The State Museum St. Isaac’s Cathedral

The State Museum St. Isaac’s Cathedral

The State Museum St. Isaac’s Cathedral
4.5
Speciality MuseumsChurches & Cathedrals
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
About
This gold-domed, ornate, 19th-century cathedral is the third largest domed cathedral in the world, and offers visitors a 300-step climb to a spectacular view of the city.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Admiralteisky
How to get there
  • Admiralteyskaya • 7 min walk
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • Sergey K
    Moscow, Russia47,389 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Saint Isaac's Cathedral
    Founded according to the design of Auguste Montferrand at the end of the reign of Alexander I in 1818, built over forty years during the reign of Nicholas I and consecrated at the beginning of the reign of Alexander II in 1858, the cathedral is one of the largest and most beautiful cathedrals in the world, the pride of the city residents and all Russians , a place of attraction for tourists from all over the world. Not every time I visit St. Petersburg I manage to visit it and climb the colonnade. But that year I allocated enough time for this, and devoted several hours to the cathedral. I shot almost entirely the interiors and panoramas of the city center from the colonnade.
    Visited June 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 7 March 2024
  • Светланка🧜‍♀️
    Moscow, Russia18,077 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Will not leave you indifferent
    It turned out funny, but really wanting to get to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, I only managed to do it on my fourth visit to St. Petersburg! 🤷😂 The cathedral was built in 1858. The author of the project is Henri Louis Auguste Ricard de Montferrand. A majestic building! You need to visit it with a guided tour, which is actually included in the ticket price. Those. Every 15-20 minutes a group gathers and a tour is given. Participation is optional. But if you are lucky with a guide, they will tell you the history of the temple in a very interesting way. St. Isaac's Cathedral is the largest church in St. Petersburg and the fourth largest domed church in the world! What a majestic and beautiful building! I have seen many beautiful temples, but this one is simply mesmerizing. Of course, it is already more of a museum and attraction than a church. But the services are going on. For an additional fee, you can climb the colonnade of the cathedral and look at the city from a not-so-bird's-eye view)) Not very high to offer any stunning views, but still interesting.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 15 March 2024
  • olegkrylov
    Ufa, Russia20,755 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Masterpiece!
    Designed according to the plans of the architect Auguste de Montferrand, St. Isaac's Cathedral was built between 1818 and 1858 by approximately 400,000 workers! Everything here is oversized. It rests on 24,000 piles and contains 350 statues and reliefs on the facade, as well as 112 columns. Its luxurious interior decoration required 400 kg of gold, 1,000 tons of bronze, 16 tons of malachite and more than 11 meters of lapis lazuli. Admire frescoes such as the fresco by Karl Bryullov covering 800 m2 of the main dome.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 24 March 2024
  • Ridos
    Krasnodar, Russia3,899 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Incredible beauty!
    Indescribable grandeur and beauty. The building is magnificent from the outside, but the inside is absolutely breathtaking, it’s indescribable, you definitely need to see it with your own eyes. Be sure to buy an entrance ticket and a separate ticket to the colonnade, you will be able to take a closer look at the sculptures installed at the top and enjoy the panorama of the city. The ticket price includes a tour with a professional guide, a museum employee. Avoid intermediaries, buy tickets at the box office, or better yet on the official website, and save money and nerves.
    Visited May 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 23 May 2024
  • регина
    Kazan, Russia124 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    beautiful place!
    St. Isaac's Cathedral is beautiful!! very beautiful painting and architecture. everything is very beautiful!! traces of the bombing remained, with the help of which we understand what the Leningraders endured. The square is also very nice, where you can take a beautiful photo with St. Isaac's Cathedral in the background
    Visited May 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 17 June 2024
  • Mashajo
    Kaliningrad, Russia4,048 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very beautiful
    We visited St. Isaac's Cathedral for the first time; before that we had only seen it in pictures. Looks great in person. The cathedral amazes with its beauty; it is probably the most grandiose building in St. Petersburg. We took a short walk around the nearby park and decided to see what was inside. Entrance costs 450 rubles. per person, self-service cash desks available. There are a lot of people, but there are no queues - everything is fast. The interior decoration of the cathedral impressed us even more: paintings on the ceilings, gold, icons. You can endlessly walk around the hall and look at all the beauty. Very atmospheric.
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 19 June 2024
  • Marina and Co. Ltd
    St. Petersburg, Russia85,418 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    “Don’t hit me in the dirt!”
    After familiarizing ourselves with the Church of the Resurrection on the blood, we took our Italian friends to another grandiose building of God - St. Isaac's Cathedral or whatever it is called - St. Isaac's Cathedral of Dalmatia on a sunny October morning to show them that we have something interesting in architecture and painting, too. In addition, our Isaki, not far from their🤣 St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.☝️Not limited to looking around the cathedral outside, where our attention was caught under the dome, the well-restored Angelic “hororod”, 24 sculptures of which appeared here in 1839, but coughed up and stepped into the womb. Of course, after the Basilica di San Pietro it is difficult to surprise anyone with anything, but also we “did not hit the dirt face” in front of foreign visitors to St. Petersburg.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 31 October 2024
  • Татьяна
    Moscow, Russia151 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    One of the symbols of St. Petersburg
    A beautiful majestic temple with a rich and complex history. Admission is subject to a fee as it has museum status. It is better to carry passports, especially if there are teenagers in the company and it is difficult to determine how old they are. Age will determine the price. For a fee, you can climb the colonnade. Inside is a magnificent mosaic (which can hardly be distinguished from painting from afar), stunning stone columns, icons, a vault painted by K.P. Brullov.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 4 November 2024
  • Cassie H
    Calgary, Canada1,082 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Gorgeous interior but lots of crowds
    Compared to Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood I preferred its exterior. However, St Isaac’s was my favourite on the inside. It was breathtaking. Similar to the other, I did feel too rushed here. I also found this one busier.
    Visited May 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 26 December 2024
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4.5
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🩶⚜️ 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝔂® ⚜️🩶
Moscow, Russia176,159 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023 • Couples
Well, how can you walk around St. Petersburg and not stop by to enjoy this pearl of the city. In the 19th century, the cathedral was considered the most expensive temple in Europe, because about 23 million rubles were spent on its construction. Interestingly, the architect of the Capitol used the drawings of the architect of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is why the dome is so reminiscent of St. Isaac's.
Google
Written 10 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alexander_Kudrin
Samara, Russia13,646 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Family
Every time I am in St. Petersburg, I try to come here, but the last time I was inside was in 1986.
The cathedral impresses with its size; it is the largest Orthodox cathedral in the city.
We admired the beauty of the interior, the stone cladding of marble in different colors and the stunning mosaics.
Now several examples of mosaic panels are displayed below, so you can see them up close.
I was impressed by the iconostasis made of white marble, malachite, lapis lazuli and quartz.
We first looked around with a guided tour, which is included in the ticket price, and then walked around the cathedral on our own.
We got to the wedding and realized how good the acoustics are here.
Separately, you can climb the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Climbing a spiral staircase to a height of 43 meters above the ground is wide and comfortable, although the last door is very narrow.
Here is an observation deck with a 360-degree view. In continuous mode, there is an audio tour of what can be seen from a bird's eye view.
The colonnade includes 24 columns, each of which weighs about 67 tons. You can also see huge sculptures of saints mounted on the roof from the back.
It is convenient that the ascent and descent are carried out on different stairs
Written 28 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

malikayzc
Side, Türkiye136 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Couples
It is an absolutely fascinating city, history everywhere, flamboyant and beautiful. II. At the place where Alexander was killed, his son III. It was built on the orders of Alexander, hence its name, the Church of Spilled Blood. It is a beautiful work, both inside and out. Climb 262 stairs and see the magnificent view of St Petersburg from the dome.
You can watch the panoramic view, there is a separate page for this.
You have to pay a fee. It is definitely a work worth seeing.
Google
Written 22 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BrakiWorldTraveler
Belgrade, Serbia20,037 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
St. Isaac's is still the world's largest Orthodox Shrine (the bigger future one in Bucharest is not yet finished) and the fourth largest Cathedral in the world.
It was built in 1858 by aristocracy funding in honor of Isaac the Dalmatian who was a patron saint of city founder Peter the Great. They didn't spare which is visible from outside and specially inside.
The exterior is adorned with a huge golden dome (which later inspired the US Capitol) and a total of 112 single hewn pink granite columns (you can see a movie and a model of building inside).
The interior is simply amazing, so lavish and rich it's hard to say what's more beautiful.
As all others in Russia it was banned for religion during the Communist regime and converted into a museum. Interesting fact is that St. Pet citizens refused being a Church again on a referendum, so it's still a museum (an outstanding one) with only occasional Church services.
As in any museum there's an entry fee, with a separate fee if you want to climb the dome, which I strongly suggest for great views.
Written 21 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Elena
9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
One of the most beautiful Orthodox churches in St. Petersburg. I advise you to walk around the temple with a guide to learn more about the history. Also, for a fee, you can climb the colonnade of the cathedral to look at St. Petersburg from a height. In clear sunny weather, there will be a beautiful view
Written 20 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

milespointstravelkom
Redlands, CA1,439 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019
The line in front of the St. Isaac’s cathedral was about 20 minutes long as the tour buses had started to arrive by now. Tickets were 350 Rubles/person. The interior of the St. Isaac’s Cathedral is very impressive and not to be missed. There are a lot of amazing mosaic artwork pieces inside as well as very beautiful paintings.
Written 29 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Srishti Misra
Dubai, United Arab Emirates57 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Solo
If ever in SPB, please visit this museum especially those who dig for beautiful art. I would also highly recommend to take up the stairs to the rooftop from where the entire beautiful city of SPB can be viewed. It can be a bit tiresome but absolutely worth the climb. I would let the pictures speak for themselves.
Written 25 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Wolfgang
Moscow, Russia9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
Simply amazing... the labor behind it... the paintings inside had to be transformed to mosaic stones (which took decades) due to the high humidity... def. a must see in St. Petersburg
Written 17 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RSsydney
Sydney, Australia1,139 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019
We paid a quick visit to this Cathedral Museum as part of our 2 day tour of St Petersburg. The mosaics are reproductions of paintings which were deteriorating in the cold & damp conditions inside the cathedral. Really worth a look!
Written 25 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mark_Dornoch
Dornoch, UK1,494 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2019
A too brief a visit with Alla Tours who I highly recommend. Built in 40 years in the 19th century. St Isaac was the patron Saint of Peter the Great. Phenomenal pink and grey granite columns surround the cathedral hewn from single blocks. each weighing about 100 tons. Beautiful. External bronze doors are based on and reminded me of the Baptistry in Florence. The main central dome influenced the design of the US Capitol dome.

Plenty of amazing mosaics inside including the resurrection of Jesus which you can make out in my photo. Beautiful columns of malachite and Lapis Lazuli lead towards the high altar. Gilt adorns much of the iconostasis.

Highly recommended
Written 23 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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The State Museum St. Isaac’s Cathedral, St. Petersburg

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