Sights of Sosnovy Bor in the Leningrad region - what to see in 1 day

The mysterious nuclear town of Sosnovy Bor is ready to share its secrets with all tourists who come here. There are only 20 nuclear cities in Russia, and the gates of some of them remain closed to guests. In 2013, restrictions on access to Sosnovy Bor for Russian citizens were lifted. They only need to present their passport upon entry. Citizens from other countries who want to get acquainted with the life and living conditions of Russian scientists and nuclear scientists need to apply for special passes. These issues are dealt with by travel agencies offering excursion tours around the Leningrad region.

Unlike many Russian cities, Sosnovy Bor leads the region in terms of average wages. This is not a poor city, so you should be prepared for inflated prices for accommodation, food and services. Although here you can arrange a budget holiday for yourself, in particular, not hotels, but a hostel, not restaurants, but cafes, not taxis, but public transport. There is something to see, something to be surprised by, and where to entertain the children. We offer an impromptu tour of the most significant sights of the city and its surroundings, which can be visited in one day

Museum-workshop of contemporary art named after Vladimir Antoninov

Address: st. Molodezhnaya, 41 Telephone: Opening hours: you can find out the opening hours of exhibitions on the museum’s website or by calling Website: museumantoninov.weebly.com

The art gallery and the artist’s creative workshop are united by a common museum space. The main exhibits are works by Antoninov, original photographs, bookplates by artists from different countries.

The goal of the museum is to reveal the significance of the creative environment and works of art in the development and formation of personality. The museum regularly hosts creative exhibitions and organizes various art projects.

The most important Sosnovy Bor temples and churches

Orthodox shrines are the most important attractions, striking examples of architecture that are worth visiting for guests of Sosnovy Bor.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Burning Bush

• Address: Soborny pr., 1.

The relatively modern structure, founded in the first year of the new millennium, has become a striking city landmark due to its unique architectural appearance, which is not typical for temple construction.

The style of the church is defined as “experimental neo-constructivism.” The extravagant appearance seems to hint at the proximity of an important but dangerous industrial facility - a nuclear power plant. The temple personifies the divine protection of the city from disasters and catastrophes and is consecrated in honor of the famous protective icon “Burning Bush”.

The Orthodox parish opened for parishioners in 2006. It is a favorite subject for photographs among tourists and is often depicted on postcards dedicated to the city and on souvenirs.

Church of St. Panteleimon

• Address: Sokolova, 2.

The wooden Orthodox church was built in the building of a former sewing workshop. The structure was crowned with a dome in the shape of an octagonal turret with a cross and in 1990 it was consecrated in honor of the holy healer Panteleimon. Today the church is assigned to the Church of the Burning Bush icon, that is, it is its branch.

Temple of St. Lazarus

• GPS coordinates: 59.897265, 29.103828.

The log church in the city of Sosnovy Bor has become a grandiose project in recent years, the implementation of which was taken upon itself. As planned, the church was to become a modern embodiment of the best traditions of wooden architecture of the Russian North.

The idea arose back in 2021, at the same time the place for construction was chosen, but the construction of the structure dragged on for several years. In the summer of 2021, a procession of the cross took place, and the first service was held in the new church, where internal arrangement was still ongoing. The shrine is assigned to the Gatchina diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Elevation Ranch

Address: Lomonosov district, Koporskaya volost, Luzhki Srednie tract Telephone: Website: vakerorancho.jimdo.com Opening hours: reception is carried out by prior arrangement with the ranch owners by phone How to get there: by train to Kalishche station from the Baltic station.

The ranch operates on the basis of a farm specializing in the breeding and sale of pedigree horses and dogs - Irish Wolfhounds.

Lovers of rural tourism will be offered an overnight stay (guest house), taught how to ride a horse, and organized sleigh rides in winter. Children will ride ponies.

Here you can take a restorative course of hippotherapy and just take a walk in the forest.

Weather, best time to travel

Sosnovy Bor, whose attractions include interesting natural phenomena, is located in a zone of cold, temperate and humid climate. The average annual temperature is 4.7 °C, the average annual precipitation is 678 mm.

Climatic conditions in Sosnovy Bor by month:

The most comfortable month to visit Sosnovy Bor is June.

City museums, theaters and entertainment

Children in Sosnovy Bor have freedom. There are many interesting places and entertainments where you can go with your child. Adults will also be able to organize their leisure time in the town - there are art museums and other cultural institutions here.

Modern Art Museum

• Address: Leningradskaya, 56a.

Works of domestic painters of the 20th century are exhibited in the Sosnovoborsk Art Museum, among them there are paintings by famous artists T. Yablonskaya, O. Yankhin, V. Ermakov and others. It was opened in 1991 and to this day is the only exhibition center of contemporary art on the territory of Leningradskaya areas.

The museum actively popularizes contemporary art, conducts educational activities and discovers new names. Temporary exhibitions of artists from different parts of Russia and neighboring countries are held here.

Museum-workshop of Vladimir Antoniev

• Address: Molodezhnaya, 41.

A separate art museum is dedicated to a local celebrity. The artist Vladimir Antoniev is a native pine fighter. He worked a lot in the landscape genre, inspired by local nature.

The museum named after him is positioned as a creative research center; it combines an art exhibition and a workshop hall where personal belongings and household items are displayed. The exhibition is complemented by bookplates and author's photographs. The artistic part presents paintings by Antoniev and works by other painters.

City Theater

• Address: Molodezhnaya, 29.

In its modern form, the children's puppet theater in Sosnovy Bor has been operating since 2001 and is one of the most popular places of leisure and additional education in the city. In addition to puppet shows, the Magic Lantern operates a theater studio, and an annual reading competition is held. The repertoire is designed for different ages. The theater team is a regular participant in prestigious festivals and competitions.

Theater-studio of pop puppets "Heart"

• Address: Heroev Avenue, 63a.

In one small town there are two puppet theaters at once. “Heart” has been welcoming young viewers for more than a quarter of a century. Children not only attend performances within the walls of this attraction, but also actively participate in its life.

A studio for the restoration of puppets, unique for the Leningrad region, operates here. The theater is a participant and laureate of Russian and international festivals; the team was twice awarded at a professional festival in South Korea.

House of Culture "Builder"

• Address: Solnechnaya, 19.

A major concert, exhibition and festival venue in the city. Venue for important city events. The local cultural center is the organizer of various competitions for city residents, and it hosts amateur groups, sections and interest clubs.

In particular, the oldest city creative association “Artist” is based here. Both local groups and famous guest performers perform on the stage of the cultural center, including popular artists from the nearby cultural capital of the Russian Federation.

Architectural and historical places of Sosnovy Bor

The past is an unchanging component of the present. Many sights of cities and towns tell us history, show what the settlement looked like many years ago. There are such places in Sosnovy Bor.

Petrov's house

• Address: Leningradskaya street, 4th microdistrict.

The only monument of residential civil architecture in the city is a house built by the Petrov family of local fishing merchants. Their family descended from a local fisherman, to whom Emperor Peter personally granted the status of a merchant of the first guild and assigned a surname.

The outwardly modest stone building made of red brick appeared as a result of the reconstruction of a former residential building made of wood; it was carried out by the three Petrov brothers at the end of the 19th century. The decoration of the estate testified to the prosperity of the family. The last owner, Georgy Petrov, passed away in 1924; his widow handed the house over to the state. In the 20th century it was used for various purposes, in particular, in different years it housed a secondary school and a hospital.

For a long time, the idea of ​​​​opening a museum in this building was hatched, but for this the building requires serious reconstruction. The authorities had plans to completely demolish the historical monument, but the city community and local historians stood up for the landmark.

Shepelevsky lighthouse

• Address: Cape Shepelevsky, Lomonosovsky district.

A 38-meter lighthouse was installed on the shores of the Gulf of Finland near the town of Sosnovy Bor. The structure, which is a round tower made of brick, came to the Baltic shores from France, where it was made back in 1910. All these years, the lighthouse has been regularly performing its function. You can view the object from the water or from afar. The area around it is closed.

Fort "Krasnaya Gorka"

• Coordinates for the map: 59.972624, 29.308197.

The decision to build a fortification to defend the area was made back in 1909, but the defensive facility came into operation after the start of the First World War. The construction of the bastion was carried out under the leadership of Apollo Shishkin, major general of the Russian Army.

It received its name from the nearby village of Krasnaya Gorka. In the very first years of its existence, opponents made an unsuccessful attempt to undermine the fort. The concrete defensive structure played a role in subsequent military conflicts.

It served to store ammunition during the Finnish War, and during the Great Patriotic War the command headquarters was located here. Until 1960, the fort was located at a military unit. In 1975 it became a war memorial and is an important object in Russian military history.

Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

• Address: Koporskoe highway.

In 1967, construction of a nuclear power plant began in the Sosnovy Bor area. Located five kilometers from the city, the enterprise began operating in 1973. It is now considered the largest operating nuclear power plant in our country. Much in the lives of city residents is connected with nuclear energy.

Neighborhoods of Sosnovy Bor and the park

Sosnovy Bor is an amazingly beautiful place in the north-west of Russia. Once here, you should definitely pay attention to the surrounding beauty, remarkable natural monuments and interesting objects.

Elevation Ranch

• Address: s. Koporye.

Thanks to the initiative of the residents of the village of Luzhki Severnye near Sosnovy Bor, a new interesting tourist attraction has appeared. Elevation Ranch is a working horse farm. The owners are happy to host guests, conduct excursions and offer horseback riding.

Those interested can take horse riding courses. Both children and adults will have a great time at the ranch. Here you can stay for a few days and relax alone with nature. In addition to horses, Irish Wolfhounds also live at the Elevation Ranch - a breed of large and very beautiful dogs.

Lipovsky beach

• Coordinates on the map: 59.928848, 29.055633.

Can a sea coast do without a beach, even if the body of water is located in the north? In Sosnovy Bor, Lipovsky Beach stretches 2.5 km along the shore of the Gulf of Finland - one of the most famous in the Leningrad region. In the summer, even residents of St. Petersburg come here to relax. The seabed is clean and sandy, making this place suitable for swimming.

The depth here is not great; even children and people who cannot swim can splash around. The only obstacle is the weather, which in the Leningrad region is often capricious. But those tourists who happen to come to Sosnovy Bor during the hot season cannot resist going to Lipovo Beach.

White Sands Park

• Address: corner of Solnechnaya and Kosmonavtov streets.

A city called Sosnovy Bor simply cannot do without its delightful forest beauties. In the picturesque park not far from Andersengrad, you can not only walk among the trees, but also enjoy the amazing scenery of a sand quarry. Hence the name of the attraction – White Sands.

In Elizabethan times there was a village here, and sand was extracted from the quarry for industrial needs. The park also has an entertainment function. In the landscaped part there are attractions. For lovers of sports and a healthy lifestyle, there is a bicycle rental service - there is no need to travel around the square on foot.

Monuments, memorials and sculptures of the city

The monuments of Sosnovy Bor are mainly dedicated to the period of military events, but there are also those that are associated with figures who lived and visited the city. There are also several nice sculptures here that are sure to be photographed.

Memorial complex "Defenders of the Fatherland"

• Coordinates: 59.898329, 29.073194.

There is no city in Russia where there would not be a monument, stele or memorial in memory of the victims of the terrible military events of 1941-1945. In Sosnovy Bor, this one is located in the Ustye microdistrict, on the territory of the Oranienbaum bridgehead - a small piece of land that played an important role in the defense of Leningrad.

Here lie the soldiers who fell for the northern city on the Neva. The burial of the remains of the soldiers was organized in 1952, and in 1975 a memorial was opened - slabs with the names of the heroes were installed, and an eternal flame was lit. For the 50th anniversary of the Victory, it was complemented by the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker by the architect Yuri Savchenko, the author of Andersengrad.

Bust of Academician A.P. Alexandrova

• Address: square named after. Alexandrova.

Anatoly Petrovich Aleksandrov is one of the outstanding specialists in the field of nuclear energy, a nuclear physicist, the head of a scientific institute, whose activities were closely connected with the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. One of the city streets is named after him. The monument to the scientist, three times Hero of Socialist Labor was erected in 1979.

Stele "Nike" (Monument of Glory)

• Address: Heroev Avenue.

The military monument in the city of Sosnovy Bor is called “Nike”, since the figure of the ancient Greek goddess is depicted on the top of the high stele. It was erected for the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Its creation is the work of sculptor V. Petrovichev and architect Y. Savchenko. Officially, the monument is called the “Monument of Glory”; the inscription on the monument reads: “Dedicated to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War.”

Monument to the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident

• Address: corner of Leningradskaya Street and Heroev Avenue.

After 1984, the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl became synonymous with a nuclear accident for Soviet citizens. Sosnovy Bor, as a settlement associated with the same industry, did not remain indifferent and sent its specialists to eliminate the consequences of the tragedy.

About 1,200 Sosnovoborsk residents visited Chernobyl. In 2004, a monument was erected in their honor in the city. The stella is made in the shape of a dome covering a cracked block; at the top there is an image of hands holding a model of an atom.

Sculpture "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"

• Address: Andersengrad Park.

On the territory of Andersengrad, under the town hall tower, the Tin Soldier, a character from the famous Danish fairy tale, sung by the bard Bulat Okudzhava, stands guard. The sculpture has become one of the symbols of the children's entertainment town and the entire Sosnovy Bor, so it is often noted as a separate attraction. Townspeople believe that this monument personifies perseverance and courage. It appeared in 2010.

See also reviews of other cities in the Leningrad region:

• Kingisepp, Shlisselburg, Lodeynoye Pole, Tosno,
• Strelna, Tikhvin, Vyborg, Ivangorod,
• Luga, Vyritsa, Krasnoe Selo,
• Kronstadt, Sestroretsk, Novaya Ladoga, Vsevolozhsk,
• Gatchina, Lomonosov, Primorsk, Tsarskoe Selo.

A young settlement surrounded by historical objects, a city of nuclear energy, a place where artists create and heroes of fairy tales live, a corner of picturesque nature on the shores of the great North Sea - this is how diverse the place near St. Petersburg, poetically called Sosnovy Bor, is. Every patriot, connoisseur of the historical past of our Great Motherland is simply obliged to visit here on an excursion. We hope you enjoyed our guide. If so, then be sure to share it on social networks - such a thank you for us is better than any gratitude.