Please note, we can combine this tour with a general city tour, especially if you arrive by cruise ship and don’t have time for separate excursion.

During this tour you will learn about the life of the Jewish community in St. Petersburg during the present and past. There are many interesting sights including the old district of Kolomna, which was the center of Jewish life in the 19th century. It was here that the Grand Choral Synagogue was built.

The Synagogue includes a main hall for Sabbath services, rooms for the Rabbi and the Cantor, a wedding hall, a meeting hall for community members, a library, and a mikva in the basement. Next to the main building of the Synagogue, there is a small synagogue for daily services.
Next to the Synagogue there is a restaurant with Kosher food and a shop with Kosher food as well as beautiful souvenirs.

St. Petersburg Conservatory, founded by Anton Rubinstein in the 19th century with outstanding Jewish graduates such as Heinrich Veniavski, Leopold Auer, Yasha Heifetz, Yefrem Cimbalist, and Misha Elman, to mention just a few.

In the center of St. Petersburg there are several historical sights associated with resident Jews of the 18th century. You will see the ornate Palaces of the Ginzburgs and the Polyakovs, the two powerful dynasties of Jewish bankers and industrialists. Nevsky Prospect, the city’s central street, has the Vavelberg Bank building constructed for the Vavelberg family, the wealthiest bankers of Poland. You will also see the Academy of Fine Arts with artwork from famous Russian-Jewish painters such as like Isaac Levitan and Marc Chagal.

In addition, during this tour you will learn about Jewish organizations in St. Petersburg (there are 40 of them in our city). One of the most famous is Hesed Avraam which is located at Yesod, which is the House of St. Petersburg Jewish Community. Here you will find a variety of activities: social programs, medical care, a foreign language club, and a handicraft club. It is sponsored by the American Joint Distribution Committee.

We can also include the Jewish section of the Russian Museum of Ethnography where you can learn about history and culture of the Jewish people on the territory of Russia. This permanent exhibition was opened in 2007. At the opening ceremony, the Director of the Federal Agency for Culture, stated that “the new exhibition is one of the stages of establishment of a full-scaled museum of Jewish culture”. The idea for this exhibition complex was one of the initiatives put forward by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon in 2003.

The first (historical) section of the exhibition represents the chronology of the Jewish culture in Russia. Here you will see maps illustrating the origin of Jewish families in Russia. Among the historical items in this section are Torah scrolls, a seven-lamped menorah, historical religious books, manuscripts, and photographs.

The second (ethnographic) section consists of the objects revealing the culture and everyday life of the Jewish Diasporas – the Ashkenazi Jews (Jews of Eastern Europe), Mountain (Caucasian) Jews and Bukhara (Central Asian) Jews. Here you can see the examples of traditional Jewish clothing generally formed under the influence of local environments, neighboring peoples, and living conditions.

A special place at the exhibition is occupied by information about Jewish festivals and religious rituals.

To book your Jewish Heritage Tour with TJ Travel in St. Petersburg, Contact Us…

This entry was posted on November 24, 2010 at 9:49 pm.

Posted in the Uncategorized category