Orthodoxy is a traditional religion of the Russians. Protestantism is among the historically oldest denominations in Saint-Petersburg along with Orthodoxy. The first Evangelical-Lutheran community of Apostle Peter appeared in 1703. The Dutch and the Germans were the first Protestants in Saint-Petersburg; later, there were the Finns, Swedes, Estonians and others. Services were conducted in the English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian and Russian languages. Nowadays only a few churches belong to the state and function as city’s museums. After the revolution of 1917, many churches were either demolished or converted into civil institutions.

Since 1988, the millennium anniversary of the baptism of Russia, more and more churches have been used for their direct purpose. Today St. Petersburg numbers over 250 denominations and religious associations, among them there are more than 130 associations of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2 parishes of the Armenian Church, 7 parishes of the Roman-Catholic Church, 19 associations of the Evangelical- Lutheran Church etc