Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Welcome to St Petersburg
Built on a swamp, the imperial capital is today a dazzling metro-
polis whose sheer grandeur never fails to amaze.
City of the Tsars
Built from nothing by westward-looking Peter the Great, St Petersburg was to be from
its inception a display of imperial Russia's growing status in the world. Fine-tuned by
Peter's successors, who employed a host of Italian architects to add fabulous palaces
and cathedrals to the city's layout, St Petersburg grew to be the Romanovs' showcase
capital and Russia's first great, modern city. You can walk through the incredible gil-
ded results today, just as the tsars would have done. Despite all that history has thrown
at it, St Petersburg still feels every bit an imperial capital, a city largely frozen in time.
Venice of the North
Whether you're crossing one of the 342 bridges in the city, cruising the elegant canals
or watching the bridges over the mighty Neva River rise at night to allow the ships to
pass through, you're never far from water in St Petersburg, which has earned the city
unsurprising comparisons to Venice. The similarities don't stop there, though: wander
the historic centre to see the canals lined by Italianate mansions and broken up by vast
plazas adorned with baroque and neoclassical palaces.
Artistic Powerhouse
St Petersburg is an almost unrivalled treasure trove of art and culture. You can spend
days in the Hermitage, seeing everything from Egyptian mummies to Picassos, while
the Russian Museum, spread over four sumptuous palaces, is perhaps the best collec-
tion of Russian art in the world. Add to this world-class ballet and opera at the Mariin-
sky Theatre, classical concerts at the Shostakovich Philharmonia and a slew of big-
name music festivals over summer, and you won't be stuck for cultural nourishment.
