9. St. Isaac’s square

St Isaac cathedral, was built in honour of st Isaac of Dalmatia, Byzantine monk of 4th century A.D. He was the patron saint of PI. P`s birthday- 30^th May & st Isaacs day coinsited. August Monferran. Took him 40 years to built edifice (1818-1858) classical style. 4^th largest dome cathedral in Europe, 101,5. reach decoration with 112 monolithic columns, dome plated with 100 kg of gold

In the middle of the square there is a monument to Nicolas the I (klodt1859) unique equestrian statue. The sculpture 6 meters high and t has only 2 points of support (hind legs) The base is decorated with 4 female sculptors, representing Justice, wisdom, might, faith. Portrait likeness to Nikolas`s wife & 3 daughters/

Grey palace on your right- wedding present from Nicolas to maria ( штакеншейдер) hence the name- Marinsky palace. Now it houses the legislative assembly of the city.

Widest bridge-blue bridge, 100 m wide

On both sides of the monument there are 2 similar building, created in the middle of the 19 cent to ccomodate the ministry of state property. Now- research institute of Plant breeding & agricultural library. Dark granite building on your left- former German embassy.

Astoria-1912 by Fedor Lidval.

10. Theater square

You can see the panorama of the Theatre Square with the Mariinsky theatre. On the opposite side you can see the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and in the perspective you can see cupolas of Nikol'sky Cathedral. The theatre was opened on October 2nd 1860 with Mikhail Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar." In soviet times the theatre was renamed and became the Kirov Theatre, but in 1992 its historical name, Mariinsky, was restored. The Mariinsky Theatre. Theatre {previously known as the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre (1860-circa 1920), the National Academy of Opera and Ballet (1920-1935), and the Kirov Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named for Sergei Kirov (1935-1992)} is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. The Mariinsky Theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the world-famous conductor Valery Gergiev serves as its general director.

The Imperial opera and ballet theatre in St Petersburg was established in 1783 at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden Karl Knipper Theatre on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day Tripartite Bridge (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The Hermitage Theatre, next door to the Winter Palace, was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.

A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783. Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre the structure was situated on Theatre Square. Both names were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre: "Kamenny" is the Russian word for "stone" and "Bolshoi" is the Russian word for "big". In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Caterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.

On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre.[1] It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, Cavos rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style auditorium, the theatre opened on 2 October 1860 with a performance of A Life for the Tsar. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its royal patroness, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

In 2003, the post-modernist architect Dominique Perrault won a much-publicized contest for his design for a new home for the theatre, adjacent to the current building. The historic original structure will undergo a complete renovation, expected to begin in Autumn 2006

The conservatoire. This is the country’s oldest music school (1862). The composer Anton Rubenshtein was its founder and its first manager. It wasn’t easy at all to prove to the conservatoire was founded on private donations and was initially housed in a private building on the Moyka embankment. Until 1860s it was simply a music school in spite of lack of support. The conservatoire soon became an important center of professional musical training. Among the graduates: Chaykovsky (“Sleeping Beauty”), Rimsky-Korsakov who wrote music for numerous operas (“Sadko”). He did much for the conservatoire when he was its manager. On the centenary of his birthday the conservatoire was given his name (1904). Among the graduates were also Shostakovich and Prokofiev. 2 monuments to Russian composers stand in the square near the conservatoire. They are in good harmony with architecture of the square.

Nickolsky Cathedral The great example of the late Russian baroque, the gilt-domed Nikolsky Cathedral, is situated on the bank of the Kryukov Сanal. The cathedral was built at the instance of Prince Golitzin who offered Empress Elizabeth to erect in Saint Petersburg a temple to Saint Nicolas, the celestial protector of all sailors, and thus to honor the glory of the Russian navy. The project of the cathedral was worked out by architect Chevakinsky who was also entrusted to direct the construction works started in 1753 and finished in 1762. For the new cathedral the former Navy troop court parade ground was chosen. The consecration of the cathedral took place on the 20th of June 1762. Empress Catherine the Great herself attended the solemn ceremony.The two-storey cathedral is a cross in a plan. It is crowned with five gilt domes and lavishly decorated with moldings and columns of Corinthian order. The splendid combination of the golden domes, blue facades and snow-white columns makes the cathedral look festive and elegant.  Nikolsky Cathedral consists of two churches - upper and lower. The lower church was consecrated to Saint Nicolas Wonder-worker who is considered to be the patron of all travelers. The upper church was consecrated in honor of the Epiphany. Thus the full name of the cathedral is Nikolsky Epiphany Cathedral. The upper church treasures a wonderful well-preserved iconostasis created by outstanding master I. Kanaev. The iconostasis is richly decorated with vegetative ornaments and classical colonnade and features priceless icons created in Byzantine traditions by the brothers Kolokolnikov. The most honored sacred object of the cathedral is the icon of Saint Nicolas Wonder-worker that dates back to the 17th century.  Close to the cathedral the elegant four-tiered belfry crowned with a gilt spire was constructed. The belfry became not only the organic element of the splendid ensemble but one of the well-known frequently depicted sights of Saint Petersburg. In honor of Russian glorious victories over Turkish and Swedish fleets Catherine the Great endowed the cathedral with ten sacred images and since then Nikolsky Cathedral became the sort of museum of Russian naval glory.  As Nikolsky Cathedral was a naval church, solemn divine services held there marked the important evens in the life of the Russian Navy. To celebrate the glorious victories of the Russian Navy thanksgiving services were held. In Nikolsky Cathedral the deceased sailors-heroes were prayed for. To commemorate those perished in 1906 in Russian-Japanese War the memorial plaques were installed on the walls of the cathedral.  In 1908 the obelisk commemorating the crew of the Alexander III battleship that was sunk in Tsushima Battle on the 14 of May 1905 was erected in the churchyard.After the revolution of 1917 Nikolsky Cathedral had hard times. And although the considerable part of the cathedral's decoration was lost, the temple wasn't ruined and even wasn't closed as many other churches of St Petersburg. During the blockade of Leningrad metropolitan Alexy I, the future patriarchy of all Russia, lived there and hold services. Nowadays Nikolsky Naval Cathedral is a functioning Orthodox cathedral that carefully cherishes its long-standing memorial traditions. In 1989 the walls of the cathedral were enriched with one more memorial plaque commemorating the crew of submarine Komsomoletz. And just recently the memorial plaques with the names of the decedent sailors of the submarine Kurk were added to the cathedral's walls.