Secret Places of St. Petersburg: Unusual Locations of the City That Nobody Knows About

Are you sure you really know Saint Petersburg?

Nevsky Prospekt, the Hermitage, the arrow of Vasilyevsky Island, the canals — it’s all magnificent. But the truly “layered” city reveals itself where most people don’t linger: in an unremarkable arch of a profitable house, on the steps of an ordinary entrance hall, beneath an oddly curved lamp over the doorway, in a stained-glass window with a pre-revolutionary inscription, on an old plaque nobody pays attention to.

“Secret Places of Petersburg” is your personal pass into “non-showcase” Petersburg. Here there won’t be a boring route in the style of “look to the right, look to the left”: only unusual points on the map and a careful hunt for details — hidden signs, unexpected sculptures, courtyards with an underground vibe, and artifacts that turn a walk into a real investigation.

You will learn:
• where Mephistopheles “lives” and why a loud scandal broke out around him;
• in the entrance hall of which house the “Sistine Madonna” is hidden;
• which lamp became the prototype in Blok’s poem;
• where to peek behind the bohemian mood: from a coffee shop in a former pharmacy with a stained-glass door and oak cupboards to a legendary puffy pastry shop without tourist crush.

All the places in the guide are grouped into sections — making it easier to get to know the Northern Capital and build walks to match your own mood.

Want to feel like you belong in Petersburg? Then take the guidebook and set off to explore districts and blocks.