When you walk around different parts of St. Petersburg, you sometimes come across the most unexpected things. I remember once cycling through the northern part of the city when I suddenly noticed: inside one of the buildings of a modern residential complex there was an active church. The combination seemed so unusual that I decided to look into its history and share a few photos of this curious place.
History of the complex
The Zenit residential complex at 7 Korolyova Avenue was completed in 2011. The main 27-storey building contains 704 apartments, including one-, two- and three-room units. Real estate listings still offer apartments here — the first one I came across was a one-bedroom flat for 10.5 million rubles.
Next to the main tower stands a four-storey building with commercial premises. According to Yandex Maps, it houses a beauty salon, a pizzeria, a law firm, a massage studio, a beer shop and several other businesses. The most unusual part of this building is the Church of St. Theodore Ushakov located right inside it. In my opinion, its dome stands in sharp contrast to the glass façades of the surrounding buildings.
Reviews of the residential complex mentioned that the idea to build the church came from the director of the development company. They also noted that this was intended to be the first residential church of the 21st century in the city.
Although a church integrated into a modern concrete-and-glass complex looks rather unusual, local residents didn’t strongly oppose the idea. At the same time, the church earned an informal nickname — “Saviour on ‘Dieta’.” This comes from the grocery store “Dieta-18” that used to be located directly beneath it.
Religious figures in the city, however, had mixed opinions about the project. The local diocese supported the idea, but some clergy noted that the building contradicts traditional church canons, since residents of the upper floors would be looking down on the sacred structure.
How to get there
The address of the Zenit residential complex is 7 Korolyova Avenue. The nearest metro station is Pionerskaya — the walk takes around 15 minutes.
I don’t think many readers would come here solely to see this unusual church. You can combine a visit with a walk in Udelny Park or a stroll around the Kolomyagi neighbourhood, where several interesting sights are located.
Enjoy your walk!
