Facts about St Petersburg
St. Petersburg
The city of St. Petersburg is relatively young if judged by Russian or European standards. Founded in 1703, St. Petersburg has just celebrated its 300th anniversary. But despite being a young city it has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Great's "Paradise" and "Northern Venice" to the 1991 coup d'etat this city has been full of life.
Climate
Summers at St.Petersburg (at the head of the Gulf of Finland) are a little cooler than those inland and further east. The whole area has a summer maximum of precipitation. Hours of sunshine are rather low in winter over the whole region and average only an hour or two a day but in summer this rises to between eight and ten hours. In summer the increasing day length in the north is important for both warmth and sunshine.
Museums and places of interest
Admiralty
was the first Russian shipyard on the Baltic Sea. It was founded in St. Petersburg in 1704. In the first quarter of the Russian architect Andreyan Zakharov. The gilded spire of the 1782 Admiralty is crowned by the ship-weather-cock that has became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.
Hermitage
is one of the largest museums in the world. Most of its collection is stationed in the building of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Over 3 million exhibits are collected in the Hermitage, representing culture and art of various epochs and peoples. Almost 300 halls of the museum are shared by the Departments of the Primitive Culture, Classical Antiquity, Oriental Art, Numismatics, Jewelry etc. Among the art treasures of the museum, the collection of the West-European art numbering about 600 thousand exhibits, one of the best in the world.
Bronze Horseman
is a monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg(sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet). The monument was unveiled on August 7, 1782, to the centenary of Tsar Peter's accession to the throne.
Mariinsky theater of opera and ballet
The world-renowned theater, known during Soviet times as the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater, resumed its original name in 1992. The present building dates back to 1859, when an earlier theater was remodeled and got its name - the Mariinsky. During the pre-revolutionary years the theater was constantly under royal patronage. Fiodor Shaliapin sang on its stage and among the most prominent dancers were Vatslav Nizhinsky, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Anna Pavlova and many others.
PETERHOF
The world-famous palace, fountain and park ensemble of Peterhof is an outstanding landmark of Russian artistic culture of the 18-19th centuries. Founded in the very beginning of the eighteenth century by Emperor Peter the Great not far from his new northern capital St Petersburg, Peterhof was intended to become the most splendid official royal summer residence.
Peter and Paul fortress
When Peter the Great re-claimed the lands along the Neva River from Sweden in 1703, he decided to build a fort to protect the area from possible attack by the Swedish army and navy. The fortress was founded on a small island in the Neva delta on May 27, 1703 (May 16 according to the old calendar) and that day became the birthday of the city of St Petersburg. The Swedes were defeated before the fortress was even completed. For that reason, from 1721 onwards the fortress housed part of the city's garrison and rather notoriously served as a high security political jail. Among the first inmates was Peter's own rebellious son Alexei. Later, the list of famous residents included Dostoyevsky, Gorkiy, Trotsky and Lenin's older brother, Alexander. Parts of the former jail are now open to the public.
St. Isaac's Cathedral
St. Isaac's Cathedral was once the main church of St. Petersburg and the largest church of Russia. It was built in 1818-58 by a French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, who was commissioned to build the most spectacular church - a prime landmark of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is smaller than a newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it has by far more inspirational facades and interiors.
Tsarskoye selo
Tsarskoye Selo (formerly known as Pushkin) is one of St. Petersburg's numerous Imperial estates. Located just 25 kilometers south of the city, the estate boasts a large landscape park, dotted with architectural follies, and centered on the magnificent blue, white and gold Catherine Palace. Named after its creator, Empress Catherine, the second wife of Peter the Great, the original palace was built between 1717 and 1723 by the architect Braunstein. The palace was expanded later in the century and given a new, richly decorated Baroque facade by the architect Francesco Bartholomeo Rastrelli. The Catherine Palace houses some beautiful Baroque interiors, including the luxurious Grand Hall, a long, gold, mirrored ballroom. The Palace also boasts a unique Amber Room, whose priceless amber panels were stolen by Nazi troops during WWII, but which is now being painstakingly recreated by Russian craftsmen.
