10 buildings in St. Petersburg that are amazing inside

The architectural masterpieces of the northern capital are beautiful not only from the outside but also from the inside.

10 PHOTOS

1. Church of the Savior on Blood.

The temple stands exactly on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded in 1881. The construction of the Church of the Savior on Blood took 24 years, and this was largely due to its extremely complex interior decoration. Its walls are covered with seven thousand square meters of mosaics depicting Orthodox saints and divine patrons of the Romanov family.

2. Yusupov Palace on the Moika River.

This palace belonged to one of the oldest and most influential noble families in Russia, the Yusupov princes.

3. St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry is named after A. L. Stieglitz.

It was built in the 1870s with money from Alexander von Stieglitz, a major philanthropist of the day. He founded an art school in the building. Over the years, an amazing collection of works of art has gathered here, bought at European auctions and donated by Russian aristocrats, diplomats, and industrialists. But the interior architecture and decor of the building itself deserve no less attention.

4. Catherine Palace.

This royal summer residence outside of St. Petersburg is certainly one of the most beautiful places associated with the Romanov House. With a beautiful exterior, it is no less magnificent inside: its formal interiors are gleaming with gilding, and the walls are lined with Chinese and Lyon silk.

5. Mariinsky Theatre.

In tsarist times, the Mariinsky Theatre, the theatrical and ballet "showcase" of St. Petersburg, was the main meeting place for the nobility and the imperial family. This magnificent building has undergone many changes in appearance, but to this day the main stage of the "Mariinsky" remains the epitome of imperial chic.

6. Shuvalov Palace.

This palace, another of the most beautiful buildings in St. Petersburg, was built on the banks of the Fontanka River at the end of the reign of Catherine II. The palace quickly gained a reputation as a place popular with high society. At present, it is the historical center of the city, but when it was built, the Shuvalov Palace stood on the outskirts: Fontanka was then the edge of St. Petersburg.

7. Russian National Library in St. Petersburg.

One of the largest libraries in the world, it was the first national library in Russia. Initially, its task was to keep copies of all books published in Russian (both in Russia and abroad), as well as books about Russia in foreign languages.

8. Hermitage.

The main building of the Hermitage, the famous Winter Palace, was the main residence of Russian monarchs for several centuries. Thus, its 1084 rooms are of particular splendor.

9. Great Peterhof Palace.

This luxurious palace was designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the favorite architect of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the inspiration behind the Winter Palace. Over the course of several centuries, the summer residence has undergone a number of alterations (according to the prevailing architectural fashion has been), so the interiors show different imprints of different styles and tastes.

10. St. Isaac's Cathedral.

At the time of its construction, St. Isaac's Cathedral was the most expensive church in Europe (only 100 kg of gold was used for its domes) and was expected to become "the most important place of worship for Orthodox Christians in the empire."