Singer House (Dom Knigi)

Singer House on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Griboedov Canal is one of the most striking buildings on the boulevard — an Art Nouveau commercial palace clad in granite, bronze, and glass, topped with a remarkable glazed tower and a globe held up by valkyries. Since 1919 it has housed Dom Knigi (House of the Book), the city's largest bookshop and a cultural institution in its own right.

Spend time on the upper floors, where the architecture is at its best, and visit the cafe on the second floor for one of the better Nevsky-and-canal views in town. The street level has shifted to mass-market bestsellers; the upper floors still cover Russian literature, art, and academic titles in depth.

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A story
The 1904 building was the Russian headquarters of the American Singer Sewing Machine Company, who wanted a much taller skyscraper. The city's strict height limits — to preserve the view of the Winter Palace dome — forced the architect to keep within six storeys, but he compensated with the glass-and-iron tower that still crowns the corner. During the siege of Leningrad the building was the headquarters of Lenizdat, the Soviet state publishing house.

Other places in Nevsky Prospekt