| St. Petersburg is Russia's second largest city after Moscow with over 4 million inhabitants, and Europe's largest city after Istanbul, London and Moscow. St. Petersburg is Europe's major cultural centre, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It welcomes thousands of visitors every year. Saint Petersburg is home to the world's biggest museum – the Hermitage. Having been Russia's cultural and political centre for two centuries, the city is at times called in Russia the Northern Capital. For centuries, it has also been referred to as 'the Venice of the North'.
Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to enjoy the magnificent view of the city of rivers and canals is to take a boat ride. More than 70 canals and rivers make their way through the city, with about 400 bridges crossing them. The unique appearance of the 'Venice of the North' is created by the looming images of the bridges, the grandeur of the rivers and canals, the granite embankments with their slipways and piers, the Eighteenth and nineteenth century palaces and parks on the banks of the Neva and the canals, domes and spires of cathedrals and churches, which can be seen from a long way off.
You can also explore the city in a vehicle, accompanied by a qualified guide. You will take a complete tour of Saint Petersburg most renowned sights - beginning with the neo-classical grandeur of St. Isaac's Cathedral, geometry of Palace Square, visiting the oldest structure of St. Petersburg - the Peter and Paul Fort and the Cathedral - the burial hurdle of the Romanovs.
Every tourist to the city should visit the Hermitage Museum. These days, the Hermitage has about 2.7 million museum exhibits and displays a full selection of world art. It includes masterworks by noted painters. The collection is immense and well worth seeing. It has been calculated that if you decide to spend only one minute in front of each exhibit, you will have to stay in the Hermitage museum for eleven years, but on the tour you have the chance to see all the great masterworks of the world's art in several hours, being guided by a professional guide.
There is far more to see in this fantastic city. |
