Citywalls: St. Petersburg buildings
A catalog of St. Petersburg buildings with photos, history, architects and styles, from palaces to garages. Walk any street house by house.
What it is
Citywalls is a large community-built catalog of buildings in St. Petersburg. You can walk down any street house by house: every building has a page with photos, construction dates, architects, style and history. You can navigate by street, by architect, by architectural style or by historical period, or use the map and search with suggestions like "palace", "church" or "tenement house".
It is not just the grand center. Recent additions include a dam-bridge on the Znamenka estate, the bridges of the Mikhailovskaya Dacha park, modern housing blocks and even a row of private garages. There is a forum, a magazine section with essays about the city, and a photo quiz. In 2012 the site received a diploma of the Antsiferov Prize as the best online resource on St. Petersburg history.
Why we picked it
In St. Petersburg nearly every building has a story, but guidebooks only cover the famous ones. Citywalls fills the gap: any tenement on the Petrograd Side or mansion on a quiet street is documented, photographed and discussed. The community is very active; in the last day alone people were refining the dates of courtyard wings, quoting archive files and arguing about a boiler house. It makes a perfect walking companion: stand in front of a building, open its page, and you know who built it and when. The site is entirely in Russian, so non-Russian readers will want a browser translator, but the photos and map work regardless.
Where to start
- Pick a street in the streets index and walk it virtually.
- Open a style you like, such as Art Nouveau, and see every building in it.
- Find the page of an architect whose work you admire.
- Try the photo quiz and see if you can name a building from a detail.
- Visit the forum, where members identify doors, staircases and houses from old photos.
Who it's for
Locals, travelers who want more than the standard tour, architecture students, photographers and urban history fans.
Quick answers
Is it only historic buildings? No, modern construction is included too, from business centers to garages.
Can I use it while walking around? Yes, the map makes it easy to find buildings near you.
How are buildings added? Registered community members add and discuss them.
