Historic Heart - St Petersburg - page 138

(Nevsky pr 28; Nevsky Prospekt) Opposite the Kazan Cathedral stands one of St
Petersburg's most marvellous buildings, the headquarters of the Singer sewing ma-
chine company, which opened a factory in the Russian capital in 1904. The building
also housed the American consulate for a few years prior to WWI. These days, the
Singer Building provides a home to St Petersburg's premier bookstore, Dom Knigi
( CLICK HERE ), and the attractive Café Singer ( CLICK HERE ) with superb views of
the Kazan Cathedral.

SSQUARE ARE

PLOSHCHAD ISKUSSTV
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( Площадь Искусств ; Nevsky Pros-pekt) Just a block east of the Kanal Griboyed-ov
is the quiet pl Iskusstv (Arts Sq), named after the cluster of museums and concert
halls that surrounds it. In the 1820s and 1830s, Carlo Rossi designed this square and
the lovely Mikhailovskaya ul, which joins it to Nevsky pr. A statue of Pushkin
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , erected in 1957, stands in the middle of the tree-lined
square, which is surrounded by the Shostakovich Philharmonia ( CLICK HERE ),
Mikhailovsky Theatre ( CLICK HERE ), Russian Museum ( CLICK HERE ) and Mu-
seum of Ethnography ( CLICK HERE ).

MMUSSEUUM

MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL POLICE
( Музей политической полиции ; www.polithistory.ru ; Gorokhovaya ul 2; adult/stu-
dent R150/60; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri; Admiralteyskaya) In the very same building that
housed the tsarist and the Bolshevik secret police offices, this small museum recounts
the history of this controversial institution. An annexe of the Museum of Political His-
tory ( CLICK HERE ), it includes one room that recreates the office of Felix Dzerzhin-
sky, founder of the Cheka (Bolshevik secret police). Each of the remaining three
rooms is devoted to the secret police during a different period of history: the tsarist
police, the Cheka and the KGB. Exhibitions are heavy on photographs and docu-
ments, but some of them are fascinating. Some explanatory materials are available in
English.

GALLER ALLERY

ROSPHOTO STATE PHOTOGRAPHY CENTRE
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( РОСФОТО ; www.rosphoto.org ; Bolshaya Morskaya ul 35; admission R100;
11am-7pm; Admiralteyskaya) This exhibition hall showcases rotating exhibitions of
photography, videography and other mixed media drawn from all over Russia and