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Trek’s Seventh Generation Madone Blends Radical Design and Performance

Trek's new Madone is made to go fast and win races.

Takeaway: A pure-bred road race bike designed to win at the WorldTour level. With its latest Madone, Trek ditches the IsoSpeed decoupler for the new lighter weight, more aerodynamic, and visually radical IsoFlow seatmast.

• Drops weight and gains efficiency.
• Proven geometry remains unchanged from the gen-6 model.
• Flared bars for reduced drag.
• Three SRAM and three Shimano build kit offerings.

Trek Madone SLR 9 eTap Gen 7

Trek’s Madone is an iconic bike. First launched in 2003, the Madone has evolved massively over the past two decades. The platform’s most significant technological leap came about in 2014 when Trek debuted the Emonda, its dedicated lightweight bike. The Emonda freed the Madone from having to strictly be a light bike, allowing aerodynamics to become its primary focus.

To deal with the notoriously stiff and uncomfortable ride of early aero bikes, Trek’s engineers incorporated an IsoSpeed decoupler, similar to the one used on the brand’s Domane endurance bike. With IsoSpeed, the bike’s seat tube moved independently from the top tube and seat stays, allowing it to absorb road chatter and small bumps. The resulting sixth-generation Madone was incredibly fast against the wind while also receiving praise for its ride quality. But the downside was the added weight.

With the new seventh-generation Madone, Trek set an ambitious goal of reducing weight without sacrificing the comfort and aerodynamic properties of the old bike. The most obvious place to shed grams was the IsoSpeed system, now replaced by the visually striking IsoFlow.

According to Trek, function drove IsoFlow’s development. Aided by computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Trek sought to overhaul the entire aerodynamic package of the Madone. The result was a new generation of Trek’s Kammtail tube shapes, including a smoother head tube, a down tube better optimized for use with and without bottles, a taller bottom bracket area, and the radically designed seat tube.

The new Madone is bold and will not be mistaken for any other bike. But it definitely won’t please riders who prefer a more traditional aesthetic. Trek deserves props for pushing the design language of a bicycle forward. Though its looks won't please everyone, I’m happy to see something other than a cookie-cutter, dropped-stays, aero-ish, all-around-er that seems so popular amongst bike designers.

The new seat mast set-up is well-designed, offering easy and consistent height adjustment. But the best detail was in the seat clamp, which allowed for fore and aft adjustment independent of saddle tilt. It’s a small detail that makes setting up the bike much easier, as it allows for minor saddle angle tweaks while leaving it clamped in place.

These changes account for roughly half of the aerodynamic improvements of the new bike. Trek claims that the new Madone saves riders 19 watts of pedaling energy at 28 mph, but just half of that savings (9.3 watts) is from improvements to the frame. The remaining watt savings come from changes to the rider position due to the new flared handlebar design. The Madone SLR handlebar measures a traditional width in the drops, but the bar's flare positions the hoods inward by 30mm. This narrower hood location puts the rider in a more aerodynamic position when riding, thus saving watts.

Thankfully for riders that are particular about their contact points, Trek made the new bike compatible with standard 1-⅛” stems so riders can set up their cockpit however they like. However, changing to this would give up a large chunk of the Madone’s claimed aero benefits unless riders choose a narrower-than-normal bar width.

More importantly for pro riders and weight weenies alike, the new frameset is now two-thirds of a pound lighter than its predecessor. Our 56cm test bike came in at 16.2 pounds which is pretty svelt for an aero bike with 51cm deep clincher wheels and disc brakes. A big part of the weight saving comes from the new IsoFlow design. The cantilevered design of the seat tube and IsoFlow allows for engineered flex in the new Madone. This design is how Trek maintains the Madone’s celebrated ride quality.

Trek stuck to its H1.5 geometry as used on the previous generation Madone. It conceived this as a meeting point between Trek’s old racing-focused H1 geometry and its more relaxed H2 angles. The wheelbase on our 56cm bike was only 983mm, nearly a centimeter shorter than the Specialized Tarmac SL7 and Giant’s TCR, and 13 mm shorter than Canyons Ultimate. Combined with a relatively steep 73.5-degree head tube angle and a 58mm trail figure, you get a bike that will dive into corners as hard as you’re willing to push it.

Pricing and Build Options

There is no getting around the fact that as the top-of-the-line road racing bike from Trek, the Madone is not cheap. The move to electronic-only groups on all builds of the Madone does the price no favors as well. While equivalent new models of the Madone only get $200 more expensive for 2023. The entry-level build for the 2023 Madone SLR 6 (with Shimano 105 Di2) comes in at $8,000. That is a $1,100 increase over the 2021 Madone SLR 6 equipped with mechanical-shifting Shimano Ultegra. Top-of-the-range Dura-Ace and Red eTap builds retail for $12,750 and $13,200, respectively.

Trek offers the new Madone in six builds, three with SRAM (Red, Force, and Rival eTap) and three with Shimano (Dura-Ace, Ultegra, and 105 Di2). All of the Madone builds ship with the new integrated cockpit; Dura-Ace and Red-equipped Madones ship with Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 wheels, while all other builds get the slightly heavier Aeolus Pro 51.

Ride Impressions

The new Madone has an exceptionally smooth ride, lacking the characteristically dead and harsh feel of past aero bikes. But the mellow ride is not without an edge. The Madone does an exceptional job of balancing all-day comfort with the agility and aggression needed to be a top-tier race bike. Under sharp accelerations, especially at speeds under 25 mph, the Madone felt impressively stiff. But accelerations from the high 20s into 30+mph territory felt a bit more muted, which is not inherently a bad trait. A twitchy bike is not helpful when you’re going that fast.

Once the Madone is up to speed, it just wants to stay there. I was impressed with how quickly and easily the bike would get rolling up to 20-22 miles per hour. Combined with the gentle ride quality, it felt like the new Madone would constantly surprise me with how fast I was going. The sensation of speed on this bike is almost sneaky, you get used to what 25mph feels like on a road bike, but on the Madone, the same pace feels calmer and less frantic, at least in a straight line. Throw the Madone into a corner, and it instantly feels sharp and aggressive.

As a racer, I very much enjoyed the Madone’s willingness to corner aggressively, but it did expose one of the bike's faults. The 25mm tires shipped on our test biker are simply too narrow. Trek claims that the Madone can fit tires up to 28mm, but this feels short-sighted. Wheel brands such as Reserve, Enve, and Zipp now design around a 28mm tire as the default width. There is plenty of space in the frame for wider tires, so Trek is likely very conservative in its stock tire choice and maximum tire width recommendation.

Even riding the stock 25mm tires with pressures as low as 65 psi front and 75 psi rear, the narrow rubber still felt like it was missing grip, with the back end stepping out multiple times when exiting a corner. It was also discouraging that a road bike selling for over thirteen thousand dollars does not ship with tubeless compatible tires or the proper bits to easily set up the Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 wheels as tubeless.

Another thing missing from the bike was a computer mount. Usually, it is not something I would expect a brand to include, but the bars require a Trek-specific part. Given the complete bike’s price tag and Trek’s integrated cockpit, it should come with a computer mount. I sourced a Blendr mount from my local Trek store, but it was not without its issues (it rattled loose during a training crit and fell off). It is possible to entirely avoid this proprietary part by using a standard 1-⅛” stem and handlebar but making this swap would involve cutting hydraulic houses and would not be cheap.

I was also pleased to see Trek continue using the T47 bottom bracket standard on this bike. A threaded bottom bracket shell is a win for mechanics everywhere. However, the latest Madone is now only compatible with electronic shifting. We can argue whether it's bike brands like Trek (releasing electronic-only high-end bikes) or component brands like SRAM and Shimano (no longer developing high-performance mechanical road groupsets) or if consumers are just voting with their dollars. But the result is that we are witnessing the death of mechanical shifting from high-end racing bikes. And that's a little bit sad.

Ultimately this Madone, like the versions that have come before, was conceived and designed to meet the needs of World Tour professionals. Everything about the bike, from how it rides, to how much it costs, reflects that niche design requirement. Aside from a small pool of professional racers, very few people will likely make the most of this bike’s capabilities. It’s analogous to the way most drivers will not benefit from driving a Formula One car. It’s a pure-bred race bike designed to win at the highest level. If that’s what you’re looking to do—or you just want to own a bike with that ability—then the Madone should be on your shortlist.

Test Editor Dan Chabanov got his start in cycling as a New York City bike messenger but quickly found his way into road and cyclocross racing, competing in professional cyclocross races from 2009 to 2019 and winning a Master’s National Championship title in 2018. Prior to joining Bicycling in 2021, Dan worked as part of the race organization for the Red Hook Crit, as a coach with EnduranceWERX, as well as a freelance writer and photographer. 

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The ultimate race bike Our fastest road race bike ever From a legacy of greatness comes a new standard of speed. Seven generations in the making, Madone SLR is our fastest and lightest Madone disc ever, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with a triple threat of unprecedented aerodynamics, exceptional ride quality, and lightweight design. This race-ready bike is complete with never-before-seen IsoFlow technology that gives you every advantage in speed and handling.

“Trek’s seventh generation Madone blends radical design and performance” What the world is saying about the all-new Madone

“A pure-bred race bike"

“Does an exceptional job of balancing all-day comfort with the agility and aggression needed to be a top-tier race bike.”

“Every inch an aero race bike”

"One of the most visually striking and competent aero bikes available today [...] more aero, less weight, less complication."

“It doesn’t just look damn fast; it is damn fast”

“Seems to crave speed […] and the handling remains responsive at high speeds without lacking in stability.”

“Phenomenally fast and provides one heck of a thrilling ride”

“Offers all the aero tweaks and outright performance without compromising on day-to-day ridability.”

A new standard of speed Now 60 seconds/hour faster* We set out to make Madone the fastest road bike in the world. Years of research and development informed every aerodynamic inch of the seventh generation Madone SLR to create a frame, cockpit, and rider position that’s a whopping 19 watts faster than ever before.* *Compared to previous generation at 45km/h

• Read the white paper
• see the bike

Nearly 300 grams lighter*  

60 seconds/hour faster*  .

Never-before-seen IsoFlow technology Brutal performance. Total comfort. All-new IsoFlow technology soaks up fatiguing bumps in the road so you can ride stronger longer. A race-focused evolution of IsoSpeed comfort, IsoFlow flexes over bumps for a smoother ride, improves aerodynamics, and shaves weight to save precious seconds in the saddle.

Unprecedented road bike aerodynamics The devil is in the details when it comes to heart-pounding, race-winning speed. Every element of the new Madone Gen 7 was expertly sculpted to create our most aerodynamic road race bike ever, including a new generation of Kammtail tube shapes, an aero-optimized cockpit, and all-new IsoFlow technology that smooths air as it moves over the bike and accelerates it through the frame for even more free speed.

Positioned for power Ergonomic and aerodynamic riding position An overhauled bar/stem with a shorter reach and hoods that are 3cm narrower than the drops move you into a more comfortable ergonomic riding position. This narrower hood position also greatly reduces rider drag for extra aerodynamic speed while maintaining control in the drops so you don’t lose power in explosive moments.

Lighter than ever New gram-shaving design A new lightweight design and our best and lightest OCLV Carbon make the seventh generation Madone our lightest Madone disc ever, shaving around 300 grams off the previous ultra-lightweight version.

Behind the bike Hear from Senior Design Engineer, Alex Bedinghaus, on the new Madone SLR.

Pure race pedigree Informed by the world’s best cyclists Madone SLR was rigorously tested with the men’s and women’s Trek-Segafredo race teams to create a completely redesigned bike that’s faster, lighter, and fit for the biggest events on the cycling calendar, including the Tour de France and the first-ever Tour de France Femmes.

The new Madone SL Gen 7 offers the same revolutionary road race technology as the the seventh generation Madone SLR at a more accessible price point, thanks to a 500 Series OCLV Carbon frame and a two-piece flared RSL handlebar and stem. It’s the ultimate race bike, now available to more riders than ever. Our fastest and lightest Madone SL ever

Nearly 300 grams lighter*  

54 seconds/hour faster*  .

*When compared to Madone SL Gen 6 at 45km/h 

Choose your Madone

Madone Gen 6

The original industry-disrupting superbike. -Adjustable top tube IsoSpeed for a smoother ride -Traditional non-flared two-piece bar + stem -Grand Tour-winning aero tube shaping -Madone performance at a better value

Madone Gen 7

Built on a legacy of superbikes, Madone Gen 7 is our fastest and lightest Madone disc ever. -Lightweight, never-before-seen IsoFlow compliance tech -Flared aero-optimized bar (one-piece bar/stem on SLR, two-piece bar + stem on SL) -All-new ultra-fast aero tube shaping -Faster and lighter

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Hermitage Daily Tour

Hermitage collection of xx century.

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• If Palace square is blocked the meeting point of FREE TOUR is changed to the INFO OFFICE; It is on the left from the Winter Palace --> If Palace square is blocked the meeting point of FREE TOUR is changed to the INFO OFFICE; It is on the left from the Winter Palace

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Best guides in the world. Knowledgeable, kind, funny with sense of humour. I’ve even some tip given.)))) Liked that tour because it differs a lot from a usual boooooring excursion with thousands of historical dates and facts.)))) Well composed and good considered tour. Had no time to be weary. Good job!!!)))

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I liked the free tour very much. my girlfriend & I didn’t have much money with us, so it was the best way to get acquainted with the city. A lot of pleasure for free!

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Perfect! Breathtaking! Enthusiastic and so good-looking guides:) For sure these guys know what they’re talking about. Informative and fun tours, a lot of information. Very friendly and very kind:) Highly recommend!!!

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Great taxi service, get a 72-hour non-visa congesture, welcome to the st. petersburg free tour, 10:45 am free tour price : absolutely free.

Great must-see introduction to St. Petersburg.

Our original Free Tour covers all the most sights of the city. Best and most popular city tour among travellers in SPb.

On this tour you’ll see:

• Winter Palace and Hermitage You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / melalouise,used under Creative Commons license
• Alexander Column You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Alexxx1979,used under Creative Commons license
• Nevsky Prospect You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by Wikimedia Commons / Sasha Krotov,used under Creative Commons license
• The Admiralty You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by Wikimedia Commons / Dezidor,used under Creative Commons license
• St. Isaac Cathedral You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Alexxx1979,used under Creative Commons license
• The monument to Peter the Great You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Retlaw Snellac,used under Creative Commons license
• The Stroganov Palace You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Alexxx1979,used under Creative Commons license
• Church of the Saviour on Blood You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / BBM Explorer,used under Creative Commons license
• Church of the Saviour on Blood You can see it at our Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Marc_Smith,used under Creative Commons license

See our other great daily tours

2 PM Hermitage Daily Tour Price : 2950 RUB

Be inspired by one of the most famous art museums in the world!

You’ll see one of the best known museums in the world which found its place in the former winter residence of Empress Catherine the Great. Its collection contains over 2.7 million exhibits including some of the world’s greatest works of art. Take a guided tour with us to see the best of Hermitage within 3 hours.

What will we see during the tour?

• Winter Palace and Hermitage Image by flickr / melalouise,used under Creative Commons license
• Hermitage Collage Images used under Creative Commons License.Copyrights: see bellow.
• Rembrandt. Danae Image by wikipedia / Yorck Project,used under Creative Commons license
• Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna Litta Image by wikipedia / Yorck Project,used under Creative Commons license

4:30 PM Hermitage collection of XX cent. Price : 2450 RUB

The Hermitage is one of the most famous museums in the world. Spread over several buildings lining the Neva River in St. Petersburg, this museum is way too large to see in just a few hours

• Alexander Column Meeting Point of our Hermitage collection of XX century and Petersburg Free Tour . Image by flickr / Alexxx1979,used under Creative Commons license
• Matisse. La Dance Image by wikipedia / Yorck Project,used under Creative Commons license
• Monet. Femme au jardin Image by wikipedia / Yorck Project,used under Creative Commons license
• Van Gogh. Thatched houses Image by wikipedia / Yorck Project,used under Creative Commons license

2 PM Petersburg Metro Tour Price: 1699 RUB

See one of the most beautiful metros in the world!

You will see these masterpieces of underground architecture Uprising Square, Avtovo, Kirov Plant, Admiralty and other astonishing stations.

• Ploshchad Vosstaniya Ploshchad Vosstaniya(Uprising Square) Station with bas-reliefs on the revolutionary events Image by Wikimedia Commons / A.Savin,used under Creative Commons license
• Avtovo Avtovo The true underground palace! Image by Wikimedia Commons / Florstein,used under Creative Commons license
• Mosaic on Avtovo station Image by Wikimedia Commons / Florstein,used under Creative Commons license
• Kirovskiy Zavod Kirovskiy Zavod(Kirov Plant) Station with bas-reliefs of the Soviet heavy industry Image by Wikimedia Commons / Florstein,used under Creative Commons license
• Admiralteyskaya (Admiralty) Admiralteyskaya (Admiralty) One of the deepest subway stations in the world! Image by Wikimedia Commons,used under Creative Commons license
• Admiralty, one of the deepest subway stations in the world Admiralteyskaya (Admiralty) One of the deepest subway stations in the world! Image by Wikimedia Commons,used under Creative Commons license

5 PM Communist Leningrad Price: 1699 RUB

Get to know the hidden pages of Soviet Leningrad history!

On our Communist Leningrad Tour you will see the KGB headquarters (called Big House by city dwellers), infamous Crosses Prisons and Peter & Paul Fortress, the Aurora Cruiser, which gave the signal for the start of the revolution, and many other most important sights of the Soviet era.

• Lenin Monument
• Big House (KGB Headquarters)
• Crosses Prison, infamous Soviet prison
• Aurora Cruiser, which gave the signal to start the revolution
• Peter & Paul Fortress, the main political prison of the city Image by flickr / Alexxx1979, used under Creative Commons license
• Solovetsky Stone, a monument to victims of repression
• Museum of Political History of Russia

8 PM Petersburg Off the Beaten Track Price: 1699 RUB

Discover the city off the beaten track!

You will learn curious facts, funny stories, myths and legends of one of the most beautiful cities in the world! See St. Petersburg as city dwellers see it.

• Fountain on the Malaya Sadovaya street, which originally is not the fountain.
• Typical city well-yard, one of unofficial symbols of St. Pete.
• The St. Michael Castle, the only castle belonging to Romanov’s family and inhabited by a ghost.
• Small monuments famous for making wishes come true.

00:20 AM Drawbridges Boat Tour Price: 2950 RUB

Take a romantic night trip along the canals with watching drawbridges!

You’ll be inspired with one of the most beautiful cities in the world at night and will see the famous St. Petersburg bridges rising their wings.

• The night river sites of the Neva Image by flickr / Salvatore.Freni, flickr / dobrych,used under Creative Commons license Image by flickr / James Orlov,used under Creative Commons license
• The ensemble of Vasilyevsky Island Image by flickr / ntsuleva,used under Creative Commons license
• Rising wings of Palace and Trinity Bridges Dvortsovy Most (Palace Bridge) Image by flickr / dgaripov,used under Creative Commons license
• The Peter & Paul Fortress beautifully illuminated at night Image by flickr / dobrych,used under Creative Commons license

Petersburg City Pass Price : 5950 RUB/4950 RUB

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Petersburg City Pass for 4 of our daily tours just for 110 EUR 90 EUR.

What tours can I visit with Petersburg City Pass?

• Communist Leningrad Tour
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Story of cities #8: St Petersburg – is the 'city built on bones' starting to crumble?

Built on a swamp at the cost of thousands of lives, Peter the Great’s ‘antidote to Moscow’ has survived uprisings, sieges and floods to become Europe’s third largest city. But is history now catching up with St Petersburg?

On 16 May 1703, while looking over sparse marshlands near the mouth of the Baltic Sea that he had taken from the Swedes, Tsar Peter the Great cut two strips of turf from Hare’s Island on the Neva river, laid them in a cross and declared: “Let there be a city here.” As he spoke, an eagle appeared overhead in an auspicious omen.

Or at least that’s the myth of St Petersburg’s founding. In reality, Peter the Great wasn’t even there, and most likely neither was the eagle. It was a group of soldiers under the command of his friend, General Alexander Menshikov, who began building what would become the Peter and Paul Fortress on Hare’s Island in May 1703. The tsar only arrived the following month.

But although untrue, this myth perfectly encapsulates the origins of St Petersburg. Built on an inhospitable swamp at the cost of thousands of lives, it was brought into being through the iron will of Peter, who needed a warm-water port and a fortress against the Swedes. Moreover, it was to be his “window to Europe”: a new capital where Peter’s western-inspired reforms of the military, bureaucracy and national culture would take hold.

St Petersburg survived its adverse beginnings and then a revolution, a catastrophic siege in the second world war and seven decades of communist rule, to become the third largest city in Europe. Now, however, it faces the twin challenge of preserving its past while solving quality-of-life problems to ensure its future.

“It’s the classic question of how to preserve and develop at the same time,” says Svyatoslav Murunov, an urbanist based in the city. “The historic centre of St Petersburg is mummified. It’s not developing and it’s even deteriorating; it has viruses like commercial advertising and high-rise construction that ruin the view.”

The establishment of St Petersburg is a story that has been both celebrated and deplored in Russia, with history books trumpeting the achievement while authors lament its unnatural and bloody creation. Fyodor Dostoyevsky called it the “most abstract and premeditated city in the whole world”, and national poet Alexander Pushkin both eulogised and condemned it in his famous work The Bronze Horseman , which describes the disastrous flood of 1824 and the bronze statue of Peter that stands on Senate Square.

Starting with the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress, Peter dragooned thousands of conscripts, convicts and prisoners of war to erect the city from scratch in a place where snow can fall as early as September and as late as May. Tree trunks had to be sunk into the swampy ground before it could support structures.

Living in ramshackle quarters and working with inadequate tools – often digging by hand and carrying the dirt in the front of their shirts – these involuntary labourers died in their thousands, carried off by disease or frequent flooding. As a result, St Petersburg became known as the “city built on bones”.

Antidote to the chaos of Moscow

Peter had got the idea for his reforms and his new capital during his travels through Europe, when he worked for a time in a shipbuilding yard in Amsterdam. Wanting his new city to be similarly based around the sea, he initially forbade bridges, even though a variety of officials and even his own physician died while navigating the treacherous Neva in small boats.

The city plan was based on Amsterdam’s, with straight prospects radiating outward from a centre – in this case, the Admiralty shipyard – and criss-crossed by canals. Peter’s system of artificial canals on Vasilyevsky Island silted up and were eventually made into roads, but the numerous channels on the southern side of the Neva became major aquatic arteries after the city centre was moved there. These canals, now hemmed in by stone embankments, have given the city its nickname: “the Venice of the North”.

Seeking an antidote to Moscow’s chaotic, organic construction, Peter laid down three main rules for his fledgling city: buildings must be constructed next to each other with their faces along a “red line”; streets must be straight, not curved; and everything must be built of stone.

Foreign architects including the German Andreas Schlüter and the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini were instrumental in developing the city’s layout, and its distinctively grandiose “Petrine Baroque” architecture. It is this style of building, with its white columns, arched windows and pastel-coloured walls (typically begrimed by the harsh climate) that gives the city much of its atmosphere of picturesque decay.

“[Peter’s] main task was to make Petersburg a real city, because Russian cities at that point where just a pile of buildings, naturally grown,” says the architect Daniyar Yusupov. “Schlüter made a grid city so that a courtyard was within each building – except that there were cows, sheds and other very non-urban things in the courtyards at that time.”

Just as the northern city’s dark and dismal winters give way to its glorious White Nights , when daylight is interrupted by only few hours of twilight, those difficult early days gave way to a flowering of a new state and cultural institutions. In 1712, Peter officially moved Russia’s capital to St Petersburg, and the country’s great aristocratic families soon followed with their own palaces – especially after the emperor banned building in stone everywhere but there.

Perhaps no building better represented the extravagant lifestyles of the new capital and its western-inspired cultural boom than the palace of Russia’s richest family , the Sheremetevs, which is locally known as the Fountain House. Built in the 1740s with a baroque yellow-and-white facade, the inside of the mansion was adorned with European furnishings and works by artists including Raphael, Van Dyck and Rembrandt.

It became a centre of high society, hosting lavish dinners and balls, not to mention concerts, plays and operas performed by the Sheremetevs’ serfs (bonded peasants). The family trained hundreds of them as artists, craftsmen and performers each year, and its theatrical troupe was the foremost in the nation.

Alongside the luxury of the imperial court and nobles’ palaces, however, the working classes laboured in poverty – a situation that spiralled out of control around the turn of the 20th century, as industrialisation drew ever more peasants to the capital to work in factories. This time also saw the appearance of the narrow, oddly shaped “well courtyards” that St Petersburg is famous for, as developers tried to squeeze in low-income apartments behind more expensive street-view flats.

According to Alexander Karpov, an urban planning expert and advisor to the St Petersburg legislature, the “urban planning mistake” of chaotic new construction was a direct cause of the October Revolution in 1917 , when Bolshevik forces captured the Winter Palace and established the world’s first socialist state. “The city couldn’t create conditions of life for the huge crowd of people, and they weren’t able to adapt socially or economically,” Karpov says. “These people made up the critical mass that then exploded.”

Urban planning mistakes continue to plague the city to this day, albeit with less momentous consequences. During the Soviet era, the main change to the city’s landscape, as in most parts of the USSR, was the widespread construction of “micro-districts” : huge standardised blocks of identical flats for 10,000-20,000 people constructed around vital infrastructure, penetrated only by small service roads.

As a result, most residents live in a vast band of “sleeper” neighbourhoods and have to travel through the “grey zone” of under-utilised factories to reach their jobs in the centre, leading to congestion in the underground and on the streets. St Petersburg once had more than 400 miles of tram lines , the largest such network in the world – but many of these have been torn up since the Soviet breakup.

“The density and connectivity of the street network needs to be raised, not in the centre but in the manufacturing belt,” says Karpov. “They’re building the underground very slowly; it’s an embarrassing tempo. Lines for buses, trolleybus and trams would be simpler, but these aren’t being built.”

Meanwhile, the downtown has its own problems, even though the entire historic centre is a Unesco world heritage site . According to the architectural preservation group Lively City, 10 to 15 historic buildings are lost each year, ruined in bad-faith renovations or simply torn down to make way for new-builds. Although St Petersburg passed a law in 2009 protecting “objects of cultural heritage” in the centre, owners can get around this and tear down buildings if they can prove them to be hazardous.

“Buildings are sometimes saved but often it’s a long war, unfortunately,” says Natalya Sivokhina, a Lively City activist. “We protect a building but then they try again to destroy it, or they disfigure it. When we achieve something, usually some business or lobby or interested officials are involved, and it’s hard to get a final victory.”

The authorities have even been found to be complicit in prohibited demolitions. In February, a district court ruled that the city’s preservation committee illegally allowed an investor to tear down the top floor and one wing of an 18th-century mansion on Glinka Street last year, planning to make it into a hotel. The building was once the home of the great admiral Nikolai Mordvinov and is protected as a monument of regional significance.

But the bete noir of local activists is the Lakhta Centre , a new headquarters for the state gas champion Gazprom that is planned to be the tallest building in Europe upon completion in 2018 – in a city with no other skyscrapers. Originally located directly across the Neva river from the governor’s office, the project was moved to the north-west outskirts after a public outcry .

Many activists still see this as a defeat, since the Gazprom tower will nonetheless alter the skyline that is visible from the promenades that line every river and canal. The “panorama” is greatly treasured in St Petersburg: the city’s layout, in both the imperial- and Soviet-era districts, includes many astoundingly long lines of sight. Standing on the highway at Pulkovo airport on the southern edge of the city, it is possible to see the spire of the cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress, more than 10 miles away.

“The whole city is built on these themes,” Karpov says. “It’s one of the ways to reflect the imperial concept … The greatness was visible in this concept, in these great orientation points. And this is very deeply rooted. It’s what makes up the genetic code of the city.”

According to local historian and author Lev Lurye, St Petersburg has more than 15,000 buildings that date back before 1914 – and most of them need to be renovated. A city programme to do repair work has moved agonisingly slowly, and flats in historic buildings generally sell for less due to their poor condition. “For sale” and “for rent” signs can often be spotted in windows even on Nevsky Prospect, the city’s main street.

“The factor of capitalisation is not right,” Yusupov says. “They can sell for lots of money just because it’s the city centre – but the quality and social infrastructure don’t match up.”

A smattering of projects have sprung up in recent years to utilise the many empty palaces, merchant houses and other structures downtown. Oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is bankrolling the ambitious redevelopment of New Holland , an island in the centre that currently holds brick naval facilities from the 18th century.

Other entrepreneurs have taken a more low-budget approach, starting cultural centres in old buildings such as the former Smolny bread factory, which now holds Loft Project Etagi : a makeshift honeycomb of gallery space, cafes, hipster stores and a hostel. Taking advantage of a cheap 11-month rental agreement and doing all repairs themselves, the administrators of Taiga Creative Space have transformed a mansion built in 1730 on the Neva embankment into office and retail space for creative-minded businesses, including a second-hand guitar store and a screenprinting studio. Coordinator Daria Kachavina says that many other languishing buildings could be put to similar use, were it not for the reluctance of property owners to rent for less than the market price.

“[Historic buildings] are empty because landlords have gotten used to certain standards. They can’t expand their horizons and think maybe they could rent cheaply to artistic people and then five years later give it to mid-level businesses,” she says.

Besides preserving its historic architecture, St Petersburg has also been slow to improve quality of life, and a controversial plan to reconstruct the city centre was recently cancelled. Lurye says that rather than a grandiose plan, the city simply needs more parks, more public transport and fewer fences between its intricate network of courtyards to encourage more foot traffic.

“The main problem of downtown is an absence of green space,” he says. “We are the least green city in Europe, among the big cities.”

One positive side-effect of the Gazprom tower protests was that they catalysed the formation of a civil society and residents’ involvement in urban planning politics. The ruling United Russia party, which dominates lawmaking bodies in most other regions, has only 20 out of 50 seats in the St Petersburg parliament, meaning the local government is more receptive to residents than in other places.

“We are number one in civil society activity, in terms of projects that are copied in other Russian cities, and these are volunteer projects,” says Krasimir Vransky, founder of the Beautiful Petersburg website and mobile app, which allows residents to file complaints to the city over local problems. Started after Vransky successfully complained about a store illegally selling alcohol in his courtyard, he says the group has solved 30,000 local problems and has now branched out into urban planning research.

Another activist group working to adapt the city for modern living is Velosipedizatsia (“bicyclisation”), which aims to reduce traffic gridlock and crowding on public transport by promoting bicycles – still a relatively infrequent sight on St Petersburg’s high granite sidewalks. Thanks to the group’s lobbying and promotional efforts, the city plans to create more than 20 miles of bicycle routes this year; the first three of 16 planned routes .

For Olga Mnishko, a coordinator at Velosipedizatsia, urban innovations such as bike paths are critical if St Petersburg’s population is to continue to grow and thrive amid Russia’s economic recession. “In Russia this isn’t understood, because in Russia there are two cities that are important: Moscow and St Petersburg,” she says.

“But in the future, I think there will be many cool cities, and if St Petersburg continues to just be a city-museum, no one will come here to live. The city was built in the 18th century – but now it’s the 21st century, and there are different demands being placed on it. We need new values so that people stay here, and don’t move to Copenhagen.”

Does your city have a little-known story that made a major impact on its development? Please share it in the comments below or on Twitter using #storyofcities

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The fountains of Peterhof

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One of the main distinguishing features of the Peterhof fountains is the original arrangement of a conduit. Unlike Versailles, this grandiose construction works without pumps and other water-pressure facilities. Water is supplied from numerous natural and artificial ponds, nourished by underground sources and springs.

The Grand cascade

At first, Peter I had planned the ponds of the Upper garden to be the water source for the Grand cascade and its fountains, but soon the tireless ruler, who personally investigated the area, found additional sources of water, which situated in the neighborhood of the future Peterhof Park. The nature of the terrain enabled the creation of a system of conduits, in which the water flowed by gravity from dozens of ponds, located above the Lower Park and the Upper garden.

Thus, all 4 cascades, and 191 Peterhof fountains (including the Grand cascade water cannons) are fed by ponds of Ropshinsky hills (which are located at a distance of 24 kilometres), as well as English, Meadow, Olgin and other ponds (18 ponds overall) and many streams and sources. All of these sources combine into a complex system of sluices and canals with total length of 40 kilometers. The most surprising fact is that the system of water pipelines constructed by the order of Peter I and with his personal participation operates to this day.

“The most notable of all the Peterhof fountains is spectacular and majestic Grand cascade”

The most notable of all the Peterhof fountains is spectacular and majestic Grand cascade. This gilded splendor includes 255 sculptures, bas reliefs and other architectural structures, as well as 64 fountains with 138 water jets soaring skyward. The focus of the entire composition is the famous gilded “Samson tearing the lion’s mouth”, and in the center of the cascade there is a Lower grotto with a viewing point decorated with golden sculptures and marble bas-reliefs.

Another cascade fountain, named Checkerboard hill, looks like a bright spot on green background. 20-meter speed checker board with two mysterious caves that are guarded by three dragons is sometimes also called the Cascade of dragons. On both sides of the construction there are staircases, decorated with sculptures of white marble. At the beginning of the World War II, the sculptures had been removed and hidden, while the cascade itself was completely destroyed by the Nazis.

The “Favorite” fountain

Like many years ago, the moving fountains are extremely popular among the visitors of Peterhof Park. These include the “Favorite” fountain, created in 1725. It depicts quacking ducks floating in a circle, and a little dog that unsuccessfully tries to catch them. It is a good sign if you lucky enough to throw your coin right at the duck’s back and if the coin remains there. So despite its modest size, park staff daily extracts a lot more coins from the “Favoirte” than from any other Peterhof fountain.

Today Peterhof is the most popular of all the Petersburg suburbs. Its palaces and fountains impress the most sophisticated travelers. Each of Peterhof fountains is a jewel in its unique and luxurious collection. If you want to find yourself in a dreamland, come to Peterhof and take a walk in its enchanting parks among fabulous fountains.