St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg of the Russian Federation is a city of turbulent history and the keeper of much Russian culture, art and architecture. Founded 300 years ago by Peter the Great as a port city on the Baltic Sea, the city was the seat of the tsars until Nicolas II was dethroned in 1917.

Located in the northwest corner of Russia bordering on Finland, several hundred miles northwest of Moscow, St. Petersburg is a traveler's delight, famous for its summertime White Nights, its famous old city section, beautiful buildings on the banks of the Neva River, and its many churches, museums, gardens, theaters and activities. St. Petersburg is home to the State Hermitage Museum, the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theater, Isaac's Cathedral, and the palace of Peter the Great. The city host's annual art exhibits and music and film festivals, including the Viva Russian Cinema festival.

Nevsky Prospekt is the main thoroughfare that runs through the heart of the city and is also the area of most interest to tourists, with palaces, gardens, churches and museums in the vicinity.

St. Petersburg's most renowned novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky in perhaps his greatest novel "The Brothers Karamazov" wrote about three brothers who represent three worlds: the intellectual, the spiritual, and the sensual. And no matter which world you more closely identify with, we believe that modern St. Petersburg offers a fascinating juxtaposition of all these worlds, which will make your stay here a unique and memorable one.

Whether you are walking along one of the Venice of the North's many picturesque canals or the wide Neva River during a dreamy white night, taking in the world-renowned ballet at the Mariinsky Theater on a magical winter evening, enjoying an early autumn afternoon in one the city's outstanding suburban parks, or delighting in the world-class art collection at the Hermitage Museum, you are sure to appreciate the unique beauty and rich culture of the city on the Neva.

The Venice of the North boasts over 500 bridges ranging from the very narrow pedestrian Lions and Bank chain bridges to the unique medieval and modern styled Bolshoi Okhtinsky Bridge and the giant drawbridges, which span the wide Neva River.

The former center of a vast and diverse empire, St Petersburg is home to hundreds of different churches representing many denominations and faiths, though we believe that it is probably most famous for its collection of Russian Orthodox cathedrals.

The cultural capital of Russia is adorned with scores of historic and impressive monuments ranging from "Three Horsemen" monuments, which are said to guard the city to the Triumphal Arches, which act as a gateway into the city.

St. Petersburg is often referred to as the "Gorod Muzei" and locals take great pride in preserving the city and country's great heritage in scores of museums ranging from the massive Russian Museum to the extensive Russian Ethnographic Museum.