Things to see in St Petersburg

Commissioned by Tsar Alexander I to build a spectacular imperial cathedral, French-born architect Auguste Montferrand executed a masterpiece of engineering on the marshy ground. Completed in 1858, the gilded dome of St Isaac's Cathedral still dominates the skyline of St Petersburg, though Alexander and his successor were dead long before it was completed. The interiors are dazzling, with malachite and lapis lazuli columns, mosaic icons, painted ceilings and, in the sanctuary, the large stained-glass Resurrected Christ. The climb to the colonnade of the dome (accessible on a separate ticket) is rewarded by marvellous panoramic views over the city. The church became a museum of atheism during the Communist years, but church services are now held here on special occasions.

Launched in St Petersburg in 1900, the Cruiser Aurora played a significant role in the major events of Russian history in the first half of the 20th century. After serving in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the cruiser fired the shot at the Winter Palace in 1917 that signalled the storming of the palace and the beginning of Bolshevik rule. The Aurora was sunk during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941 but raised again 1944, and refitted as a museum in the 1950s. Inside you can see the crew's quarters and the gun that fired the historic shot, but the exterior with its huge chimneys and mounted guns is just as impressive.

The first house built in the newly founded St Petersburg in 1703 was not a grand palace but a humble wooden cabin, from where Peter the Great supervised the construction of his grand imperial city. Now encased in a protective brick enclosure and furnished with period furniture, its spartan simplicity is a strange contrast to the grand cathedrals and palaces that surround it. Peter lived here between 1703 and 1708 and some of his belongings remain, including his boat, his compass and his icon of the Redeemer.

Far from being a mainstream tourist attraction, Piskarivskoye Memorial Cemetery is a place of pilgrimage for the dwindling survivors of the 1941-44 siege of Leningrad. A visit here is all the more poignant for this reason. Below large grassy mounds, under the gaze of a massive bronze of Mother Russia, lie the mass graves of 500,000 St Petersburg citizens who starved to death in the Nazi blockade. The story of the suffering and endurance of the city is powerfully told in the Memorial Halls.