The Strelka

Vasilievsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg situated between the Bolshaya Neva and the Malaya Neva, two main distributaries of the river. The population of the district, including the adjacent to Dekabristov Island, separated by the Smolenka river, and smaller islets, is approximately 215,000 people.

Around 1715-1725, the eastern part of the island was projected to become the main part of the city. This project was abandoned with the death of Peter the Great, and in the 1730s, the main part of the city shifted to the southern bank of the Neva, but several Petrine Baroque buildings here date from that period and the island has since remained the center of the city's academic life. It is now home to the Academy of Arts, Mining Institute, main campus of Saint Petersburg State University as well as the local branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences with its library and several research institutes and museums. The rectangular grid of streets seen today was originally a grid of canals, filled in after 1767. From the 1730s till mid-19th century the eastern part of the bank of the Malaya Neva hosted the city sea and river port, and, though the port eventually moved away, many buildings still standing there were designed for this purpose. In 1850, the first permanent bridge across the Neva, Blagoveshchensky Bridge, linked the island to the city center.

Get in

By public transport

The island is served by two metro stations of Line 3: Vasileostrovskaya in the east and Primorskaya in the west. It is also accessible from Sportivnaya station of Line 5, which has an exit on the eastern tip of the island. The island is also served by autobuses, trolleybuses, and trams. You can easily get here from the Center.

By foot

The eastern tip of the island is within walking distance from the Hermitage Museum, right across the river via the Dvortsovy Bridge.

Get around

Most attractions are within walking distance from each other. A numbered liniya (line) is just one side of a street, so that, for example, the 4th and 5th lines are two sides of the same street.

Be careful and don't confuse Bolshoy Prospekt and Maly Prospekt of this island with the streets of the same name on the Petrograd Side.

See

Most of the historical landmarks are on the tip of the island and along the Universitetskaya Embankment. A stroll along the embankment also provides good views of the opposite bank with the Winter Palace, Admiralty and St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Rostral Column in front of Naval Museum

• The ensemble of the Spit (Strelka) of the Vasilievsky island was built in the early 19th century between the academic quarters and the port and is dominated by the Stock Exchange building. It offers an impressive view of the Neva river with the Hermitage and the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Other monuments you'll immediately notice on the Strelka, the Rostral Columns, are yet another symbol of the city. Constructed in 1810 to celebrate the victory over the Swedish navy, the columns are each adorned with six rostra (traditionally, the prows of captured ships), symbolizing the might of the Russian Baltic Fleet. At the base of the columns you'll see sculptures representing the great rivers of European Russia, the Volga, Dnieper, Neva, and Volkhov. In addition to their decorative purpose, the columns also served as lighthouses, and the gas flames are still lit on holidays.

• 1 Pushkinsky Dom (Пушкинский дом, Институт русской литературы, Литературный музей), Makarova Embankment (наб. Макарова), 4., ☏ +7 812 328-05-02. M-F 11:00—17:00. Since 1927 this domed building of the former customs house, built in 1832, has been home to the Institute of Russian Literature, founded in 1905. 

Museum of Zoology

• 2 Museum of Zoology (Зоологический музей), Universitetskaya Embankment (Университетская наб.), 1, ☏ +7 812 328-01-12, fax: +7 (812) 328-29-41, museum@zin.ru. W-M 11:00-18:00. One of the largest natural history museums in the world. It's in a 19th-century warehouse, and hosts an enormous collection of animals preserved in various ways, stuffed and mounted, pinned, stored in alcohol or as skeletons, with about 30,000 specimens on display. A must-see for any natural history buff, though perhaps not for defenders of animal welfare. It began as a part of the Kunstkamera and steadily grew into its enormous state. Particularly rich are the collections of insects (6,500 species) and birds (2,500 species). There is a complete blue whale skeleton (27m/ 89 feet long) as well as the world's only stuffed mammoth, recovered from permafrost in 1901.  

The Kunstkamera

• 3 Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Кунсткамера, Музей антропологии и этнографии), Universitatskaya Embankment (Университетская наб.), 3 (close to the Palace Bridge; enter around the corner on Tamozhenny Pereulok; buses 10, 191; Trolleybuses 7 to stop 'Биржевая площадь'), ☏ +7 812 328-0712, museum@kunstkamera.ru. Tu-Su 11:00-18:00, closed every last Tuesday of the month. This museum, hosted in the Baroque building constructed in 1714-1728, is primarily famous for its one-room freak show collection of 300 year-old deformed foetuses in formaldehyde (of which you are not allowed to take pictures). But the Kunstkamera is also an etnography museum, and most of its collections display the artifacts of indigenous peoples from various parts of the world. It also hosts a collections of historical scientific instruments,like compasses and experimental generators. It is the oldest state museum in Russia, established by Peter the Great in 1704 to host his personal collection,with objects collected during his travels across Europe. A significant part of it has been purchased from Dutch merchants. 400 руб.  

• 4 Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к, pronounced as Rossíiskaya akadémiya naúk, shortened to RAN or, in Cyrillic, РАН, pronounced as RAN), Universitetskaya Embankment 5. Neoclassical building by Giacomo Quarenghi, 1783-1789. 

• 5 Novobirzhevoy Gostiny Dvor (Near the port and the stock exchange). A square yellow building with arcades built in 1800-1815 as a market, now home to several departments of Saint Petersburg State University.  

The University

• 6 The Twelve Collegia (Здание Двенадцати коллегий, Петербургский университет), University Embankment (Университетская наб.), 7/9, office@inform.pu.ru. Closed on Sundays. Now the main building of Saint Petersburg State University, it was built in the style of Petrine Baroque in 1722-1744 to house the Russian government. It may be difficult, though not impossible, for a stranger to persuade the guards to let him/her in. There is a bookstore there, perhaps a good pretext. All along Mendeleevskaya liniya for its entire length, the main entrance is in the middle of the building. 

• 7 Palace of Peter II, Universitetskaya Embankment 11. It was built in 1727-1761 as a palace for Peter II, who never came to live here. It has long hosted the departments of philology and oriental studies of Saint Petersburg State University. 

• 8 Manege of the Cadet Corps, Universitetskaya Embankment 13. Built in 1756-1759. 

Menshikov Palace

• 9 Menshikov Palace (Меншиковский дворец), Universitetskaya Embankment (Университетская наб.), 15, ☏ +7 812 323-11-12. Tu-Su 10:30-17:30. This Baroque palace, built for a close associate of Peter the Great in 1710-1714, became the first stone building of the city. Now it is home to a museum run by the Hermitage, which displays art and culture of the early 18th century.  

• 10 Rumyantsev Park and Obelisk (Румянцевский сад и обелиск), between the 1st and 2nd lines along Universitetskaya Embankment (Университетской наб.). The big obelisk in honor of Count Peter Rumyantsev's victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1791 in the center of the park was created 1799 and moved here from the Field of Mars in 1818. 

• 11 Russian Academy of Arts (Российская академия художеств), Universitetskaya Embankment, 17. Russia's largest center for advanced study in the arts, until the 20th century the only school of its kind in Russia. The impressive neoclassical building was built in 1764-1788. 

• 12 Research Museum of the Academy of Arts (Научно-исследовательский музей Академии художеств) (Inside the Academy of the Arts), ☏ +7 812 323-3578. W-Su 11:00-18:00. A huge collection of drawings, prints, paintings of both Russian and Western artists, as well as casts and sculptures, all on display across three floors of the Academy. The models of great Petersburg architecture, of the Smolny Monastery, St Isaac's Cathedral, Mikhailovsky Castle, etc., are especially worth seeking out. 

Egyptian Sphinx

• 13 Authentic Ancient Egyptian Sphinxes (Сфинксы из Фив), Universitetskaya Embankment (Университетской наб.) (on a quay in front of the Academy of Arts). 24/7. You wouldn't expect it, but these two granite sphinxes are three thousand years older than the city! They date from the 14th century BC and were excavated in 1820 in the temple of Amenhotep III near Thebes in Egypt. Upon seeing them, the Russian writer and diplomat Muravyev wrote to the Tsar, and convinced him to purchase the statues for display in Petersburg. They were installed in 1834. Oddly enough, sphinxes seem to be popular in the city - there are another six made by Russian sculptors lurking about. Free. 

• 14 Naval Institute (Военно-морской инситут), Naberezhnaya Leitenanta Schmidta (наб. Лейтенанта Шмидта), 17. The oldest naval academy in Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1701. Some of its most famous graduates include Ivan Kruzenshtern, Rimsky-Korsakov, and many others. The building was completely rebuilt in 1798. 

• 15 Ivan Kruzenshtern Statue (Памятник Ивану Крузенштерну), Across from Naberezhnaya Leitenanta Schmidta, 17. A statue of Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern, was built in 1870 in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the renowned Admiral's death.  

• 16 Church of the Assumption of Mary (Церковь Успения Пресвятой Богородицы ?), Naberezhnaya Leitenanta Schmidta, 27. This five-domed church was built in 1897. In 1935, as happened to many churches in Russia, it was converted by the Soviets into a warehouse, but in 1993 it was reopened for services. The ongoing careful renovations began in 1996. 

• 17 Barracks of the Finland Regiment, Between the 19th and 20th lines along Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment (close to the Mining Institute). Includes the former palace of the Dolgorukovs along the 20th line. 

• 18 Mining Institute Museum (Горный институт,), 21st line V.O.(21 линия В.О.), 2, ☏ +7 812 321-40-82, fax: +7 (812) 327-73-59, museum@spmi.ru. By appointment for group tours only. One of the largest and oldest geological museums in the world, containing more than 230 0,000 items, collected from more than 80 countries. Even if you don't make it inside on a tour, it's worth passing by to admire it's imposing 1811 Imperial-style façade. 

• 19 Museum of contemporary art Artmuza (Музей современного искусства Артмуза), 13 liniya 70 (10 min from Vasileostrovskaya metro station), ☏ +7 812-313-47-03. 11:00-22:00. Museum of contemporary art and the largest creative cluster in St. Petersburg. In 2013, the premises of the former musical instruments factory "Muzdetal" turned into an association of creative people in the field of painting, sculpture, design and interior, transforming the industrial building into a cultural place for creativity and recreation. Free.  

• 20 Repina Street. The narrowest street in Saint Petersburg, 5.6 m (18 ft) wide.  

• 21 St. Catherine's Lutheran Church, Bolshoy Prosp., 1. Built in 1771 by the architect Yu. M. Felten. 

St Michael's

• 22 St. Michael's Lutheran Church (Евангелическо-лютеранская Церковь), Bolshoy Prosp., 18. Dates to 1732.  

St Andrew's

• 23 Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called (Андреевский собор — Собор святого апостола Андрея Первозванного), 6 line V.O. (6 линия В.О.), 11, ☏ +7 812 323-34-18. Perhaps the most beautiful religious building on the island, built in 1780. The main cupola is framed by three narrow towers, and is topped by a two-tiered belltower. The gilt, three-layered iconostasis inside is an impressive 17 meters tall.  

• Poehl's Pharmacy & Museum. 

• Building of the fire brigade of the Vasileostrovsky, Bolshoy Ave. 73. Constructed in 1884. 

• 24 Museum of Electrical Transport, Srednyy pr. (Средний пр.), 77 (M 'Василеостровская'), ☏ +7 812 321 54 05. Tu-Su. It is based at the old Vasileostrovsky tram depot in Saint Petersburg which was built in 1906 - 1908. 480 руб.  

Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art

• 25 Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art (Музей современного искусства Эрарта), No 2, 29th line, Vasilyevsky Island ( 29-я линия, Васильевского острова, дом 2.), ☏ +7 812 324 0809, info@erarta.com. W-F 11:00-23:00. Erarta is Russia's largest private museum of contemporary art (with over 2,800 works in its permanent collection). Every year, Erarta stages more than 40 temporary exhibitions alternately focusing on painting, sculpture, video art, fashion and design. The building features a café (3rd floor), a restaurant, and Erarta Home Stores offering gifts, books, prints, interior décor items, and more. 1,000 руб; Concessions: 700 руб.  

Church of Our Lady the Merciful

• 26 A horse-drawn railway (trolley) monument (Памятный образец конно-железной дороги (конка)), Boulevard Andreevskiy 6-7 lines in Sredniy prospect ( Андреевского бульвар у Среднего проспекта) (near the metro station "Vasileostrovskaya"). 

• 27 Church of the Mother of God the Merciful (Церковь Милующей иконы Божией Матери), Bolshoy prospekt, 98. note the sign on the wall towards Prospekt Bolshoy which says in red text: ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ! ("Christ has arisen")  

• 28 Musical Gate (Музыкальные ворота), Bugskiy pereulok (Бугский пер.), 1. A gate to a building decorated with musical notation. 

• 29 Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (Khram Voskreseniya Khristova, Церковь во имя Смоленской иконы Божией матери), Ulitsa Kamskaya (Камская улица), 24, ☏ +7 812 321-1483. 

Museum ships

• 30 Krasin (Ледокол-музей «Красин»,), Naberezhnaya Leitenanta Schmidta (наб. Лейтенанта Шмидта), ☏ +7 1916-1917. Built in England in and overhauled in the 1950s, is a Russian/Soviet icebreaker with a distinguished career in polar exploration and rescue operations. Since the 1990s she has been moored as a museum ship in front of the Mining Institute.  

• 31 Narodovolets Submarine D-2 (Д-2 "Народоволец"), Shkipersky protok (Шкиперский проток), 10, ☏ +7 812 356-52-66, info@navalmuseum.ru. W-Su 11:00-7:15. A small museum aboard a World War II submarine, dedicated to the actions of the submarine throughout the war (run by the Naval Museum).  

Do

• Port Sevkabel ("Севкабель Порт"), Kozhevennaya Liniya 40 (on the harbour). An outdoor public space that features green space, art exhibitions, workshops, concerts, and music. 

Buy

The Academy of Arts and the Naval Museum have very interesting souvenir shops.

Eat

Fast food chains are plentiful on the island.

• Andreevsky Market (Андреевский). 

Mid-range

• Ragu, Кадетская линия в.о., д.9, ☏ +7 812 244-32-40, info@restoranragu.ru. 11:00-23:00 daily. Small plates of Russian and European specialties. 600 руб-900 руб per dish. 

• 1 Staryy Tbilisi (кафе Старый Тбилиси), 4-Ya Liniya V.O., 5 (near the Vasilieostrovskaya metro station), ☏ +7 911 717 19 36. 11:00-23:00 daily. Small unassuming place with great Georgian food. 650 руб. 

• 2 Restobar Artist (рестобар Артист), 13-Ya Liniya Vasil'yevskogo Ostrova, 70 (10 min from the Vasilieostrovskaya metro station), ☏ +7 911 182 92 32, restoran.artist@gmail.com. 12:00-21:00 daily. Creative food, in creative claster Artmuza. 750 руб. 

Drink

• Pub 357, Makarova Embankment, 22 / наб. Макарова, 22, ☏ +7 931 960 41 31. Wines, cocktails, and beer, along with good food. 

Sleep

Most travellers choose to stay at the Center. But there are several options available on Vasilievsky Island.

Budget

• BauHaus Hostel, Prospect Kima 6 litera A, ☏ +7 812 981-18-62, bauhaus.kima6@gmail.com. Clean and modern, it has a cafe open 11:00-19:00. Dorm bed: 600 руб; Double: 1,300 руб. 

Mid-range

• Noteburg (Отель Дворец Трезини), 3rd Line V.O., 20, ☏ +7 812 323-45-32, info@noteburg.ru. 

• Palace Bridge Hotel, Birzhevoy Pereulok, 2-4, ☏ +7 911 164 21 14. 

• Trezzini Art-Hotel, Bol'shoy Prospekt Vasil'yevskogo Ostrova, 21 (Большой проспект Васильевского Острова, 21), ☏ +7 812 332-10-35, sale@trezzini-hotel.com. 

Splurge

• 1 Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya, 14 Korablestroiteley Street, ☏ +7 812 329 26 26, fax: +7 812 356 60 94, info.pribaltiyskaya@rezidorparkinn.com. Overlooking the Gulf of Finland. 1193 rooms. Hotel services include a business centre, a fitness centre, an on-site spa, a hairdresser, gift shops, currency exchange, visa support and concierge, 24-hour medical services and a free shuttle to the city centre. 

• Dvorets Trezini (Trezzini Palace) (Отель Дворец Трезини), University Embankment, 21, ☏ +7 812 313 6622. 

• Vasilievsky Hotel, 8-я линия В.О., 11-13, ☏ +7 812 335-22-90.