This tour offers a detailed look into the history and present-day life of the Jewish community in St. Petersburg. You will be taken to the Kolomna district, one of the oldest areas of St. Petersburg and the center of St. Petersburg's Jewish life in the 19th century.

You will visit the Grand Choral Synagogue which was built in Kolomna at the end of the 19th century. The building is richly decorated in the Moorish style, and is the second largest synagogue in Europe. Your guide will take you to famous sights, such as Conservatoire founded by Anton Rubinstein, the outstanding pianist, composer and conductor; The tour includes a drive along the Neva River to see palaces that belonged to the wealthiest representatives of the Jewish Community.

At the end of the tour, you will visit the Museum of Ethnography to see the permanent exhibition, 'History and Culture of the Jewish People of Russia' . This exhibition is considered the first step to the formation of an independent Jewish museum in St. Petersburg.

Preobrazhenskoye (Transfiguration) Jewish Cemetery was created in 1875. It started as a separate burial place for adherents on non-Christian religions. On the territory of the cemetery, one can see impressive tombs (many of them designed by famous architects) of prominent representatives of the St. Petersburg Jewish community as well as mass graves of Baltic Sailors killed in WWII.

YESOD (which means 'foundation' in Hebrew) occupies an impressive contemporary building which was constructed in 2005 and since has become home of many Jewish organizations in Saint Petersburg. YESOD offers a number of cultural, educational, social and community programs and also is the source of many projects aimed at the revival of Jewish self-identity, and the values and traditions of Judaism in Russia.

Monument to the Victims of Holocaust and the execution grounds near the Alexander Palace in Pushkin
This monument commemorates the 10,000 Jews killed in the town of Pushkin during WWII. The Jewish ghetto was only 3 km away from the frontline and 20 km away from the besieged city of Leningrad, today St. Petersburg. The monument was designed in 1972 and erected only in 1991 because mention of the holocaust was taboo in the USSR.

Anton Rubinstein monument in Peterhof
Anton Rubinstein was a famous 19th-century Russian composer of Jewish origin. He was also an outstanding pianist, conductor, and the founder of Russia's first musical Conservatoire in St. Petersburg. The composer spent many years in Peterhof giving charity concerts here. His Peterhof dacha turned into a center of local cultural life and he was even given the title of 'Honorable Citizen of Peterhof' for his many achievements. It is only fair that the composer's statue was erected here in 2005!