RUSSIA – Preobrazhenskaya Square in St. Petersburg // GoldenEye (1995)
The Transfiguration Cathedral at the Preobrazhenskaya Square is the center of the famous tank scene from James Bond “GoldenEye” – and the place, where the horse statue starts to fly.
Why Bond was here
The terrorist organization Janus steals a stealth helicopter and blows up a Soviet base up in Siberia. Bond (Pierce Brosnan) travels to St. Petersburg, where the presumed headquarter of Janus is. He encounters renegade General Ourumov (Gottfried John) – and tries to hunt him down with a stolen tank. As a chase goes on, Bond wrecks havoc in downtown St. Petersburg – and impales a horse statue with the tank. Right at the Preobrazhenskaya Square in front of the Transfiguration Cathedral.
The Preobrazhenskaya Square with the false horse statue
How you gonna get there
The closest metro stations to Transfiguration Cathedral and Preobrazhenskaya Square are Chernyshevskaya (Line 1) and Mayakovskaya (Line 3). Check out the St. Petersburg metro map too.
But we advise to just walk your way from the city center. Start at the beautiful Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and then walk east along Moyka river. Past St. Michael’s Castle (another Bond location), cross the bridge and walk uphill along Ulitsa Pestelya. Preobrazhenskaya Square is at the end of the street.
Good to know
The square is not the only place of action. The tank chase had been filmed mainly at two areas in the heart of the city (which we already hunted for you):
The area around the Transfiguration Cathedral is the Tsentralny District, part of the old historic heart, but off the touristic center. Its a Soviet quarter turned hip. Stroll around Ulitsa Kirochnaya and Ulitsa Chaikovskogo to find artsy cafes and bars and small boutiques on one side of the road – or crumbling old houses on the other side.
We stumbled upon the small “Stolovaya Lozhka” some hundred meters east of Preobrazhenskaya Square and had a great time! A stolovaya (watch out for the sign “Столовая”) is a canteen for locals and a remnant of the Soviet age. Everybody gathers and enjoys some Borscht or Pirozhki while having a chat with the neighbors. And it is way cheaper (and tastier) than everything you will eat in normal restaurants.
© 2018 Huntingbond (1,3), © 1995 Danjaq Inc. and United Artists Pictures Inc. (2)