St. Isaac's Cathedral guided tour

The largest church in St. Petersburg, with space to accommodate 14 000 worshipers, St. Isaac's Cathedral took 40 years to build and decorate and is a magnificent testament of the presumption of divine right on which the Russian Emperors rested their absolute authority.

The life's work of French architect Auguste de Montferrand, St. Isaac's Cathedral dominates the skyline of central St. Petersburg. Its magnificent Empire-style facades and vast gilded dome are guaranteed to impress and are matched by the sumptuous decoration of the interiors. After the initial impression of its grandeur, however, St. Isaac's can seem to visitors both overwhelming and somewhat bland, lacking the historical atmosphere and distinctive Russian charms of older churches in the country.

This is where a well-qualified tour guide can really enhance the experience of visiting the St Isaac's, retelling the extraordinary history of the cathedral's construction, pointing out the origins of the gemstones and minerals from all over the Russian Empire used to decorate the interiors, introducing visitors to the contributions made by many of the most prominent Russian artists and craftsmen of the day, and explaining the subtle ways in which they adapted traditional features of Russian church architecture to suite St. Isaac's Cathedral's high neoclassical, Western European style.

For the able-bodied, your guide will also be able to take you up the 300 steps to the cathedral's colonnade, where you can not only inspect St. Isaac's splendid decorative statuary up-close, but also enjoy unrivaled panoramic views across St. Petersburg's city center. Here, once again, the services of a guide are invaluable for identifying the many greater and lesser known landmarks you can see.

Itinerary and route details