All Russia Saint Petersburg

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Saint Petersburg

25 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Updated January 20, 2025

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Unusual Attractions in Saint Petersburg

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Museums 9
Collections 6
Art 6
Military 3
Sculptures 3
Taxidermy 2
Music 2
Medical Museums 2

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Podcast: Pushkin’s Duel

How a real-life confrontation seemed to mirror a literary masterpiece.
by The Podcast Team
Russian painter Valery Jacobi’s 1878 Ice House depicts the jester, Mikhail Golitsyn, and the Kalmyk woman, Avdotia Buzheninova, being paraded to their icy bed chamber.

The Time a Russian Empress Built an Ice Palace and Forced Her Jester To Get Married In It

Cruel joke, power move, or both?
by Sarah Durn
Russian Empress Elizabeth used cross-dressing to cement her power. She’s shown here in a traditionally male guard uniform.

The Weekly Cross-Dressing Balls of 18th-Century Russian Royalty

How empresses used "metamorphosis" to show their male courtiers who’s the boss.
by Sarah Durn
Catherine the Great dropped in to visit the “ice mountain” in St. Petersburg, depicted in this detail from an 18th-century painting by Benjamin Paterssen.

Way Before Roller Coasters, Russians Zipped Down Enormous Ice Slides

These artificial mountains were fast, thrilling, and probably very dangerous.
by Jessica Leigh Hester

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