St. Petersburg

City	Distance, km
	by air	by sea	along highways
Moscow	610	-	664
London	2070	2258	3050*
Paris	2120	-	3070
Berlin	1310	-	2030
Helsinki	300	320	383
Vilnius	640	-	736
Riga	480	724	545
Tallinn	310	350	330

 

St. Petersburg, which celebrated its 300th anniversary 3 years ago, is Russia’s second-largest city (following Moscow). It has more than 5 million inhabitants.

 

St. Petersburg is the northernmost among the largest and the largest among the northernmost cities of the world. The 60th parallel on which the city lies also crosses Greenland, Alaska (Anchorage), Magadan and Oslo, the capital of Norway.

 

St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great to become the so-called “gateway to Europe”. The city was the capital of Russia for more than 200 years. It accumulated scientific and cultural assets of Russia and gave impetus to the development of close diplomatic and trading relations with Europe.

 

Immigrating to St. Petersburg in the 18th century quickly gained popularity in Europe. Thousands of professionals, attracted by high incomes and the possibility to realize their ambitions, came to build up the new state of Russia and its new capital. The city attracted some of the best western professionals and raised its own ones. It was in 1724, only 21 years after the foundation of the city, that St. Petersburg already had its own University!

 

Peter the Great and successive rulers did not spare resources on the formation of a new European city. Thus, St. Petersburg was developing rapidly.

 

 

According to UNESCO, St. Petersburg ranks among the ten cities of the world most attractive for tourists. Its magnificent architecture and the abundance of rivers and canals are the reason the city is often called “The Northern Venice”. If taking suburbs into account, there are 64 rivers, 48 canals, 170 km of embankments, about 100 islands and 800 bridges here.

 

 

In 1918 during the Civil War, which was caused by two successive revolutions of 1917, the government of the country was transferred to Moscow. St. Petersburg ceased being a capital.

 

During the following 70 years the city bore the name of the encourager of the revolution in Russia – Vladimir Lenin – and was called Leningrad.

 

In the modern history the city has suffered more than any other city of the world. During the Second World War Leningrad was besieged by fascist troops and was left without food reserves. 600 thousand people died of starvation during the 900 days of the Blockade.

Heroic past and unique culture create special atmosphere in the city and not a single city guest remains indifferent to it.

 

In 1990s Russia returned to democratic governmental traditions (the first Russian Parliament was established in St. Petersburg in 1906); so inhabitants of Leningrad returned the historic name to the city through popular vote.

 

 

You can witness changes happening in St. Petersburg.

 

 

 

 

 

The city has 221 museums, 2000 libraries, more than 80 theatres, 100 concert organizations, 45 galleries and exhibit halls, 62 cinema halls, 80 cultural and recreation centres, etc. More than 100 festivals and contests in various spheres of culture and art (including more than 50 international ones) are organized in the city annually.

 

The inimitable visage of the city is created by Peter and Paul Fortress, the Building of Twelve Colleges, the Smolny Cathedral, the Nikolsky cathedral, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Kazan Cathedral, the Winter Palace, the Buildings of Senate and Synod built by such outstanding architectures as Trezzini, Rastrelli, Rossi, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Stackensneider, Voronikhin and others. The city possesses some magnificent monuments to the state figures of Russia – the famous Bronze Horseman, monuments to Catherine II, Emperor Alexander I, great military leaders Mikhail Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly, Suvorov and many others.

 

The unforgettable image of St. Petersburg is also complimented by its country-side residences: palace and park complexes of Peterhof, Pavlovsk, Gatchina, Oranienbaum, Strelna, Tsarskoe Selo.

 

The State Hermitage and the Winter Palace. The acknowledged treasury of world art and one of the largest museums in the world. The museum was founded in 1764 and was based on the collection of Catherine II. The museum possesses 3 million exhibits including masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael, Rodin, Rembrandt, Rubens and French impressionists, the treasures of ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman sculpture and many more.

 

The State Russian Museum. The largest collection of Russian fine arts in the world. The museum possesses about 400 thousand exhibits. They include works of all leading schools and styles of Russian fine arts, all forms and genres from 10th till 20th century. The museum occupies 4 buildings located in the historic centre of St. Petersburg: the Stroganovsky and the Marble Palaces, St. Michael’s (Engineer) Castle, and the main museum building – the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing.

 

The State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. One of the largest historical museums in Russia devoted to the history of a city. The museum collection contains more than one million exhibits. The affiliates of the museum include Peter and Paul Fortress, Schlisselburg Fortress Oreshek, etc.

 

One of the most impressive cathedrals of the world is St. Isaac’s Cathedral. It is remarkable not only because of its unique architecture and construction technology, but also due to its interior design: it has 150 paintings, 62 mosaics and sculpture by Russian and Italian artists.

 

Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (The Church of the Savior on Blood). A historical monument devoted to the tragic events of the 1st of March, 1881, and the only remaining monument to Emperor Alexander II in St. Petersburg. The Cathedral is also famous for its splendor and abundance of decoration. The five domes are covered with jeweler's enamel. The bell tower is decorated with town and province arms of the Russian Empire.

 

Another sight which leaves a truly lasting impression is the complex of the Smolny Cathedral of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

 

One of the oldest architectural ensembles of St. Petersburg is the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. It was founded in 1710 on the spot near the Neva River, where, as the legend claims, one of the most important battles against the Swedish troops took place. Currently the Lavra is a functioning monastery of St. Petersburg Eparchy.

 

In the Petrogradsky district there is the St. Petersburg Mosque – one of the largest in Europe. On the days of important religious holidays it is visited by more than 5000 believers. The mosque is a functional Muslim church as well as an important religious and cultural center.

 

The Mariinsky Theatre. The symbol of Russian theatre art. The theater received its name after the wife of Alexander II. A solemn opening ceremony took place on October 2, 1860, and was followed by the famous Glinka’s opera “A Life for the Tsar”. The stage of the Mariinsky Theater has witnessed brilliant performance of such ballet and opera stars as E. Lavrovskaya, F. Chaliapin, M. Kshesinskaya, A. Pavlova, T. Karsavina, V. Nezhinsky, M. Fokin, G. Ulanova. Today the art director of the theatre is one of the world’s best conductors – Valery Gergiev.

 

Further St. Petersburg links:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg

 

Петербург также известен проивзодством палаток, здесь делают палатки туристические, походные и любые другие. Многие из них не уступают лучшим мировым образцам. Самые интересные объекты Петербурга занесены в gps карты для навигаторов международных марок. Практически все навигаторы содержат карты Петербурга.