Myths of St. Petersburg. From Sphinxes and the Curse of the Obvodny Canal to Floods and the Bloody Goddess Sekhmet

Why is St. Petersburg called a city "created from nothing," and how did this idea turn into an urban myth? Is it true that on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island there is hidden Masonic symbolism of Solomon's Temple? And why have the Sphinxes on the University Embankment become one of the main mysteries and emblems of the city?

This book is the key to the multilayered mythology of the city, from the "great myth" of Peter the Great as a demiurge and paradise city to dark legends about floods and the "end of St. Petersburg," in which the elements return the world to primordial chaos. You will learn how St. Petersburg "absorbed" foreign mythological languages and made them its own, why the flood of 1824 became the central storyline of St. Petersburg's eschatology, and how literature and cinema repeatedly revive these stories, turning the city into a space of signs, hints, and legends that are perceived at first glance.

For those who want to look behind the facade of the grand entrances and see the true soul of the most mysterious city in Russia.
For those who want to decipher Masonic symbols and the mysteries of the Sphinxes of St. Petersburg.
For readers fascinated by urban myths—from Peter's paradise to the eschatology of floods.