Bronze Horseman & Senate Square

The Bronze Horseman

At the centre of the view stands the Bronze Horseman, Étienne Maurice Falconet's masterful statue of Peter the Great rearing his horse atop the colossal Thunder Stone granite pedestal, an emblem of the city immortalised in Alexander Pushkin's poem of the same name.

Senate Square

Senate Square opens between the river embankment and the former Senate and Synod buildings, a spacious ceremonial plaza laced with paths, ornate lamp posts and clipped greenery where residents and visitors gather throughout the day.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Rising behind the square, the gilded dome of Saint Isaac's Cathedral anchors the skyline, one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world and a defining silhouette of the city's imperial architecture.

A UNESCO Heart

The whole scene sits within the UNESCO World Heritage historic centre, where neoclassical facades, granite quays and broad avenues preserve the planned grandeur of one of Europe's great riverside capitals.