8 book-excursions to picturesque corners of St. Petersburg and Moscow
Miscellaneous / / September 25, 2023
Unusual guides from the selection will help you see capitals from an unusual angle.
1. “Legendary bridges. Stories and legends about St. Petersburg bridges”, Liliya Sergeeva
There are many bridges in St. Petersburg, and each of them has a story to tell. To build one, the builders performed real miracles. Others are associated with mysterious legends. Still others are usually visited before exams or on the wedding day.
Tour guide Liliya Sergeeva has collected information about the origin, construction and fate of the city’s most interesting bridges in one book. The guide will help you create walking routes and look at St. Petersburg from a new side.
Buy a book2. “Unpretentious Moscow: apartment buildings in stories and photographs”, Elena Krizhevskaya
Apartment buildings in St. Petersburg are quite popular, but those in Moscow are less so. Photographer, amateur local historian and writer Elena Krizhevskaya is sure that it is in vain - they are in no way inferior to their famous northern brothers.
The author described and photographed interesting apartment buildings in the capital: from Arbat to Patriarch's, from Prechistenka to Ostozhenka, from Tverskaya to Zamoskvorechye. Hundreds of colorful illustrations will allow you to appreciate the richly decorated entrances, which are almost impossible for an outsider to enter.
From the book you will learn how much it cost to rent an apartment in one of the apartment buildings, in what environment Russian “futurism” was born and where Mikhail Bulgakov lived. And at the same time, outline unusual routes for walking around the capital.
Buy a book3. “Mystical Moscow. The most mysterious places and legends of the capital that will take your breath away”, Agnessa Nevskaya
Sometimes in Moscow you can catch a magical green fog and go through a portal to another time. Find stones that will help with infertility and relieve lack of money. Meet the five-meter black ghost and the ghosts from Khitrovka. Agnes Nevskaya invites you to go hunting for urban legends.
With an exciting guide to secret locations and esoteric places in the capital, you will be able to find the ghost of Perlov’s house, reveal the secrets of the Volkov-Yusupov chambers, find out why you should avoid Kuznetsky Bridge at night, and get around ancient towns Moscow. And also get acquainted with local place names and biographies of famous Muscovites.
Buy a book4. “Great Petersburg: the history of mansions and palaces of Northern Venice”, Vladislav Poda
Some palaces and mansions in St. Petersburg are not so easy to get to. They are vigilantly guarded by strict guards, preventing outsiders from appreciating the exquisite interiors. But guide Vladislav Pod managed to get into the closed buildings - and now everyone has a chance to enjoy inaccessible architectural masterpieces.
In these houses, meetings of poets and ballroom evenings were held, emperors were received and revolution was plotted. In Soviet times, a clinic could be located inside, and today it could be luxury housing. Together with the author, you can follow the fate of the majestic buildings and create routes walks along the front street of St. Petersburg to see the famous facades with your own eyes.
Buy a book5. “Architectural ABC of St. Petersburg: from acroteria to apple”, Tatyana Erova
"A" - acrotelium. "B" - baluster. “B” is a monogram. A book by photographer and blogger Tatyana Yerova offers a way to study architectural terms using the example of St. Petersburg. The author will not only tell you what risalit, guttas and flutes are, but will also explain how the details of palaces, mansions and churches form architectural ABC of St. Petersburg.
The book contains many unexpected facts. For example, you can find out where Catherine II’s favorite Italian greyhounds are buried, why St. Petersburg houses need so many false windows, and where to go to find the only lonely Atlantean of St. Petersburg. After reading, you can invite your friends on an architectural walk to show them bay windows and flutes, acroteries and sandriks.
Buy a book6. “Secrets of Moscow mansions. Houses of the richest people of their era inside and outside”, Vitaly Kalashnikov
This mansion seems to have come out of Vasnetsov’s paintings; he lived and wrote “The Master and Margarita” in this house. Bulgakov, and not far from this building there is a museum of Leo Tolstoy, although the writer himself was never here I haven't been. Moscow guide Vitaly Kalashnikov immerses you in the atmosphere of old Moscow and reveals the secrets of the capital's mansions. In the book, he describes ancient buildings that you can visit in person, as well as appreciate the facades and interiors - because now there are libraries, museums and even canteens inside.
Buy a book7. “Walking through unknown Petersburg”, Vladislav Poda
Now the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal is a popular tourist spot in St. Petersburg. But it might not exist! At one time they planned to fill the canal. In his author’s guide, Vladislav Poda tells dozens of interesting facts about St. Petersburg, and also invites walk through former criminal areas, aristocratic streets, largest factories, manufactories and others amazing places.
8. “Voices from the Windows: Revived Stories of St. Petersburg Houses”, Ekaterina Kubryakova
St. Petersburg by Ekaterina Kubryakova is a mysterious and unusual place where the destinies of the capital’s aristocracy, creative bohemia and children of the siege are intertwined. Listen to the speech of Marlene Dietrich and Konstantin Paustovsky, find out whose story served as the prototype for the creation heroine Anna Karenina, attend a meeting of evangelists in a magnificent malachite room - you can do all this, If read the book. It consists of 37 stories that took place within the walls of St. Petersburg houses.
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