Russia's cultural capital
If Moscow is Russia's political, economical and spiritual centre, then St. Petersburg can count itself as Russia's cultural capital. A city of palaces, waterways and boulevards - scenic and yet with enormous energy - St. Petersburg is the perfect place for the arts to flourish.
Whether you restrict yourself to admiring the architecture of the UNESCO-listed city centre, or go further and snap up tickets for the world famous Mariinsky Opera and Ballet or the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, culture vultures amongst you will find plenty to scavenge on. And it's not just the classic forms that are thriving. Lovers of contemporary culture can rejoice too; every other person is an artist in St. Petersburg and many of Russia's most popular bands, such as Aquarium, Dva Samoleta and Tequilajazz, hail from here.
Reviews about Russia's cultural capital
One of the really great museums of the world. The best part of our trip to St Petersburg.
Wonderful discovery in Saint Petersburg - probably the highlight of my visit. First thing you're told upon entering is that Erarta is the largest private museum in Russia and it lives up to expectations - it's a huge five-floor building with the museum occupying the entire left wing and the galleries and temporary exhibitions on the right-hand side. The museum collection is interesting and varied (the brochure I was given says there are over 2000 works by more than 150 artists) - I particularly enjoyed science art on floor 1 and video art on floor 3 but was also delighted to see that numerous Russian contemporary artists are still very familiar with time-honoured traditions of oil and canvas that are seemingly becoming a forgotten form back home! Also, don't miss their "U-space" project - you get 15 minutes in private in especially themed rooms with art installations of various kinds, ranging from happy and cheerful to sad and pensive. The right-hand side has various exhibitions which change every two months and also has a gallery where you can buy contemporary works of art. Erarta apparently also has galleries in New York, London, Zurich and Hong Kong - very impressive as it really puts Russian artists on the map! Also want to highlight just how impressive the level of attention to foreign visitors is - unlike most places in Russia, everyone speaks great English and they evidently take special care signposting and translating absolutely everything from Russian to make it easy for guests to orientate and to find out more about Russian art. I cannot praise Erarta highly enough - it's great to see that Russia isn't stuck in the time of the csarz and has fantastic modern institutions such as this one! P.S. would recommend taking at least 3 hours to visit Erarta - there's a restaurant (didn't have time to try myself) and a cafe (did have time for that - great coffees and desserts!) to take a break if you're tired and bring some roubles with you - there are some really cool modern souvenirs in the shops.
Once in a lifetime there is a moment of rarity. Let this be your moment of like suchness in St. Petersburg. I guarantee you will not have another like it. It was one of those thats which are never to be repeated repeated.
Dear friends, I am searching for ANDREJ LISIN. He was a student of LIKI untill 1989. After that time he was living in Pushkinskaya 10. May be Andrej Tscherschin (photographer) can help? This name I got from the painter Tatyana Usova as I was in Siberia this summer. THANX a lot!!!! JUTTA from BERLIN in Germany
It really does smell like the elderly uncleansed! And some guy tried to convert me.
Went here with a school group from Scotland. Pupils were admitted FREE of charge. Some of them weren't sure they were interested in art but all of them enjoyed it in the end.
The Hermitage Museum is more impressive than what i imagined after seeing the website. I want to go back and spend a day or two just enjoying what it has to offer. I have not seen a finer museum even in Europe. You will be impressed but please take your time to enjoy what you see.