Petersburg from above: colonnade and terraces

⏱ 3 h 30 min🚶 2 km🍽 2📍 4 stops

🐢 A little — under 3 km

An evening up high: the terrace by Kazan Cathedral, St Isaac’s colonnade at night and dinner with a view of the dome.

🍽 Food tour🌙 Evening

🗺 Open in Yandex Maps

1
🏛 Kazan Cathedral
Казанская пл., 2
Voronikhin's huge cathedral of grey Pudost stone, with a semicircle of 96 columns on Nevsky Prospekt.
Start at the colonnade
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Flamel123 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The architect Andrey Voronikhin was a former serf of Count Stroganov, who freed him and sent him to study in Paris and Geneva.
- In 1813 Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov was buried in the cathedral's left side chapel.
- After 1812 trophies were brought to the cathedral: French banners, keys of captured cities and Marshal Davout's baton.
- In 1834–1836 the iconostasis was clad in silver that Platov's Cossacks had taken from the French; it was melted down in 1922.
- The monuments to Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly by Boris Orlovsky were unveiled in 1837, on the 25th anniversary of the victory over Napoleon.
- From 1932 it housed the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, and the first service after the break was held on 4 November 1990.
- In 1893 the funeral service for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was held in the cathedral.
🚶 on foot
2
🍽 Terrassa restaurant
Казанская ул., 3А
▮▮▮▮▯
An aperitif on a roof
🍴 A Ginza Project rooftop restaurant (6th floor) with a terrace overlooking Kazan Cathedral, an open kitchen and a seafood tank; the menu mixes Europe and Asia. What to order: oysters, wood-fired pizza, steak, masala tea.
🚶 on foot
3
🏛 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
In summer the colonnade is open until late at night
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© 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.
🚶 on foot
4
🍽 Mansarda restaurant
Почтамтская ул., 3–5 (БЦ Quattro Corti)
▮▮▮▮▯
Dinner opposite the dome
🍴 A Ginza Project restaurant on the top floor of the Quattro Corti business centre, with panoramic windows onto the dome of St Isaac's and European and Asian cuisine. What to order: tuna steak with beetroot and lingonberries, risotto, beef cheeks, dessert with tea.