Saint Petersburg - Celebrating the 310th Birthday The Venice of the North, St. Petersburg, is celebrating its 310th anniversary on May 27, 2013.   This summer is the best time to visit St. Petersburg in a decade. The city has gone through a large scale renovation, so that it looks shinier than ever for this special event. Just imagine all of its palaces, cathedrals and awe-inspiring old houses looking exactly the way they were 310 years ago. Plus, a new stage at the Mariinsky Theater has just been opened. All in all, this summer is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the the Venice of the North in all its Imperial Galore! A city of canals and cathedrals, palaces and terraces, St. Petersburg is unmatched in its splendor. Centered upon the banks of the River Neva, it is the northernmost of the great cities of Russia, teaming with over 4 million inhabitants. Its lavish palaces, lush parks, hundreds of bridges, and world-class museums make it one of the top 10 travel destinations in the world.   Travel All Russia story: An interview about 300-year anniversary of St. Petersburg. Read here

Since Peter the Great moved the seat of his young empire from Moscow to the shores of the Baltic Sea, St. Petersburg has been recognized internationally as a crown jewel of capitals. Its architects and planners drew from the majesty of Europe's most breathtaking sites, taking inspiration from the canals of Venice, the Palace of Versailles, the cathedrals of Rome, the streets of Amsterdam, and imbued it all with the aura of Vienna. These aspects have joined together to create a city of unspeakable perfection.

In the heart of the city stands the Winter Palace. Its front faces Palace Square with its looming Alexander Column, a monolith of Finnish red granite erected to celebrate the victory of Tsar Alexander I over Napoleon Bonaparte. To the rear of the palace, itself a monument to “the might and power of Imperial Russia,” is the Palace Embankment on the Neva. Just across the river stands the Peter and Paul Fortress, with its crenelated walls designed to hold the guns that would defend the city from water attacks.


A relatively small portion of the Winter Palace houses the world-famous Hermitage Museum, the largest collection of Russian art in the world. The Hermitage originated as the private art collection of Catherine the Great, with hundreds of paintings now displayed in the Palace's halls. Indeed, many of these halls are works of art themselves.

Saint Petersburg Rating of Top Tourist Attractions in Saint Petersburg Hermitage Peterhof Scarlet Sails Catherine's Palace Usupov Palace Saint Isaak's Cathedral Savior on Blood Cathedral Nevsky prospect The drawing bridges The State Russian Museum Museum of Political History Mariinsky Theater Mikhailovsky Theater Best hotels in Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg's Firebird Hotels Best time to visit Saint Petersburg: May through September

Another famous sight, not far from the Winter Palace, is St. Isaac's Cathedral. The largest Orthodox cathedral in the world, it was built in a severe classic Roman style (strongly favored by Tsar Alexander I) over the span of 40 years. When it was completed in 1848, the main dome rivaled that of the Pantheon of Paris and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and as with these other great domed structures, it served as the inspiration for today’s dome on the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. (completed in 1866). The cathedral’s cupolas are decorated with 100 kilograms of pure gold.

A few blocks from the Palace Square, along the Griboedov Canal, stands what appears to be something of an answer to Moscow’s Cathedral of St. Vasily, the Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood. Its name came from the murder of Tsar Alexander II by terrorists. Despite his efforts to reform and liberalize Russia, Alexander was attacked by three anarchists carrying bombs, the second of which succeeded in killing him. The church was erected by his son, Tsar Alexander III, on the assassination site, just a short walk from the bustling thoroughfare of Nevsky Prospect.

The city center contains a number of beautiful sights to see, but the outskirts contain just as many wonders, the most visited being perhaps that of Tsarskoe Selo. After evicting the Swedes from the area, Tsar Peter the Great gave over to his loyal friend Alexander Menshikov the old manor of Sarishoff. Menshikov constructed there a great palace, which he in turn gave over to Peter’s wife, Catherine I, whose rise from a childhood as an orphaned Polish peasant to Empress of Russia is said to have been a story as great as that of the rise of her husband. The resulting ornate Catherine Palace and beautiful Catherine Park, located in the fairy tale Tsarskoe Selo, or Tsar’s Village, in the suburb of Pushkin, are named for her.

Also at Tsarskoe Selo is the Alexander Palace, built for Tsar Alexander I. It had served as the favorite retreat for many of the great imperial leaders of Russia, including Catherine II the Great and Nicholas II. Its post-Imperial history was a bit more varied, having served as the headquarters for the Nazi German siege of Leningrad, and then an abandoned relic, an “enhancement” to the surrounding Alexander Park. Although still under restoration, it today serves as a museum dedicated to the final days of Tsarist rule in Russia.

There are a number of other beautiful palaces built on the Baltic Sea coast, including Oranienbaum (another of Menshikov’s creations) and Peter the Great’s most famous imperial residence, Peterhof. The latter was at first to serve merely as a gateway for the Tsar for trips proposed into Europe - the harbor of St. Petersburg was yet to be developed, and ships were obliged to anchor off Kotlin Island, today’s Kronstadt, located within sight of the landing area. Later, he created a summer palace at this location that he called “Monplaisir,” or “My Pleasure.” This palace was later decorated with gardens and fountains, the greatest of which was the Grand Cascade. By the time it was finished by Catherine the Great, it had been transformed into what is generally regarded today as “the Russian Versailles.”



St. Petersburg, or “Peter” as it is often shortened, is glorious in the summer, particularly when the White Nights (the nightlong twilight that takes place for a few weeks on either side of the summer solstice) transforms the Neva embankments into one of the world’s longest outdoor parties, but it is also a beautiful winter destination. Indeed, it is said that no one celebrates the Day of the October Revolution, held on November 7, like the people of this city, and of course the city is the backdrop to the classic film “Ironia Sudby” (“The Irony of Fate,” a film that is almost as much a New Year’s tradition as “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a Christmas tradition in the United States). The best way to travel to St. Petersburg is with one of our package tours.

10  MUST-DO THINGS IN ST. PETERSBURG 1.  To watch the bridges across the Neva being drawn up at about 1 a.m. to allow navigation along the river. 2.  To visit the place where Emperor of Russia Alexander II was assassinated in the fatal 1881 year. 3.  To buy see cap and take a picture near gun on the deck of the legendary Russian naval cruiser Aurora. 4.  To explore fairy beautiful parks and palaces of St. Petersburg suburbs – Peterhof, Pushkin, Pavlovsk and      Gatchina. 5.  To attend Petrovsky stadium to shout for Alexandr Kerzhakov, a player of FC Zenit, scoring the winning goal. 6.  To visit Dostoevsky house and feel Gogol’s Crime and Punishment-nees everywhere while walking along the      Griboedov Canal. 7.  To enjoy Russian world-renowned opera by Modest Mussorgsky – “Khovanshchina” and to admire brilliant      performance of one of the foremost international conductors of our time - Valery Georgiev in the Maryinsky      Theatre. 8.  To visit Vyborg, a compact and walkable medieval town, 30 km from the Finnish border. 9.  To admire world famous artworks by Shagal, Petrov-Vodkin, Serov and Malevich in The State Russian Museum       or to get a brief taste of one of the richest art collections in the world displayed in The Hermitage Museum. 10.To climb 300 steps up the Colonnade of St. Isaac Cathedral to enjoy an amazing panorama of St. Petersburg.