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Walking routes in Saint Petersburg

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      Quest: a nose, lions, griffins and cats

      ⏱ 4 h🚶 5.7 km🍽 3📍 8 stops
      🚶 Moderate — 3–7 km

      A riddle walk through the center for ages 7–12: find the runaway nose, lions, griffins, cats on the cornices and the Chizhik, with pyshki (Petersburg doughnuts) as the finale.

      👶 With kids🏛 History and architecture
      👶 7–12 years · ✓ stroller-friendly

      The whole route is on pavements and pedestrian bridges with no steps. The Pyshechnaya is cramped with a step at the entrance — leave the stroller by the door under supervision.

      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🏛 Major Kovalyov's Nose
        Вознесенский пр., 36а (дом Челищева, на фасаде)
        The marble nose from Gogol's story "The Nose" on the facade of a house by the Fontanka.
        Riddle no. 1: “What ran away from its major and wandered around Petersburg on its own?” Look on the facade of house 36 by the Fontanka — let the kids find it first. Read a bit of Gogol aloud beforehand.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        • The nose was installed in October 1995 on the Chelishchev house; the authors are Rezo Gabriadze and the architect Vyacheslav Bukhaev.
        • The nose has gone missing from the facade more than once, but was always put back.
        • In Gogol's story the barber Ivan Yakovlevich, who found the nose in a loaf of bread, lived on Voznesensky Avenue.
        • Petersburg has three monuments to Major Kovalyov's nose.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🏛 Lion Bridge
        A narrow pedestrian bridge over the Griboyedov Canal whose chains are held by four cast-iron lions.
        Riddle no. 2: “How many lions hold the chains of this little bridge?” (four). A good photo spot — the bridge is rarely crowded.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Lion Bridge
        © Sergpavl · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Lion Bridge
        © Екатерина Борисова · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Lion Bridge
        © Ermell · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The bridge opened on 1 July 1826; it was designed at the same time as the Bank Bridge.
        • It is one of three surviving chain pedestrian bridges in Petersburg, along with the Bank and Pochtamtsky bridges.
        • The lions were modelled by the academician Pavel Sokolov, and the cast-iron figures were first painted matte white “like marble”.
        • Until 1912 the bridge was also called the Mariinsky and the Theatre Pedestrian Bridge.
        • In 1882 the embankment was raised by a row of granite blocks, and the lions were lifted together with their pedestals.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🍽 Khochu Kharcho
        Садовая ул., 39/41
        ▮▮▮▮▯
        Lunch halfway: Adjarian khachapuri (cheese bread) for everyone and soup — the portions are big, one can serve two kids.
        🍴 A two-storey Georgian restaurant by Ginza Project with Megrelian cuisine on Sennaya Square, open around the clock. What to order: kharcho with walnuts, khachapuri with smoked suluguni, khinkali (Georgian dumplings), ojakhuri.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🏛 Bank Bridge (the griffins)
        A pedestrian bridge over the Griboyedov Canal whose chains are held in the mouths of four cast-iron griffins with golden wings.
        Riddle no. 3: “A lion's body, an eagle's head and wings — who is it?” (a griffin). They say that if you rub a griffin's paw, money will come — let them try.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Bank Bridge (the griffins)
        © Златогорский Владимир · CC BY-SA 3.0
        Bank Bridge (the griffins)
        © Boris Sakic · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The bridge was built in 1825–1826 to a design by engineer Tretter and opened on 24 July 1826.
        • It is one of three surviving chain bridges from the 1820s, along with the Lion Bridge and the Pochtamtsky Bridge.
        • The “griffins” are actually winged lions: the 2.85-metre figures were cast in iron from models by Pavel Sokolov.
        • The lions' wings are hammered from sheet copper and covered in gold leaf.
        • The bridge got its name in 1836 from the Assignation Bank, whose building now houses the university of economics.
        • According to a local belief, stroking the griffins brings luck in studies and work.
        • The winged lion of the Bank Bridge is part of the logo of the Krupskaya confectionery factory.
        • In 2017 the first full restoration of the bridge's sculptures in 190 years began.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 Cat Yelisei and Cat Vasilisa
        Малая Садовая ул., 8 и 3
        Two bronze cats on cornices facing each other — a monument to the cats that saved the city from rats after the Siege.
        Riddle no. 4: “Find two cats at second-floor height.” Elisey is on the cornice of house 8, Vasilisa is opposite, on house 3. Whoever spots Vasilisa first gets an extra pyshka.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        • The cats were installed in 2000: the idea was Sergei Lebedev's, the sculptor Vladimir Petrovichev, the architect Larisa Domracheva.
        • Malaya Sadovaya became pedestrian in 1999, and a whole series of small sculptures appeared on it afterward.
        • Nearby are the little dog Gavryusha in a courtyard (1999) and the photographer with a bulldog (2003).
      10. 🚶 on foot
      11. 6
        🏛 Chizhik-Pyzhik
        наб. Фонтанки, у Первого Инженерного моста
        A tiny bronze bird on a ledge above the Fontanka: land a coin on the pedestal for good luck.
        Riddle no. 5: “The city's smallest monument — where does it hide?” The Chizhik sits above the water by the First Engineers' Bridge; landing a coin on its pedestal brings luck. Hold the kids' hands by the parapet.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        • The Chizhik was installed on 19 November 1994; the idea was proposed by the writer Andrei Bitov and realised by Rezo Gabriadze with the architect Vyacheslav Bukhaev.
        • The bird is 11 cm tall and weighs about 5 kg.
        • Until 2014 the Chizhik was stolen seven times, but each time it was returned or cast anew.
        • Legend says the song about the Chizhik is about students of the neighbouring School of Jurisprudence in their green-and-yellow uniforms, but a parody of it was already known in 1825, before the school opened.
      12. 🚶 on foot
      13. 7
        ☕️ Pyshechnaya on Bolshaya Konyushennaya
        Б. Конюшенная ул., 25
        ▮▯▯▯▯
        The finale and prize: pyshki with powdered sugar and cocoa. At weekends the queue is 10–15 minutes, freer after 16:00.
        🍴 A Leningrad-style doughnut shop with a Soviet interior and an unchanged recipe since 1958, everything served at the counter. What to order: pyshki (Petersburg doughnuts) with powdered sugar, coffee with condensed milk from the urn, tea.
      14. 🚶 on foot
      15. 8
        🍽 Goose Goose Restaurant · 🧸 play area
        Б. Конюшенная ул., 27
        ▮▮▮▮▯
        Goose Goose is next door to the Pyshechnaya: after the quest you can have lunch, and the kids' room will keep the little ones busy.
        🍴 An Italy Group restaurant by Konyushennaya Square with its own children's room and children's menu — a handy stop two steps from the Mikhailovsky Garden. What to order: for a toddler, a soup from the children's menu; for adults, pasta or risotto from the Italian menu.

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