Cathedrals of St Petersburg: where entry is free, where it's 700 ₽, and a one-day route

More than twenty churches in St Petersburg are called cathedrals, but only eight matter to a visitor. The difference isn't the architecture, it's how much you pay and how you behave inside: three of the eight are state museums with a ticket desk and a turnstile, five are working parishes with free entry and church rules.

## First work out which it is: museum or church

Museums. St Isaac's Cathedral and the Savior on the Spilled Blood belong to the State Museum "St Isaac's Cathedral": ticket desk, ticket, audio guide, closed on Wednesdays (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru). Peter and Paul Cathedral is part of the Museum of the History of St Petersburg, also ticketed (checked 18.09.2026, source: spbmuseum.ru). Here you can take photos, listen to an earpiece and not think about a headscarf.

Working churches. Kazan Cathedral, St Nicholas Naval Cathedral, Smolny Cathedral, Vladimir Cathedral and Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral are parishes with free entry, but services are held there: phone on silent, speak quietly, filming a service, flash and tripods are forbidden (checked 18.09.2026, source: kazansky-spb.ru). A guide with a group is not admitted without the rector's permission.

Hence the order of the day: museums in the morning, churches in the gap between services, roughly from 12:00 to 17:00.

## Kazan Cathedral: free, twenty minutes, you can't miss it

2 Kazanskaya Square, Nevsky Prospekt metro — the exit brings you right to the colonnade. This is the cathedral of the St Petersburg diocese, the city's main church in church terms (source: kazansky-spb.ru). There are no tickets at all.

Worth your attention: the St Petersburg copy of the Kazan icon to the left of the iconostasis — there is a living queue of locals to it; Kutuzov's tombstone and the captured standards of French regiments.

On weekdays the liturgy is at 10:00, on Sundays at 7:00 and 10:00, the evening service at 18:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: kazansky-spb.ru). It is best to check visiting times outside services on the day of your visit: the church's schedule can change on feast days and during services.

The dress code here is the strictest of the eight: women — head covered, no lipstick, no shorts, capri pants, short skirts or trousers; men — remove your hat; shoulders and décolleté covered (checked 18.09.2026, source: kazansky-spb.ru). A light scarf in your bag solves the problem. And you can't bring in a backpack larger than 30 × 20 × 15 cm.

## St Isaac's: 700 ₽ to go in and another 700 to go up

4 St Isaac's Square, Admiralteyskaya metro. Ticket — 700 ₽, concession (children 7–18, pensioners, Russian students) — 300 ₽. The colonnade is a separate 700 ₽, and concessions don't apply to it, not even children's (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru).

Open from 10:00 to 18:00, ticket desk until 17:30, closed on Wednesdays. From 1 May to 30 September there are evening sessions 18:00–21:30 without tours: cathedral 800 ₽, colonnade 800 ₽, audio guide 300 ₽ (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru).

The colonnade is 43 metres up, you go up and down on foot only, there is no lift. In summer it is open every day, and from 1 October to 30 April it closes on the third Wednesday of the month (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru).

Details — how the climb works and whether the evening session is worth it — in a separate piece: [link to the detailed article about St Isaac's Cathedral].

## Savior on the Spilled Blood: the same 700 ₽, but for the mosaics

2b Griboedov Canal Embankment, Nevsky Prospekt metro, seven minutes from Kazan Cathedral. Ticket — 700 ₽, concession — 300 ₽, the same hours: 10:00–18:00, ticket desk until 17:30, closed on Wednesdays (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru).

People go inside for the mosaics: the walls and vaults are entirely laid in smalt, there is almost no painting. The second thing is the canopy over the preserved stretch of pavement, the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded. The cathedral is small, in July it gets crowded. Within the same fence there is a chapel-museum for 100 ₽ (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru). The museum does not offer a climb up the bell tower.

## St Nicholas Naval Cathedral: the sailors' cathedral and a tour for 300 ₽

Nikolskaya Square by the Kryukov Canal, Sadovaya / Sennaya Ploshchad / Spasskaya metro, then ten minutes on foot. Entry is free.

The cathedral has two floors: the lower church is always open, and you are let upstairs on a tour — on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30, recommended donation 300 ₽, booking via timepad, meeting point at the "Obraz" pilgrimage centre (checked 18.09.2026, source: nikolskiysobor.ru). Mid-18th-century baroque that was not rebuilt from scratch.

Liturgies daily at 06:40 and 09:40, evening service at 18:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: nikolskiysobor.ru). It is best to check visiting times outside services on the day of your visit: the church's schedule can change on feast days and during services. Outside, the cathedral stands in the "seven bridges" spot — the shot is free and better than many paid viewpoints.

## Smolny Cathedral: a 50-metre climb for 300 ₽

1 Rastrelli Square. There is no metro nearby: from Chernyshevskaya it's about two kilometres — by bus, taxi or on foot through the Tauride Garden. It's worth going for the belfry: 50 metres, 278 steps, recommended donation 300 ₽, 150 ₽ for pensioners and schoolchildren, free for students and children under 7, no booking needed, open daily from 8:00 to 20:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: smolnyspb.ru).

Compare with St Isaac's: 700 ₽ and 43 metres versus 300 ₽ and 50 metres. The view is different — the bend of the Neva and the monastery from above.

Inside the cathedral is white, almost without gold — Rastrelli conceived it as a light-filled space. Tours run at weekends; the ticket is bought separately — see the schedule and conditions on the cathedral's website (smolnyspb.ru). The church's schedule can change on feast days and during services, so it is best to check visiting times outside services on the day of your visit.

## Vladimir Cathedral: the cathedral the locals go to

20 Vladimirsky Prospekt (checked 18.09.2026, source: vladimirsobor.spb.ru), Vladimirskaya / Dostoevskaya metro — literally a step from the vestibule, there is no cathedral in the city closer to a metro. Entry is free.

Open from 8:00, on weekdays confession at 8:30 and liturgy at 9:00, on Sundays and feast days confession at 6:30 and 9:30, liturgies at 7:00 and 10:00, evening service daily at 18:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: vladimirsobor.spb.ru). It is best to check visiting times outside services on the day of your visit: the church's schedule can change on feast days and during services.

An 18th-century parish church with a separate bell tower; no visitor climb is listed on the website. Here you can see what a non-touristy St Petersburg cathedral looks like on an ordinary day.

## Peter and Paul Cathedral: the most expensive entry of the eight

Zayachy Island, Gorkovskaya metro. Entry to the fortress grounds is free for everyone — this is the most common confusion: you pay for the museum sites, not for getting in (checked 18.09.2026, source: spbmuseum.ru).

The cathedral with the Grand Ducal Burial Vault — 1000 ₽ adult, 600 ₽ Russian students, 500 ₽ Russian pensioners. A combined three-day ticket for the fortress sites is 1500 / 800 / 700 ₽, the cathedral is included, the bell tower is not. The bell tower is by tour only: 500 ₽ and 400 ₽ concession. The "Neva Panorama" walkway along the walls — 400 ₽ (checked 18.09.2026, source: spbmuseum.ru).

The hours are non-standard: weekdays 10:00–19:00, Saturdays only until 17:45, Sundays from 11:00 to 19:00, and on service days the schedule changes (checked 18.09.2026, source: spbmuseum.ru). Inside there is the carved gilded iconostasis, a gift from Peter I and Catherine I, and the burials of the Romanovs from Peter I to Nicholas II. Small print: the toilet in the Coach House is 50 ₽, the deposit for a radio device is 1000 ₽ in cash, online tickets for the current day are sold until 16:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: spbmuseum.ru).

## Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral: blue domes with stars

Tekhnologichesky Institut metro, then seven minutes on foot. Entry is free, open from 9:00 to 19:00, on Sundays and church feast days from 6:00 to 20:00 — the longest day of the eight. Late liturgy daily at 10:00, early liturgy on Sundays at 7:00, evening service on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 17:00 (checked 18.09.2026, source: izmsobor.ru).

The regimental cathedral of the Izmailovsky Life Guards: five blue domes with stars are visible from the Fontanka, and from the outside it is more photogenic than from within. Daily at 16:00 there is a service of prayer at the relics of Matrona of Moscow, hence the queue at the entrance.

## Summary table

## A one-day route around the four central ones

Walking times are by map, at a normal pace.

10:00 — Savior on the Spilled Blood. Be there at opening: by midday it's packed inside, and you can't take in the mosaics in a crowd. One hour.

11:15 — 7 minutes along the Griboedov Canal — Kazan Cathedral. Between services, 20–30 minutes. Put your scarf on before you go in.

12:15 — 12 minutes via Malaya Morskaya — St Isaac's Cathedral. The cathedral first, then the colonnade: after the climb you won't feel like studying mosaics. Two hours.

14:30 — lunch around Bolshaya Morskaya or Pochtamtskaya.

15:30 — 20 minutes along the Moika and the Kryukov Canal — St Nicholas Naval Cathedral. At weekends the route flips round: the 12:30 tour sets the start of the day. On weekdays — the lower church, 20 minutes, and the shot from the seven bridges.

That's about six hours with lunch and five kilometres on foot. Smolny, Peter and Paul, Vladimir and Trinity cathedrals don't fit into this day.

## What it all costs

For an adult with no concessions: Savior on the Spilled Blood 700 + Kazan 0 + St Isaac's 700 + colonnade 700 + St Nicholas 0 = 2100 ₽, with an audio guide 2400 ₽, for two people 4200 ₽ plus lunch. For a pensioner or schoolchild: 300 + 300 + 700 (colonnade without concessions) = 1300 ₽.

If you set aside nothing at all for tickets: Kazan, St Nicholas, Vladimir, Trinity and the Smolny belfry for 300 ₽ — a full day of cathedrals for three hundred roubles.

## Two common mistakes

The first — "I'll do St Isaac's and Peter and Paul, they're the main ones." It's the most expensive option (700 + 700 + 1000 = 2400 ₽ per person) and it's the same thing twice: two imperial cathedrals with burial vaults and paid climbs. If you only have one day, take one museum and two or three working churches.

The second — Wednesday. On Wednesdays both St Isaac's and the Savior on the Spilled Blood are closed (checked 18.09.2026, source: cathedral.ru), as are most of the Peter and Paul Fortress displays. On a Wednesday plan the day around working churches: they have no day off, though their schedule changes on feast days and during services.

In the rain cathedrals are the best fallback: Kazan (a hundred metres from metro to door) → Savior on the Spilled Blood → St Isaac's, but without the colonnade — the open platform is windy, slippery and you can't see anything. Instead of the climb, take the audio guide for 300 ₽. At the fortress in the rain go for the cathedral with the burial vault, and skip the "Neva Panorama": its whole point is the view.

## Frequently asked questions

Which cathedrals in St Petersburg should you see first?

The four central ones: the Savior on the Spilled Blood and St Isaac's are ticketed museums, Kazan Cathedral and St Nicholas Naval Cathedral are working churches with free entry. They add up to a single five-kilometre walking day.

Is entry to Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg paid?

No, entry is free, there are no tickets. It is a working cathedral church: head covered for women, no filming of services, no flash and no tripod. The church's schedule changes on feast days and during services, so it's best to check visiting times on the day of your visit.

Smolny Cathedral in St Petersburg — how much does it cost to go up to the viewing platform?

The recommended donation is 300 ₽, 150 ₽ for pensioners and schoolchildren, free for students and children under 7. The height is 50 metres, 278 steps, the belfry is open daily from 8:00 to 20:00.

Peter and Paul Cathedral — how much is a ticket and is the bell tower included?

The cathedral with the Grand Ducal Burial Vault is 1000 ₽ adult, 600 ₽ students, 500 ₽ pensioners. The bell tower is not included in the ticket: the climb is by tour only, 500 ₽. Entry to the fortress grounds is free.

Vladimir Cathedral in St Petersburg — how do you get there?

20 Vladimirsky Prospekt, Vladimirskaya or Dostoevskaya metro, a step from the vestibule. Entry is free, the church is open from 8:00; it's best to check visiting times outside services on the day of your visit, as the schedule changes on feast days and during services.

Which cathedral in St Petersburg is the diocesan cathedral?

The cathedral of the diocese is Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky. St Isaac's remains a state museum, although services are held there too.

Do you need a headscarf and can you wear trousers?

In working churches women need their heads covered, and Kazan Cathedral's rules expressly forbid shorts, capri pants, short skirts and women's trousers. In the museums — St Isaac's, the Savior on the Spilled Blood, Peter and Paul — there is no dress code.