Concierge Blog

A parade dedicated to the 76th anniversary of the breakthrough and the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad will be held at the Palace Square on January 27.

The solemn event will begin at 10.00.

A total of 2.5 thousand soldiers and cadets will pass through the Palace Square. The cadets will be dressed in the form of the Great Patriotic War.
From the rare weapons, the cadets will have legendary PPSh, Degtyaryov machine guns and anti-tank rifles.

Also, viewers will see 80 samples of military and special equipment:
- T-34 tank (to head a column);
- infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3;
- T-72-B3 tanks;
- armored personnel carriers BTR-82A;
- armored vehicles "Tigr", "UAZ" and "Typhoon" - artillery and rocket launcher systems Tornado;
- anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 "Triumph";
- operational-tactical missile systems "Iskander-M".

After the parade, the field kitchen will open.
At 19.00, the viewer will see the “Salute over Leningrad” light show, the screen for which will be the walls of the General Staff building.
Reading of the poems by Olga Bergholz and the music of Dmitri Shostakovich will accompany the show.

Firework will start at 21:00.

We believe that New Year holidays is the busiest time of the year. One doesn’t know where to look first as there are so many events! Fireworks, fire and light shows and many-many other things will be waiting for guests at the Fire Festival that will be held on 7 and 8 January. To enjoy some sport activities we advise you to visit an ice rink “Rink by the Sea” at Sevkabel Port. And what is New Year without Nutcracker? On 2 January in the Ice Stadium, a premier of a legendary ice show “Nutcracker-2” will be held. The performance is expected to be one of the most spectacular event in the world. So plan your holidays in advance!

An annual Ice Sculpture Festival by Peter and Paul Fortress will take place very soon on December 21. “Journey around the World” is a theme of the festival. Guests are invited to dive into the underwater world of Australia, visit rainforest of South America, admire the Egyptian pyramids in Africa. You will also have a great opportunity to make a wish by an ice symbol of the incoming year. This wish will definitely come true! Bring your whole family and don’t forget to dress warmly!

We are happy to remind you that every week in the most popular theatre of the city, Mariinsky Theatre, Open Wednesday is held. Project “Open Wednesday in the Mariinsky” is a series of free concerts that offers its guests to get to know the orchestra musicians and enjoy classical music.

Leningrad center is a grand cultural project that offers its guests spectacular performances. Nowadays it invites you to visit opening of a new season and first Timeless shows. As other performances, Timeless is a combination of choreography, vocal, bright clothes, music and light. Our concierge team will be happy to buy best tickets for you!  

The State Hermitage Museum is one of the world biggest art museum. Its collection contains more than 3 million of display items; it will take 13 years to see all of them! Temporary exhibition of the Leiden Collection will join the main display on 5th of September. It is one of the largest private collection of Dutch art of the XVII century that includes 250 pieces of art. 82 paintings are going to visit Saint Petersburg, including works by Rembrandt, Gerrit Dou, Jan Lievens, Leonardo da Vinci, Frans Hals. It is noted that small paintings executed on wood or copper that stand out for their virtuoso technique will become a special section of the exhibition.

A restaurant is situated in the center of Saint Petersburg that offers its visitors “simple” European cuisine. Syrovarnya serves dishes with different kinds of cheese of their own production: baked vegetables accompanied with mozzarella, omelette with girolles and stracciatella, focaccia with mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula. By the way, guests can observe cheese cooking from the table. The restaurant is quite spacious: 2 separate areas and an outdoor terrace located right in the courtyard with painted walls. Visit Italy in the center of Saint Petersburg!

Karl Bulla museum is located on the fourth floor of the historical building situated on the corner of Nevsky prospect and Malaya Sadovaya street. Karl Bulla is considered to be a founder of photo-reporting in Russia, he also owned a photostudio in Saint Petersburg. Photographer captured city’s day-to-day activities and important historical events, common citizens and outstanding figures at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. In the museum guests can find a permanent exhibition of historical pictures and temporary exhibitions of contemporary photographers. Lots of visitors are attracted by a terrace, from which visitors can admire the view of Nevsky prospect, Gostiny Dvor, Sadovaya street.

St. Petersburg is shrouded in myths and legends from the very beginning of its history. Every second entrance of the "golden triangle" absorbed incredible occasions, stories about which we might never hear. However, the legends of the most mysterious and mystical places will always be passed by word of mouth.
An unremarkable, gloomy-green building on the corner of Gorokhovaya Street and the Fontanka River conceals in its bowels one of the most cult and mystical places of Petersburg - the Rotunda. In the 18-19th centuries, this house belonged to the Count Andrei Zubov, a famous Mason, where in the basement room, he accepted the initiates in a box, also at the beginning of the 20th century Grigoriy Rasputin lived in that building. This room is also famous for its unusual acoustics, if you whisper something while standing facing the wall, the phrase will not only be heard by everyone present, but it also appears that someone whispers your own words in your ear. During the Soviet era, the regulars of the Rotonda became select society of the rock-and-roll elite of SPb. Kinchev, Tsoy, and Butusov. Also visited this place. It is difficult to say what the true history of the Rotunda is. However, that belief in legends, the energy of the people who came here could not but create a unique atmosphere in it. After all, buildings necessarily absorb the spirit of their inhabitants...

Pale unfiltered beer with a clear flavor of citrus and pine, with bitterer taste comparing to different types. Brewers in Brasserie de Metropole presented their views on legendary IPA. It is a classical pale ale with an increased hops content, brewed in Belgian style what makes this type of beer more unique. The color of the beer is deep, close to red copper or dark shades of orange. Alcohol – 6, density – 14.
You can taste it today in the gastropub Metropole.
Sadovaya st. 22/2, reservation +7(812)571-88-88

Spend one evening with classical music in the Vladimir Palace that is located on the Palace Embankment. Russian Music Seasons hold chamber concerts where masterpieces composed by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Antonio Vivaldi are performed. You will be welcomed with a glass of champagne, before the performance you will also have a tour with a guide in the main rooms of the palace that remain the way they used to be in the XIX century. The visitors will have not only photos in the elegant interiors but also a half face portrait as a reminder of the evening.

Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden is one of the oldest gardens in Russia located on a place of a former Pharmaceutical garden. Today it is a spacious arboretum and a complex of greenhouses that occupy around 1 ha. The Botanical Garden is happy to offer its guests thematic exhibitions apart from permanent collections. For instance, today the Garden invites everyone to visit Peonies of the Northern Capital exhibition. Early and late varieties of peonies are presented there. The Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to learn something new about plants, for a walk or a date on a sunny day.

Saint Petersburg is undoubtedly connected with ballet and with theatre in general. Its history can be studied in the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre. The museum is located in one of the most marvelous building constructed by Carlo Rossi for the Imperial. The Museum of Theatre was opened May 16 in 1921 and since then impresses every visitor. Today several permanent exhibitions are opened: Legends of Theatre, multimedia exhibitions Ballet Class and Magic World of Theatre. The first one is dedicated to the history of Russian theatre from XVIII till XX century where fancy costumes and ballet shoes, portraits of the actors are presented. Visitors of the Ballet Class exhibition have a chance to practice by the ballet bar with instructors like Nikolay Tsiskaridze. Magic World of Theatre tells visitors about ancient, European medieval theatres.

What was life in Saint Petersburg of the XVIII century like?  How did the city and its suburbs with its buildings that are lost now look like? Visitors of the scale model “Petrovskaya Akvatoria” will be able to answer these and other questions. The scale model makes acquaintance with the most significant buildings by the Neva river and the Gulf of Finland, with some historical events of the XVIII century and also with daily life of the citizens. “Petrovskaya Akvatoria” is waiting for visitors every day from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. The museum also invites to join one of the excursions that are held every hour.