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St. Petersburg and cinema seem to be made for each other. Parade palaces and mansions, narrow streets and atmospheric courtyards. The city is like one continuous scenery. Together with the Committee for the Development of Tourism of St. Petersburg, we compiled a selection of places where famous Soviet and Russian films were filmed and where you can take a walk in any weather.

The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia (1973, director Eldar Ryazanov)

“The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia” is one of the best comedies of the Soviet director Eldar Ryazanov. The plot revolves around a group of Italians who went to Leningrad in search of the hidden legacy of the late grandmother of one of the heroines, Olga.

Most of the scenes were filmed in Leningrad. The trick, where Andrei Mironov jumps over the drawbridge, was filmed on the Birzhevoy Bridge, and the Astoria Hotel acted as the hotel, from the window of which the actor descended on the carpet.

Hotel Astoria, where one of the key scenes of the film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia” was filmed. Photo: Natalia Kazakova

Also in the picture you can see the Kazan Cathedral (there the hero performed by Evstigneev breaks a column with his foot), the Singing Chapel, the embankments of the Neva, sphinxes and other sights.

It was not without cinematic “untruth” “. So, not all the lions that flash in the film actually existed. For example, they have never been in front of the Pushkin monument near the Russian Museum, the chapel, the Smolny Cathedral and the Italian bridge over the Griboedov Canal.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky (Voznesensky Prospekt, 1) in St. Petersburg. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

But there are also existing ones. For example, lions near the house of Lobanov-Rostovsky (Voznesensky Prospekt, 1) or lions on the fence of the Kushelev-Bezborodko dacha (Sverdlovskaya Embankment, 40). Although here you can find another funny movie blunder: there are only 29 lions on the fence, and the heroes number as many as 149!

“Autumn Marathon” (1979, directed by Georgy Danelia)

There is another well-known lyrical comedy in the list of St. Petersburg film routes.

The film “Autumn Marathon” from the first to the last frame was shot in Leningrad in 1979. The main character, translator Buzykin, lives at 23/1 on Korablestroiteley Street.

Here, at the intersection with the embankment of the Smolenka River (metro station “Primorskaya”), his daily morning run with Professor Hansen from Denmark begins. Now, at this place, on the initiative of local residents, a new square has even been opened, which is called “Autumn Marathon”.

In the afternoon, Buzykin rushes between his wife, mistress, Danish professor, work at the university (the building of the Twelve Collegia) and visits to the publishing house (Singer House on Nevsky).

It was here that the scenes for Georgy Daneliya's film “Autumn Marathon” were filmed. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

One of the most beautiful “Petersburg” scenes in the film is Buzykin’s “run” to his mistress Alla, who, according to the plot, lives in an old communal apartment in the center (Nevsky, 18, corner with the Moika): the hero runs towards her from The engineering castle through the Fontanka, runs through the passage yard on Millionnaya and ends up in a house on the Moika, and in the evening the heroes walk along the Kryukov Canal.

“You never dreamed of …” (1980, director – Ilya Fraz)

Leningrad became the setting for another popular film of the 80s. The picture “You never dreamed of …” according to a survey by the magazine “Soviet Screen” became the best film of 1981.

The picture tells about the love of teenagers Katya and Roman, which adults cannot understand. According to the plot, schoolboy Roman's relatives separate him from his classmate Katya, sending him into “exile” to Leningrad – supposedly to look after his sick grandmother.

Tolstoy house in St. Petersburg. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

The heroine of Tatyana Peltser lived in one of the cult houses of the city on the Neva – the Tolstoy House. Katya comes to Roman in Leningrad and walks around the city: Gostiny Dvor, Nevsky Prospekt, Ekaterininsky Square, Lomonosov Bridge. Leningrad looks very romantic in this film.

According to the script, it was assumed that Roma jumps out of the window and dies. However, the leadership of Goskino categorically did not like such an ending. I had to reshoot. The film crew didn’t have time to go to Leningrad again, so the ending was re-shot not in the city on the Neva, but in one of the Moscow courtyards.

Winter Cherry (1985, director – Igor Maslennikov)

A six-story building, but in fact a huge block between the Fontanka and Rubinstein Street with a whole system of yards, just begs to be seen on the screen. Therefore, let us recall another wonderful film, the filming location of which was the Tolstoy House. The director settled here the heroine of Elena Safonova and her friends, Valya and Larisa.

Another view of the famous Tolstoy House. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

Basically, the action of the film takes place in Tolstoy's house, its courtyards or near it. As Igor Maslennikov later explained, the house in this film acts as a kind of “actor” of extras, playing along with the characters and creating a certain mood.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979–1986) , director – Igor Maslennikov)

In the collection of film works directed by Igor Maslennikov, there are several films shot on the banks of the Neva. Perhaps the most famous of them is the saga about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. There are a lot of places in St. Petersburg that “depicted” London. Therefore, it will take more than one day to get around them all.

Thus, in the series “The King of Blackmail” Holmes and Watson go to the Diogenes club, where they meet Mycroft, the brother of the famous detective. In fact, this is the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, in which the House of Scientists was located in Soviet times (Palace Embankment, 26). The greenhouse of the Tauride Palace at the corner of Potemkinskaya and Shpalernaya acted as the Lowser Passage. And the scene at the high brick wall of the Milverton blackmailer's mansion was filmed behind 2A English Drive.

Lady Adler from Sherlock Holmes lived in the building of the Gauswald dacha on Kamenny Island. Photo: Natalia Kazakova

The most famous house from the series of films about Sherlock Holmes is the Gauswald cottage on Kamenny Island. According to the plot, the house belonged to Lady Adler, a woman who captivated the heart of a brilliant detective. After the release of the film, local residents began to call the dacha “Irene Adler's House”. It is impossible to get inside the house now, but you can look around it from the outside and take beautiful photos.

Brother (1997, director – Alexei Balabanov)

Our list would be incomplete without one of the most iconic films of the 90s – the film “Brother”, filmed in St. Petersburg in 1996 by film director Alexei Balabanov. All major events unfold on the streets of St. Petersburg. The embankments of the Neva, the Winter Canal, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Bronze Horseman – remember the expressive scene in which the hero, walking through the city to the rhythmic soundtrack of “Nautilus”, looks at the monument with interest?

The area near the Annekirche shown in the film “Brother” is really very cinematic. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

In addition to the “classic” attractions, you can see several locations on Vasilyevsky Island: the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery, Andreevsky market, Maly Prospekt V. O., the embankment of the Smolenka River. Some of the scenes were filmed in a rock shop located near the Lutheran Church of St. Anne (Annenkirche) on Kirochnaya Street. The store still exists.

Peter FM (2006, director Oksana Bychkova)

One of the most romantic stories in modern Russian cinema belongs to director Oksana Bychkova. Radio DJ Masha and young architect Maxim are in the center of events. The girl loses her phone, and the guy finds it. They start a phone romance, but they never meet.

Fontanka, 159. Kapustin's house: the favorite home of the protagonist of the film “Peter FM”. Photo: Vladimir Drozdin

Agree, it is simply impossible to imagine that this film was filmed anywhere else, except for St. Petersburg. Here the city is not just a scene or scenery, but a full-fledged “character”.

In the film you can see the Egyptian bridge on the embankment of the Fontanka River, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, Birzhevoy Bridge, the Griboedov Canal Embankment, the famous Five Corners Crossing and other recognizable places of the Northern capital.

Silver Skates (2020, director – Mikhail Lokshin)

Perhaps this picture is one of the most beautiful interior films about St. Petersburg in recent years. Field shooting took place in the Yusupov, Marble and Sheremetyevsky palaces, as well as in the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

The skating scenes are at the intersection of the Kryukov Canal, the Moika and the Fontanka. Such sights of St. Petersburg and its environs as the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Mikhailovsky (Engineering) Castle, the Vitebsk railway station, the Museum of Applied Arts, the Grand Gatchina Palace and many others appear in the frame.

Skating scenes – in the area of ​​​​the intersection of the Kryukov Canal and the Moika. Photo – Vladimir Drozdin

The shooting took place in the winter of 2019, which turned out to be very warm. Therefore, the natural ice cover had to be strengthened with the help of special flooring and filled with additional ice. For a more effective color, a blue backing was used.

Lenfilm Cultural and Exhibition Center

To learn more about filming in the city on the Neva, a tour of the Lenfilm Cultural and Exhibition Center will help. The guests will have a journey through the halls of the oldest film studio in Russia, between archival documents and the ghosts of cinema reality.

In the corridors of the cinema center you can see costumes from the famous Lenfilm films. The military hall, interior rooms with decorations and a garage with vintage cars will arouse no less interest.

If the shooting is not going on, they will be allowed to look into one of the pavilions, for example, the fourth one, one of the first and largest. In 1896, it was on the site of this pavilion that the Aquarium Theater was located, where the first public film show in Russia took place.

To learn more about tourist attractions, routes and cultural events in St. Petersburg, visit the official city tourist portal Visit -Petersburg.ru, on his official VKontakte page and Telegram channel.

And also in the special project #DiscoverYourPetersburg.

Elena Myagkova