Reading list

Saint Petersburg in Books

Books with scenes in Saint Petersburg, each with places marked on the map.

6 books · 6 with Saint Petersburg scenes, 0 chosen for their mood · Saint Petersburg places on the map

What books are set in Saint Petersburg?

6 books on Storyland have scenes in Saint Petersburg: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, The Bronze Horseman by Alexander Pushkin, and Petersburg by Andrei Bely — each pinned to a Saint Petersburg location you can visit.

  • Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
  • The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
  • The Bronze Horseman by Alexander Pushkin
  • Petersburg by Andrei Bely

  1. Crime and Punishment

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    Raskolnikov's city is exact — Sennaya Square, the canal embankments, the pawnbroker's stair.

    Places: Haymarket (Sennaya) & the canals

  2. White Nights

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    Four luminous nights of the city’s famous white-night season, along the canal embankments.

    Places: The canal embankments

  3. The Nose

    Nikolai Gogol

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    A civil servant's nose goes missing and struts down Nevsky — Gogol's absurd imperial city.

    Places: Nevsky Prospekt & Kazan Cathedral

  4. The Overcoat

    Nikolai Gogol

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    A poor copyist and his new coat in the cold, indifferent streets of the imperial capital.

    Places: The clerks' quarter

  5. The Bronze Horseman

    Alexander Pushkin

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    Pushkin's poem of the great 1824 flood, haunted by Peter's statue on Senate Square.

    Places: Senate Square & the Neva

  6. Petersburg

    Andrei Bely

    Saint Petersburg scenes

    Bely's symbolist masterpiece — the capital trembling toward revolution.

    Places: The city on the eve of 1905

Reading your way into Saint Petersburg

From Dostoevsky's Haymarket to Gogol's Nevsky Prospekt, Saint Petersburg is the most literary of imperial capitals. The books below are drawn from Storyland's book↔place engine and checked against real locations.

Frequently asked

What books are set in Saint Petersburg?

Storyland lists 6 books with scenes in Saint Petersburg: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, The Bronze Horseman by Alexander Pushkin, and Petersburg by Andrei Bely. Their Saint Petersburg places are marked on the map.

What should I read before visiting Saint Petersburg?

Before visiting Saint Petersburg, read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Haymarket (Sennaya) & the canals), White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky (The canal embankments), The Nose by Nikolai Gogol (Nevsky Prospekt & Kazan Cathedral), The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol (The clerks' quarter), The Bronze Horseman by Alexander Pushkin (Senate Square & the Neva), and Petersburg by Andrei Bely (The city on the eve of 1905). Each has scenes in Saint Petersburg, with the places marked on the map.