Russia Travel Guide

The Isaac Levitan House Museum sits in the quiet Volga town of Plyos, memorialising the master of the Russian landscape. Levitan rented this wooden riverside house for three summers between 1888 and 1890, painting Golden Plyos and the hushed Volga scenes that forever linked the town with Russian landscape art. The upper floor keeps his studio as it was: easel at the window, piano and old furniture still in place, as if the painter had just stepped out to sketch. Downstairs, photographs and reproductions trace his brilliant 39-year life. From the balcony, the dusk over the Volga explains the golden light that bewitched him.

Decembrists' Square (formerly Senate Square) is one of St. Petersburg's most important historic squares. With the Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great), St. Isaac's Cathedral and the 1825 Decembrist Uprising history — St. Petersburg's most significant landmark. Renamed 1925 for Decembrist Uprising centenary. Bronze Horseman — St. Petersburg's most famous statue. St. Isaac's Cathedral. 1825 Decembrist Uprising site.

Catherine Palace is Russia's most lavish Baroque palace. In Pushkin near St. Petersburg, it features the famous Amber Room ("the Eighth Wonder of the World"), a 100+ meter blue-and-white facade and Rococo interiors — St. Petersburg's most popular palace. Built 1717; rebuilt by Empress Elizabeth. Amber Room — "Eighth Wonder of the World." 100+ m blue-and-white facade. French formal gardens.

Palace Square is St. Petersburg's grandest square. With the Alexander Column, the Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace) and General Staff Building — Russia's former imperial power center. Alexander Column — ~47.5 m; single granite block; commemorates victory over Napoleon. Hermitage Museum / Winter Palace. General Staff Building. Historical events site.

Saviour on the Spilled Blood is St. Petersburg's most colorful church. Built 1883-1907, it features ornate onion domes, 7,500+ m² of mosaic interiors and commemorates Tsar Alexander II's assassination — St. Petersburg's most visually striking landmark. Built 1883-1907 for Alexander II's assassination site. Colorful onion domes. 7,500+ m² of mosaics — world's largest mosaic church. On Griboyedov Canal.