St Petersburg Travel Guide: General information

St.-Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities of the world, is a treasury of outstanding architectural monuments, museums, churches and cathedrals. The city on Neva, played a significant role in domestic history, during two centuries was the main city of Russian empire. And today it name Northern capital. Based in 1703 as " a window to the Europe ", St.-Petersburg also developed as the most European city of Russia. Alongside with Russian architects and engineers it was built up with foreigners. As a result St.-Petersburg has received unusual shape on beauty in which samples of Russian traditional architecture are combined with West-European art. The city contains many cultural heritages including the Hermitage, the Mariinsky Theatre, and the Russian Museum. The most famous inhabitants of this city are Dostoyevski, Pushkin, Tschajkovski, and Tcherniavski.

The wide, fast-flowing River Neva, spanned by ornate bridges, divides this city of spectacular architecture. History seeps from every wall and the colours, scale and grandeur of the buildings seem almost too much to take in.

Peter the Great’s ‘window on Europe’, which saw the revolution that changed the world, is regaining its imperial splendour. At its historic heart are grand palaces, amazing museums and spectacular churches; music, art and literature are in its soul – and partying is a way of life.

Today St.-Petersburg is the popular center of tourism and the rest, involving more and more tourists from all world. Majestic bridges through Neva, cathedrals, the Neva prospect, the Hermitage, Russian museum - all this St.-Petersburg, the second-largest city of Russia. Petersburg often name " Northern Venice ", " cultural capital of Russia ", " city of the white nights ", " city of secrets ". It is no wonder, that at Petersburg it is so much names: for three centuries it became the large center.
St Petersburg captivates with its baroque palaces and pastel-painted neo-classical façades, wide boulevards, bridges and curving canals. The 5km long main street, Nevsky Prospekt, packs cafés and upmarket shopping between its palaces; on the Neva embankment,The Winter Palace, with 1057 rooms and 117 staircases, is just one of six magnificent buildings that make up The State Hermitage museum.
Across the Neva, Vasilevsky Island has the university, lively bars and good restaurants. The newly-trendy Petrograd side is where the city began; around fashionable Petrogradsky Island are a clutch of green islands where locals relax at weekends. From May to November, major bridges rise in the early hours to allow ships to pass through.