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Once a desolate swamp, Russia's imperial capital is today a dazzling metropolis whose sheer grandeur never fails to amaze.City of the Tsars
Built
from nothing by westward-looking Peter the Great, St Petersburg was
from its inception to be a display of imperial Russia’s growing status
in the world. Fine-tuned by Peter’s successors, who employed a host of
European 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, a status it has retained despite the capital moving back to Moscow
following the revolution. Despite all that history has thrown at it, St
Petersburg still feels every bit the imperial capital, a city largely
frozen in time.
Venice of the North
Whether
you’re cruising the elegant canals, crossing one of the 342 bridges in
the city, or just watching them being raised over the mighty Neva River
at night to allow 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: any wander in the
historic centre will reveal canals lined by Italianate mansions and
broken up by striking plazas adorned with baroque and neoclassical
palaces.White Nights
The
city’s White Nights are legendary: those long summer evenings when the
northern sun barely dips below the horizon. Revelry begins in May, when
spring finally comes to the city and parks are filled with flowering
trees, and peaks in mid-June, when the sky doesn’t get dark, festivals
pack out concert halls and the entire city seems to be partying over the
brief but glorious summer. But don’t worry – even when the skies are
grey and the ground covered in snow, St Petersburg’s rich culture still
dazzles and delights.
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 collection of
Russian art in the world. Add to this world-class ballet and opera at
the Mariinsky Theatre,
classical concerts at the Shostakovich Philharmonia and a slew of
big-name music festivals over the summer months, and you won’t be stuck
for cultural nourishment. If contemporary art is more your thing,
there’s also the fantastic Erarta Museum, showcasing the best in modern
Russian art, and a small but buzzing gallery scene.
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