Lots of mysteries and legends are associated with St Petersburg sphinxes. As a legend says one of the wondrous sphinxes has got secret signs under his paw, deciphering which you can find treasures. The other legend says that sphinxes smile in the morning, in the evening on the contrary, they look scaring and if you look at them you can go crazy. In fact, under their paws instead of treasures you can find autographs of tourists. The story of their coming to St Petersburg is very interesting as well. Russian scientist Andrew Muraviev went on a pilgrimage to the Holy places. In Alexandria he saw sphinxes, brought for sale by some British man. The ancient sculptures made a great impression on him. Muraviev advised the Russian Ambassador to buy sphinxes for Russia. The letter was sent personally to the Emperor. While making out all the papers, the British businessman sold the sphinxes to France. But in July 1830 a revolution began in France and they decided not to bring sphinxes to Paris. In the end, they came to St. Petersburg in 1834 and took their place at the University embankment. Where were these sphinxes before their departure from Egypt? What secrets do they keep? The temple in Luxor, where they were located, was founded by Pharaoh Amenhotep III 3500 years ago. It was he who was guarded by the sphinxes, settled in St. Petersburg. The face of St. Petersburg Sphinx is a portrait of Amenhotep III and probably once they guarded his tomb. Book tour with us and you will solve the mystery of sphinxes!