The Chesme Church is a small Russian Orthodox Church, built by the Russian court architect, Yury Felton in 1780, at the direction of  the Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great. It was erected adjacent to the Chesme Palace; between St Petersburg and Pushkin, to commemorate the anniversary of Russia’s 1770 victory over Turkish forces in the Aegean, Chesme Bay.

The Church and Chesme Palace were the earliest Neo-Gothic constructions in the St Petersburg area. Considered by some to be St Petersburg’s single most impressive church, it is a rare example of very early Gothic Revival influence in Russian church architecture.

You have to love the pink and white candy-like appearance of this building. Nothing else around like it!

And a late lunch for my last day in St Petersburg, on the 9th floor of the Kempinski Hotel, @ BelleVue Brasserie. In an 1853 mansion along the Moika River, this upscale hotel is a 6-minute walk from the State Hermitage Museum and has a 360-degree view of the city.

The spectacular panoramas of historical St. Petersburg with its beautiful landmarks, such as the Palace Square, the Hermitage Museum,  St Issac’s Cathedral, and the Church on Spilled Blood. 

I had the Kamchatka crab salad (with salmon caviar, daikon radish, aioli and wakame dressing),  the restaurant’s signature dish, was pleasant, but in my view, not worth the 2900 roubles ($64 AUS). Kamchatka is a remote peninsula in eastern Russia, by the Bering Sea. These crabs can grow to up to 1.8metre (leg span) and are a real delicacy.

I not really a sweet fan (creme brulee; panna cotta and lemon meringue tart excepted). But I was really hanging out to try the “L’Hermitage” dessert, inspired by the splendid architecture and in honour of the Hermitage’s 250 anniversary, but the Chef is trying out a new menu at present. Curses!  

Just have a look at this dessert image of the past…whitened exquisite dark choc forms a perfect sphere full of hidden treasures – a fluffy panna cotta; raspberry jelly and a tiny layer of biscuit and honey mousse; nestled on a spire of fresh raspberries. AHHH!