Petersburg is a mystical city filled with terrible legends. Offhand, many will remember only the legend of the gloomy Copper Horseman, and even then only based on the work of Pushkin. But the “Egyptian guests” also contributed to the mystical component of St. Petersburg.

In the Egyptian hall of the Hermitage there is a statue of the goddess of war Sekhmet, a sitting woman with the head of a lioness. Sekhmet is a cruel goddess of war and the scorching sun. The museum staff whispers that on a full moon, a puddle of blood appears and disappears on her stone knees.