Highlights

• Explore the Alexandr Nevsky Lavra Grounds, visit the ornate tombs of Mikhail Lomonosov, Alexander Suvorov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Karl Rossi, and others. 

• Be impressed by the Smolny, Kazansky and Nikolaevsky cathedrals

• Enjoy the mosaic interiors of the gorgeous Resurrection Church (the Church on Spilled Blood)

• Enjoy transportation by  air conditioned vehicle

Discover another spiritual edifice, a fortress, commissioned by Peter I of Russia in 1710, at the supposed  site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, defeated the Swedes. The Alexand Nevsky Lavra was founded also to house the relics of the prince. Today you can see the massive silver sarcophagus of St. Alexander Nevsky in the State Hermitage Museum (without the relics).

 Then explore more of the Barouqe masterpieces; the Smolny Cathedral  and the Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicolas and Epiphany,  a marine regimental church. Interestingly it was not closed a day during the times of Bolsheviks.

Your next stop will be at Kazansky Cathedral. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, probably the most venerated icon in Russia. The cathedral was commissioned in 1801 by Paul 1^st. The construction ended 1811 during the reign of his son, Alexandr 1^st. When The Patriotic War was  over, the cathedral was perceived primarily as a memorial to the Russian victory against Napoleon. In 1815, keys to seventeen cities and eight fortresses were brought by the victorious Russian army from Europe and placed in the cathedral's sacristy.

And the last, but not the least, cathedral to visit is  the gorgeous Resurrection Church (the Church on Spilled Blood): the second largest mosaic museum in the world with its 7000 m2 of mosaic covering the facade and interior walls. This Church is absolutely marvelous both inside and out. The cathedral, in the pseudo-Russian style, was founded to commemorate the tsar-martyr Alexander II on the exact site where he was mortally wounded in 1881.

It's the type of architecture you dream of before coming to Russia. Don't miss it!