This city is one of the main places to attract tourists in Russia, where you can wander for years, and every day you will find something new, unusual and amazing. However, the subject of our conversation today will be the opposite: we have collected examples of places that are popular with travelers and tourists, but are greatly overrated and do not deserve their cult status (solely in our subjective opinion).
We're not suggesting throwing them out of the guidebooks altogether – no. But you shouldn't give them much influence either.
Kronstadt Cathedral of St. Nicholas on Anchor Square
This is the cathedral of the Russian Navy and one of the damn strange city attractions. Of course, there is something to look at: not so long ago the church was perfectly repaired, the restoration was carried out quite successfully and competently.
On the other hand, despite the presence inside of the crayfish with holy relics, the temple seems to be a cross between a religious building, a village museum of local lore and an underground regional committee of the organization of Russian cryptomonarchists and nationalists.
People stagger, chat, stare at the models of warships, underwater nuclear-powered ships and plates with the names of fallen sailors chosen on an unclear principle. In the center there is a cancer with the remains of Prince Ushakov, immediately - a crooked uniform.
Everything would be fine, but the number of icons depicting the last Russian tsar and his family does not correspond to either the role of the latter in the death of our state and immersion in the abyss of the revolution, nor holiness, which is very controversial. Despite this, the city itself undoubtedly deserves the closest acquaintance and meticulous inspection.
And if you want to pay tribute to the sea - go to St. Nicholas Cathedral: there is beauty on the spot, and solemn rites.
Kazan Cathedral (inside)
It is located on the square of the same name and serves as its architectural dominant. Very beautiful and highly aesthetic, at the first meeting breathtaking - in short, the architect worked hard for glory.
Inside, the impression is lubricated, but not because of the Voronikhin defects, but due to an uncertain status: it is both a temple and a museum at once, which negatively affects both functions. Crowds of onlookers and worshippers, coupled with the twilight and stall trade, finally spoil the emotions of the external appearance.
So our advice: limit yourself to the facade.
Russian Museum in Mikhailovsky Castle
Not the most successful place for the museum - for nothing that the building itself is beyond praise. Just for the exhibition of paintings is not adapted, especially in comparison with the Tretyakov Gallery in the capital. Glare and reflections in the glass, coupled with poor lighting, make the canvases of Gyo, Vasnetsov and Repin half worse than they really are.
Who needed it, why – there is no answer. You could arrange an exhibition of something less demanding on lighting conditions - and then everything would be perfect.
New Holland
Of course, Abramovich did well that in such a short period of time he transformed an abandoned warehouse into a beautiful cultural and park space surrounded by canals beyond recognition. In the summer, it's not bad, but the question is, was it worth spending money on this dubious reconstruction?
There is nothing to do inside, and nothing to look at. Although you can choose a bench in the corner and sit there to work - the benefit of wireless Internet space is not obsolent.
Peter the Great Central Naval Museum
The previous exposition was located in the historical building of the Exchange on the spit of Vasilievsky Island - then it was a favorite museum of the Leningrad children, because the halls overloaded with goodness were literally bursting with artifacts, weapons and models of sailing ships. A very atmospheric place where the spirit of the era was felt and the voices of Ushakov, Nakhimov and Kornilov were heard.
The new spacious area instead of five halls offers three times more, and the area has increased fivefold, but there is no soul in this place. As well as novelties - items from five halls simply stretched for more of them, and at the same time for some reason they fired old elderly employees, whose stories could still somehow reconcile experienced visitors with the new normality.
It is located opposite New Holland and is almost as useless.
Puppet Museum
It is located on Kamskaya, which is very inconvenient for guests of Palmyra, and the residents do not really go. The exposition is monotonous and very monotonous. On the amateur, nothing more.
Although the staff of this place tries its best - the day does not pass without some form of activity: festivals, exhibitions, flash mobs, lectures, readings and the like. But the basic impression remains unchanged.
State Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family
In this building on the 18th line, the Roerichs did not really visit and certainly did not count this place as their home - it belonged to Botkin. The exposition is modest, if not poor. The most valuable is the flag of peace in the lobby of the second floor and the guest book. There is no point in going specifically to see all this, except to look at it on the way.
