3 Most Famous Bookstores in Saint Petersburg
Before I left for Saint Petersburg I packed three books: “501 Russian Verbs”, my old and very beloved ”Modern Russian Grammar” (Published in Stockholm, 1974…) and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The latter should keep me busy until I leave in June. I bet that you also brought that Russian classic that’s been on your must-read list to Russia. If you however finished War and Peace in a jiffy, here’s three great bookstores to visit when you feel like stocking up your library:
Dom Knigi / Дом Книги
Nevsky Prospekt/Griboyedov Canal
Open: 09.00 – 24.00
If I only could mention one store, then it would be Dom Knigi. Located in the famous art nouveau building originally constructed for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, this book-emporium offers you multiple floors of books, stationary and more. They carry a selection of foreign language books as well.
Café Singer / Кафе Зингеръ is located upstairs, giving you a pleasant view of Nevsky Prospekt. Why not sit down for a moment, grab a cup of coffee and read that new book?
Our former intern Allison wrote a piece about Dom Knigi and The Singer house, read it here.
Britannia / Британния
Ulitsa Marata/Ул. Марата 10, Metro: Mayakovskaya/Маяковская
Open: 10.00 – 19.00, Saturday 11.00 – 17.00, Closed Sunday.
Bookstore also known as Букбридж/Bookbridge. Specialized in English/American books. Large selection of books in English as well as books in German, French, Spanish and Italian.
Bykvoed / Буквоед
Chain of bookstores with many stores around Saint-Petersburg. Selection depends a bit on how large the store is. Usually you will find a good selection of books in Russian and a small (but often interesting) selection of books in English. I’ve found both English bestsellers as well as hard to come by translations of Russian books.
Opening hours depends on store. Check the Bykvoed website for information on stores and opening hours.
Happy hunting!
Photo by David Flores, released under CC-BY-SA 2.0
This post was brought to you by Vincent, currently studying Russian at Liden and Denz
