opened on 5 October 1783 by decree of Catherine II.
        • The current building was built by Alberto Cavos in 1859–1860; the theatre was named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna.
        • The first season in the new building opened on 2 October 1860 with Glinka's opera “A Life for the Tsar”.
        • From 1935 to 1992 the theatre bore Kirov's name and was known as the Kirov.
        • In 1916, in Golovin's workshop under the theatre roof, Boris Grigoriev painted his famous portrait of Meyerhold.
        • The second stage across the Kryukov Canal opened on 2 May 2013.
        • In 1988 Valery Gergiev became the theatre's artistic director and chief conductor.
      10. 🚶 on foot
      11. 6
        🏛 St Nicholas Naval Cathedral
        Никольская пл., 1–3
        A two-storey church with golden domes and a separate four-tier bell tower by the canal.
        The blue cathedral and its separate bell tower over the Kryukov Canal are lit — look from the embankment.
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        St Nicholas Naval Cathedral
        © Wolfgang Moroder · CC BY-SA 3.0
        St Nicholas Naval Cathedral
        © Wolfgang Moroder · CC BY-SA 3.0
        • The cathedral was built in 1753–1762 to a design by Savva Chevakinsky as the regimental church of sailors.
        • The freestanding 74-metre bell tower was built in 1755–1758.
        • The lower church is consecrated to St Nicholas the Wonderworker, patron of seafarers, and the upper one to the Epiphany.
        • At the consecration in 1762 Catherine II ordered the church to be called a cathedral; naval victories were celebrated here.
        • The cathedral was not closed in Soviet times, and in 1941–1999 it was the cathedral church of the diocese.
        • On 10 March 1966 the funeral service for Anna Akhmatova was held in the lower church.
        • In the garden stands the Tsushima obelisk of 1908, in memory of the crew of the battleship ‘Emperor Alexander III’.
      12. 🚶 on foot
      13. 7
        🌅 Semimostye (Seven Bridges)
        пересечение Крюкова канала и канала Грибоедова
        A spot from which seven bridges are visible at once
        The finale on the bridge where the Kryukov and Griboedov canals meet: from here you see seven bridges in lamplight. To Sadovaya and Sennaya is about 15 minutes.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Semimostye (Seven Bridges)
        © Florstein · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Semimostye (Seven Bridges)
        © Kora27 · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The Pikalov, Krasnogvardeysky and Staro-Nikolsky bridges at the confluence of the canals form a single architectural ensemble.
        • The Pikalov Bridge is named after a contractor, and in the 18th century it was also called Pereshivkin, after a neighbouring tavern.
        • Of the three identical bridges of the 1780s, only the Pikalov Bridge kept an appearance close to the original.
        • The Staro-Nikolsky Bridge is named after St Nicholas Cathedral, and became ‘old’ in 1849, when the neighbouring bridge was named the Novo-Nikolsky.

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