The Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg and a local tour operator Невские Сезоны / Nevsky Seasons have launched a new audio tour, which explores the heyday of Russian jewellery art and the outstanding masters of the “Fabergé era”.

The audio tour dubbed Бриллиантовая улица / Diamond Street: Stories of St. Petersburg Jewellery Houses in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries explores key historical sites in the heart of the city, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the splendour of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg.

The tour begins on Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya (Street) – aka the “street of jewellers”. It was here that the most prestigious jewellery shops (more than 20 enterprises) were located, including the House of Carl Fabergé. Many of these jewellers were awarded the title of Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty and created jewellery for members of the Imperial Family.

On Bolshaya Morskaya, visitors will learn about the history of the former premises of these shops, among other sites, including the Ovchinnikov Company at No. 35, which specialized in silver products; as well as the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Artists at No. 42, where the great Russian landscape artist Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898) taught; the building of the Sazikov Company at No. 29, one of the oldest jewellery enterprises in Russia; the shop of the jeweller Friedrich-Daniel Butz; and, of course, the building where the House of Carl Fabergé, at No. 24, is located. The Fabergé building has survived to the present day, however. some visitors will be disappointed to learn, that it is no longer a Fabergé shop.

The tour culminates with a visit to the Fabergé Museum, located in the former Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River Embankment. Today, it is one of the most famous cultural sites in St. Petersburg, and one of the TOP-10 most visited museums in Russia. It showcases the world’s largest collection of Fabergé masterpieces in the world – more than 4,000 works (including the former collection of Malcolm Forbes ) of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. The highlight of the museum’s collection are the nine Imperial Easter Eggs created by Fabergé for the last two Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs, are considered a symbol of the lost Russian Empire.

The audio tour was developed by the staff at the Fabergé Museum. Tours run twice a week: on Thursdays and Saturdays at 17:00. The starting point of the tour is the Astoria Hotel – the historic five-star luxury hotel, opened in 1912..

© Paul Gilbert. 25 June 2025