St Petersburg

Our exploration of St Petersburg series takes in all the main sights, from imperial palaces and grand churches to the places connected with the city’s dramatic history.  We search out the Soviet era, find out what makes the city the world’s capital of ballet and explore its art, architecture and literature.  Be ready to ‘meet’ such characters as Peter the Great, Rasputin and the Romanovs, Pushkin, Nureyev and Dostoyevsky.  

The 17 episodes in our City Break St Petersburg series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this unique city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.

Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers.  For all our other series, there’s a blogpost to go along with each episode, comprising a summary of the main information, plus pictures, useful links and ideas for further reading.  For St Petersburg, these have yet to be written.  Please bear with us until we get to it!  Thank you, or, in Russian, Спасибо. (That’s pronounced ‘spassibo’!)

ST PETERSBURG : HISTORY & CULTURE

Episode 1: Introduction to St Petersburg

January 25, 2023

Dobro pozhalovat’ v Sankt-Peterburg. Welcome to St Petersburg. It was built on unpromising Baltic marshland just 3 centuries ago, yet today it’s one of the continent’s most beautiful cities, where the baroque splendour of its … Read more

Episode 2: Peter the Great

February 22, 2023

The man who built his city out of nothing The building of the beautiful city of St Petersburg at the dawn of the 18th century was all down to the willpower of one man: Peter … Read more

Episode 3: The Peter and Paul Fortress, Peterhof

February 22, 2023

Peter’s legacy: the terror of his fortress and the grandeur of his palace Peter the Great’s legacy is, of course, the whole of the city of St Petersburg. But this episode focuses on some of … Read more

Episode 4: The Catherine Palace, St Petersburg

February 22, 2023

A dazzling summer palace and the empresses who made it their own Just as splendid as Peterhof, the Catherine Palace is St Petersburg’s other glittering summer residence, built as a surprise for Peter the Great … Read more

Episode 5: Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg’s Grandest Street

February 22, 2023

Nevsky Prospekt ‘is Petersburg’ according to the Gogol, writing in the 1830s, and this long road is still today the backbone of the city. We explore it, stopping off at three of its best-known buildings, … Read more

Episode 6: The Palace Embankment

February 22, 2023

Canals, bridges and a glorious riverside stroll past the Summer and Winter Palaces This episode tours the many waterways of St Petersburg, looking first at some of the canals and bridges and then taking a … Read more

Episode 7: Alexander Palace and the Last Romanovs

February 22, 2023

The family home of the last Romanovs, Nicholas, Alexandra and their five children The Alexander Palace was the family home of choice for a number of Tsars, even if they hosted big public events in … Read more

Episode 8: Faberge and Rasputin

February 22, 2023

Fabulous Faberge eggs and the murder of a religious imposter The two city-centre palaces featured in this episode both tell us more about the end of the Romanov dynasty, albeit in very different ways. The … Read more

Episode 9: St Petersburg Revolutions

February 22, 2023

Murders, massacres and the end of a dynasty First, some ideas on the increasing demands for reform which played out through the 18th and 19th centuries in St Petersburg, including the Decembrist Revolt of 1825 … Read more

Episode 10: St Petersburg’s Soviet Era

February 22, 2023

History from Lenin to Gorbachev, plus where to enjoy Stalin-era doughnuts What happened in St Petersburg after the 1917 Revolution and where can you find traces of the Soviet era in the city today? After … Read more

Episode 11: The Siege of Leningrad

February 22, 2023

St Petersburg darkest times St Petersburg’s haunting Memorial to the Defenders of Leningrad recalls the dreadful 900 day long blockade of the city by German troops during the Second World War. Supplies to the city … Read more

Episode 12: Music and Theatre in St Petersburg

February 22, 2023

Hear about some of St Petersburg’s many musical connections, with potted biographies of composers from Glinka, often known as the father of Russian music, to Shostakovich, via, of course, Tchaikovsky. And not forgetting Rubinstein, whose … Read more

Episode 13: St Petersburg, World Capital of Ballet

February 22, 2023

The schools, companies and dancers who have made St Petersburg’s ballet world famous Surely ballet is one of the first things you think of when it comes to St Petersburg. Hear a brief history, beginning … Read more

Episode 14: The Art and Architecture of St Petersburg

February 22, 2023

Architecture from baroque to skyscrapers, art from icons to the 21st century Art lovers flock to St Petersburg’s wonderful and extensive collections in the Hermitage and of course we will look at some of the … Read more

Episode 15: Father of Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin

February 22, 2023

Poetry, debauchery and where to find Pushkin today The Father of Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin, grew up in St Petersburg and, while leading a colourful life of semi-debauchery, wrote many of his best-loved works about … Read more

Episode 16: Gogol, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky

February 22, 2023

Get to know the St Petersburg through novels which are set there A look at 19th century St Petersburg thought the eyes of 3 authors: Gogol, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Hear how a long-desired new overcoat … Read more

Episode 17: Finding Leningrad in Literature

February 22, 2023

What the works of Russian and British authors tells us about Soviet-era Leningrad For the final episode in the series, we are ‘leaving’ St Petersburg for Leningrad, as the city became during the Soviet era, … Read more

St Petersburg Extra: A Virtual Tour of St Petersburg

February 22, 2023

Enjoy a virtual visit to St Petersburg, a tour which refers to websites, YouTube videos and books to tell you about the cultural and historical aspects of the city. Fly by drone over St Petersburg, … Read more

MORE READING ABOUT St Petersburg

Useful websites for tourists
St Petersburg City Tourist Information Bureau
St Petersburg.Com (Tourist Information)

2 guidebooks to St Petersburg
Eyewitness Travel Guide to St Petersburg
Lonely Planet Guide to St Petersburg

Travel Book
Among the Russians by Colin Thubron

History
Russian History, a Very Short Introduction by Geoffrey Hosking
The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Caught in the Revolution by Helen Rappaport

Biography
Peter the Great by Lindsey Hughes
Peter the Great by Derek Wilson
Catherine the Great by Simon Dixon
Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie
Rasputin by Frances Welch
Four Sisters by Helen Rappaport (the 4 daughters of Czar Nicholas II)
The Diary of Lena Mukhina (A diary of the Siege of Leningrad)

Art and Culture
A Short Life of Pushkin by Robert Chandler
Nijinsky by Lucy Moore
Rudolf Nuryev The Life by Julie Kavanagh
Anna of all the Russias The Life of Anna Akhmatova by Elaine Feinstein

Anthologies
St Petersburg A Traveller’s Companion by Laurence Kelly
City Pick St Petersburg edited by Heather Reyes
Literary St Petersburg by Elaine Blair

Novels set in St Petersburg
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Siege by Helen Dunmore
The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore
The Suitcase by Sergei Dovlatov

PODCASTS TO GET YOU STARTED

OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS

BATH

BERLIN

BORDEAUX

EDINBURGH

FLORENCE

LONDON

MARSEILLE

MUNICH

PARIS

SEVILLE

ST PETERSBURG

TOULOUSE

VALLETTA

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