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      Kolomna at night: New Holland and the Mariinsky

      ⏱ 3 h 15 min🚶 3.5 km🍽 1📍 7 stops
      🚶 Moderate — 3–7 km

      The lights of New Holland, the Mariinsky entrance before a performance, St Nicholas Cathedral over the canal and seven bridges in lamplight — and at the end, a French bistro open until midnight.

      🌙 Evening🏛 History and architecture🎨 Art
      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🏛 Potseluev Bridge (Kiss Bridge)
        A small granite bridge over the Moyka with obelisk lamps, leading to New Holland.
        Start around 17:30, before it gets dark: the obelisk lamps on the bridge come on at dark. From here the arch of New Holland over the canal is clearly visible.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Potseluev Bridge (Kiss Bridge)
        © Ola22ku · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Potseluev Bridge (Kiss Bridge)
        © Vladimir V. Medeyko · CC BY 2.5
        • The bridge is named after the “Kiss” (Potselui) tavern of the merchant Nikifor Potseluev, which stood nearby from 1739.
        • Construction of the cast-iron bridge began in 1808, but because of the war with Napoleon it was finished only in 1816.
        • Griboyedov wrote that the flood of 1824 had shifted the Potseluev Bridge from its place.
        • In 1907–1908 the bridge was rebuilt to a design by Andrey Pshenitsky, keeping the granite obelisks.
        • The bridge is mentioned in the 1950s song “Leningrad Bridges”, performed by Leonid Utyosov.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🌳 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.
        On weekdays the island is open until 22:00, Friday to Sunday until 23:00. In the dark the best are the Bottle's round courtyard in lights and the lawn by the pond.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        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.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🖼 Blok Apartment Museum
        ул. Декабристов, 57
        🎟 ticket
        The poet's apartment, where he spent his last nine years: a study, a dining room and a literary exhibition.
        The museum is already closed by evening — walk along Dekabristov to the corner house above the Pryazhka, where Blok lived his last nine years.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Blok Apartment Museum
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • Blok lived in this building from July 1912 until his death in August 1921, occupying two apartments in turn.
        • The museum opened on 28 November 1980, for the poet's 100th anniversary.
        • Blok's archive and belongings were kept by his wife Lyubov Dmitrievna; after her death in 1939 they were handed over to Pushkin House.
        • Nearby is the Bannoy Bridge, nicknamed the Bridge of Sighs: admirers used to stand on it and look at the poet's windows.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🏛 Mariinsky Theatre
        Театральная пл., 1
        A turquoise 19th-century opera and ballet house, and across the Kryukov Canal a modern second stage.
        Performances begin at 19:00–19:30: around seven the entrance fills with smartly dressed audiences, the facade in lights. Across the Kryukov Canal is the glass second stage.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        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.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 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 cathedral and bell tower are lit at dark; look at the bell tower from the Kryukov Canal — it reflects in the water.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        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’.
      10. 🚶 on foot
      11. 6
        🌅 Semimostye (Seven Bridges)
        пересечение Крюкова канала и канала Грибоедова
        A spot from which seven bridges are visible at once
        Stand on the bridge where the canals meet: in the dark the lamps on seven bridges form a chain.
        📖 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.
      12. 🚶 on foot
      13. 7
        🍽 Entrée bistro
        Никольская пл., 6
        ▮▮▮▯▯
        Dinner opposite the cathedral: the bistro is open until midnight, with live piano in the evenings. For dessert — éclairs.
        🍴 A French bistro opposite St Nicholas Naval Cathedral, open since 2007: people stop by before and after the Mariinsky, and there is piano in the evenings. What to order: the signature éclairs; breakfasts are served until evening.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        • The bistro opened in 2007; its founder is Vitaly Zatulivetrov.
        • The kitchen's pride is its éclairs, and breakfasts are served until late at night.
        • In the evenings there is piano in the dining room, with occasional live music nights.
        • Visiting artists sign the “wall of stars”, among them Danila Kozlovsky.
        • You can bring a dog or a cat.

      ↩️ Getting back: to Sadovaya / Sennaya Ploshchad metro — 15 minutes on foot along Sadovaya or by bus from Nikolskaya Square

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