Fodor's Expert Review Dom Knigi

This is where you'll find Petersburgers engaged in one of their favorite pursuits: buying books. The city's largest bookstore, which offers more than 150,000 titles, occupies one of the most exquisite buildings on Nevsky Prospekt. Until 1917 it belonged to the Singer sewing-machine company, for which Russia was the biggest market after the United States. In the first decade of the 20th century the company wanted to erect a skyscraper similar to the one it was building at the time in New York City, but in old St. Petersburg no structure other than a cathedral could be taller than the Winter Palace. To solve the dilemma, Singer's architect erected an elegant tower above the six-story building and topped it with a glass globe nearly 10 feet in diameter.