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Walking routes in Saint Petersburg

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      Staraya Derevnya: Shishmaryov's Dacha and the Annunciation Rotunda

      ⏱ 1 h 15 min🚶 2.3 km🍽 0📍 5 stops
      🐢 A little — under 3 km

      From Staraya Derevnya along Primorsky Prospekt: the datsan, a wooden estate where Bryullov painted, an Empire-style rotunda church and the Church of St Seraphim.

      🏛 History and architecture🏘 Off the centre⏱ An hour or so
      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🏛 Buddhist Datsan Gunzechoinei
        Приморский пр., 91
        A dark granite temple in the Tibetan style, with ornaments and prayer wheels at the entrance.
        From the metro, 7–8 minutes to Primorsky Prospekt. In the courtyard, spin the prayer wheels clockwise; enter the temple quietly, no photos during services.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Buddhist Datsan Gunzechoinei
        © ElenaLitera · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The temple was built from 1909 to 1915 on the initiative of Agvan Dorzhiev, the representative of the 13th Dalai Lama, who became its first abbot.
        • The design was made by N. M. Berezovsky and Gavriil Baranovsky, the author of the Eliseyev Emporium on Nevsky.
        • The first service was held here on 21 February 1913, for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.
        • The Buddha statue for the new temple was donated by King Rama VI of Siam.
        • The stained glass with the eight auspicious Buddhist symbols is linked to Nicholas Roerich, who sat on the building committee.
        • In the war the building housed a military radio station, whose antenna was raised into the sky on a balloon.
        • Daniil Kharms mentioned the "golden top of the Buddhist pagoda" in his novella The Old Woman (1939).
        • The temple was returned to Buddhists in 1990, and it has carried the name Gunzechoinei — "source of the teaching of the All-Compassionate" — since 1991.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🏛 Shishmarev Dacha
        Приморский пр., 87
        A wooden estate of the 1820s with a Corinthian portico by the datsan — Kiprensky and Bryullov were visitors here.
        The neighboring plot: a wooden house with columns behind a fence, with a small garden in front. Inside is a children's art school — look from outside.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Shishmarev Dacha
        © Yuliusnt · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Shishmarev Dacha
        © GAlexandrova · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • Built in 1824–1825 to a design by the architect A. I. Melnikov for Staff Captain A. F. Shishmarev.
        • Here Karl Bryullov painted “The Shishmaryov Sisters” — the picture is in the Russian Museum.
        • The owner built a summer studio at the dacha for Orest Kiprensky.
        • The house, garden and fence are a monument of federal significance; it now houses a children's art school.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🏛 Margelov Square
        Приморский пр. (у Благовещенской церкви)
        A small park on Primorsky Prospekt with a bust of Vasily Margelov, commander of the Airborne Forces.
        A couple of minutes along Primorsky: in a small park, the bust of “Uncle Vasya” Margelov.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Margelov Square
        © Александр Байдуков · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • Vasily Margelov commanded the Airborne Forces for almost a quarter of a century — from 1954 to 1979, with a break.
        • Paratroopers are often called “Uncle Vasya's troops” after Margelov.
        • The park is between the Shishmarev Dacha and the Annunciation Church.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🏛 Annunciation Church in Novaya Derevnya
        Приморский пр., 79
        An Empire-style rotunda church of 1805–1809 with a colonnade-belfry on Primorsky Prospekt.
        Walk around the rotunda: the bells hang right between the columns of the upper tier. It's a working church, open in the daytime.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Annunciation Church in Novaya Derevnya
        © Александр Байдуков · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Annunciation Church in Novaya Derevnya
        © Александров · CC BY-SA 3.0
        • The first, wooden, rotunda church was begun by Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin and consecrated by 1762.
        • In 1803 the wooden church burned down after a lightning strike; the iconostasis was saved.
        • The present church was built by the owner of Novaya Derevnya, S. S. Yakovlev, to a design by V. O. Mochulsky.
        • The church is crowned by a rotunda of 12 Tuscan columns — bells hung between them.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 Serafimovskaya Church and Cemetery
        Серебряков пер., 1 (Серафимовское кладбище)
        A wooden Church of St Seraphim of Sarov from 1906, never closed in Soviet times; around it is a cemetery with Siege burials.
        15 minutes on foot north. The wooden church of 1906 didn't close even in Soviet times; at the cemetery entrance are Siege mass graves.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Serafimovskaya Church and Cemetery
        © Florstein · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Serafimovskaya Church and Cemetery
        © Erzianj jurnalist · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The church, designed by Alexander Baranovsky, was laid down on 25 July 1906 and was already built by the end of October.
        • It was consecrated on 1 March 1907 in the name of Seraphim of Sarov, after whom the cemetery is also named.
        • When news came that the Siege was lifted, the church bells rang for two days.
        • The main shrine is an icon of Seraphim with particles of his relics and of the stone on which he prayed for a thousand days and nights.
        • The interior has hardly changed since the opening; the mosaics on the west facade appeared in 1987.

      ↩️ Getting back: From Serafimovskoe Cemetery to Staraya Derevnya — about 15 minutes on foot, to Chyornaya Rechka — about 25 minutes.

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