Russia has declared 2026 the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, and in St Petersburg one of the best ways to mark it is on foot and by metro: in a single day you can see three working places of worship of three faiths — the Grand Choral Synagogue, the Cathedral Mosque and the Gunzechoinei Buddhist temple, known as the datsan. One blue metro line ties them together, all three welcome visitors of any faith, but each has its own days, hours and rules of entry.
We already have detailed guides to each — the Cathedral Mosque, the Grand Choral Synagogue and the datsan. This piece covers only how to link them into one day: the order, getting between them, when not to go and what to wear so you don't have to change three times. Everything was checked against the communities' own websites on 19 October 2026.
🕍 Morning: the Grand Choral Synagogue
Start at the synagogue at 2 Lermontovsky Prospekt: its tours run from the morning, and on Fridays only until midday. The Moorish-style main hall is the grandest interior of the day — golden walls, carved capitals, stained glass and a sky-blue vault above the Ark.
The main hall of the Grand Choral Synagogue — Photo: Dolly442, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
One thing to know in advance: according to the synagogue's website, free access to the complex is currently suspended for security reasons. Visitors are admitted only on a guided tour, which has to be booked by email with the tour department at least three days ahead. Tours run every day except Saturdays and Jewish holidays. The standard tour takes about an hour and covers the Central Hall, the Wedding Hall and the Small Synagogue; as of 19 October it costs 3,000 roubles for one person and 3,500 for two, paid on the day. Tell the security staff at the entrance why you are visiting.
The synagogue's dress rules: men keep their heads covered (a kippah or any hat); women wear sleeves to the elbow and a skirt below the knee, and married women cover their hair. Shorts and tracksuits are not appropriate.
The synagogue's façade on Lermontovsky Prospekt — Photo: Florstein, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
If you can't book a tour, there is a no-booking option: on Sunday 8 November, from 13:00 to 16:00, the synagogue holds an Open Day with tours, a display of ritual objects, a cantor's concert and a recital on its restored harmonium. Tickets for the individual programmes cost 300 to 500 roubles and go up closer to the date. Lunch is on site: the kosher restaurant Lechaim is open to everyone from Sunday to Thursday, 10:00 to 22:00.
Teatralnaya metro station next to the synagogue is still closed to passengers; its first exit is expected around 2030. Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya stations are about a 25-minute walk away, or take bus 3 or 27 to Nevsky Prospekt.
🕌 Midday: the Cathedral Mosque
From Sennaya Ploshchad to Gorkovskaya is two stops on the blue line, from Nevsky Prospekt just one. The mosque at 7 Kronverksky Prospekt is visible the moment you leave the station: a turquoise dome and two minarets above Alexandrovsky Park. Don't miss the main portal — its vault is lined with tier upon tier of majolica, and it is the best photo of the day.
The vault of the Cathedral Mosque's main portal — Photo: Anastasia Mazureva, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
According to the website of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of St Petersburg, visitors go inside on a guided tour booked in advance and approved in writing by the administration. You can sign up via the form on dum-spb.ru or by emailing [email protected]. The tour lasts about an hour, is in Russian, and covers the history of Islam and of the city's Muslim community, the mihrab, the minbar and the minarets. The site does not publish a price — you'll be told when you book.
The mosque's rules are short and strict: women must cover their heads on the grounds, shoes come off before the prayer hall, stay behind the barriers and keep your voice down. Photographing worshippers or the guide is not allowed, and the interior may be photographed only when nobody is praying.
The prayer hall of the Cathedral Mosque — Photo: A.Savin, FAL, Wikimedia Commons
The key timing rule: avoid Friday. Congregational Friday prayers are held around lunchtime, and in late October midday in St Petersburg falls at about 12:40. If your day does turn out to be a Friday, come after lunch and admire the mosque from outside.
☸️ Late afternoon: the Gunzechoinei datsan
Back to the metro and two more stops along the same blue line to Chyornaya Rechka. From there, any bus or tram along Savushkina Street heading towards Staraya Derevnya will do; get off at the TsPKiO or Lipovaya Alleya stop. Alternatively, take the purple line to Staraya Derevnya station: turn right out of the exit and walk straight along Torfyanaya Doroga to Primorsky Prospekt. The datsan is at 91 Primorsky Prospekt.
Prayer wheels in the datsan garden — Photo: Alexey Komarov, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The datsan is the only one of the three you can simply walk into: it is open daily from 10:00 to 19:00, entry is free for everyone, and it is closed on Wednesdays. A daytime khural (prayer service, usually Sogchen) begins at 15:00 every day, and the temple's rules say any guest may attend. At weekends at 17:00 a lama leads an open introductory tour — no booking, for a suggested donation of 300 roubles paid in cash at the kiosk (the weekly schedule lists Sundays, the tours page says Saturdays and Sundays). Until 31 October a sand mandala of the Medicine Buddha stands in the altar hall; on 31 October at 12:30 the lamas will hold the ritual of dismantling it.
The datsan's altar hall — Photo: MBH, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The datsan's rules: shoulders covered, women in a skirt or dress no shorter than the knee, no short shorts; you can borrow a shawl at the temple. Inside the building you take off your hat and put on shoe covers — sold at the kiosk for a token fee — or bring your own, or wear clean indoor shoes. Walk round the temple clockwise, and turn the prayer wheels clockwise too. Photos and video inside are not allowed without the administration's permission. The cafeteria on the lower ground floor is open 11:30 to 18:00, except Wednesdays.
