St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea and was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27 1703 and was the Imperial capital of Russia.  It is Russia’s second largest city after Moscow with almost 5 million inhabitants.  Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and also an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.

St. Petersburg is situated on the middle taiga lowlands along the shores of the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, and islands of the river delta are covered mostly by parks.  A period from mid-May to mid-July when twilight may last all night, it is called the white nights. We partied all through the nights at very hip spots with very smoking hot chicks.

Dude wow we paartied

Saint Petersburg is often described as the most Western city of Russia and the Venice of the north beacaue of its canal network. The Palace Bridge drawn at night is yet another symbol of the city. Arden and I below

Every night during the navigation period from April to November, 22 bridges across the Neva and main canals are drawn to let ships pass in and out of the Baltic Sea according to a schedule. It wasn’t until 2004 that the first high bridge across the Neva, which doesn’t need to be drawn, Big Obukhovsky Bridge, was opened. There are hundreds of smaller bridges in Saint Petersburg spanning across numerous canals and distributaries of the Neva,. Due to the intricate web of canals, Saint Petersburg is often called Venice of the North. The River Neva flows through much of the centre of the city. the Spit of Vasilievsky Island, center – River Neva,

Shot with our Oligarph frineds above

Peter and Paul Fortress and Trinity Bridge,Palace Embankment with the Winter Palace

Saint Petersburg is the northernmost City in the world with a population of over one million. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is also home to The Hermitage below

The Hermitage is one of the largest art museums in the world.  A large number of foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and other businesses are located in Saint Petersburg.

The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia; a number of Swedish prisoners of war were also involved in some years under the supervision of Alexander Menshikov. Tens of thousands of serfs died building the city

Among the most prominent neoclassical architects in Saint Petersburg are New Holland Arch, Catholic Church of St. Catherine), (Marble Palace), (Old Hermitage, Chesme Church), Hermitage Theatre, Yusupov Palace), Kazan Cathedral), (Yelagin Palace, Mikhailovsky Palace,

(Moscow Triumphal Gate, Trinity Cathedral), and (Saint Isaac’s Cathedral below.

 

 

St Isacs above.

During World War II, St Persburg was besieged by German forces. The Siege of St Petersburg  was one of the longest, most destructive, and most lethal sieges of a major city in modern history. It isolated the city from most supplies except those provided through the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga, and more than a million civilians died, mainly from starvation. Many others were eventually evacuated or escaped by themselves, so the city became largely depopulated.

The  Metro underground rapid transit system, designed before the war, opened in 1955 with its first eight stations decorated with marble and bronze.

There are about 8,000 architectural monuments in Petersburg. Below is inside the Hermitage,

The golden-domed Saint Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the Saint Petersburg skyline

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral above.

Hotel Astoria, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World and the bar “W” is where we partied.

The city assembly meets in the Mariinsky Palace. We went to the Mariinsky for a ballet.

The ensemble of Peter and Paul Fortress with the Peter and Paul Cathedral takes a dominant position on Zayachy Island along the right bank of the River Neva. Each noon a cannon fires a blank shot from the fortress.

Many notable landmarks are situated to the west and south of the Admiralty Building, including the Trinity Cathedral, Mariinsky Palace, Hotel Astoria below. Hotel Astoria below

Wine and dine and party at the Astoria and “W”

Other famous buildings are: Mariinsky Theatre, New Holland Island, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, the largest in the city, and Senate Square, also known as Decemberist’s Square with the Bronze Horseman, 18th century equestrian monument to Peter the Great, which is considered among the city’s most recognisable symbols.

Catherine Palace  below

Catherine Palace above.

Southern suburbs of the city feature former imperial residences, including Petergof, with majestic fountain cascades and parks below

Petergof Palace above.

Otehr palaces are: Tsarskoe Selo, with the baroque Catherine Palace and the neoclassical Alexander Palace, and Pavlovsk, which contains a domed palace of Emperor Paul and one of the largest English-style parks in Europe.

Saint Petersburg is home to more than two hundred museums, many of them hosted in historic buildings.

Ballet performances occupy a special place in the cultural life of Saint Petersburg. The Petersburg School of Ballet is deservedly named as one of the best in the world. Contemporary Petersburg ballet is made up not only of traditional Russian classical school, but also ballets by those like Boris Eifman’s, who expanded the scope of strict classical Russian ballet to almost unimaginable limits.

 

The main auditorium of the Mariinsky TheaterAmong the city’s more than fifty theaters is the world-famous Mariinsky Theater),

The Mariinsky Ballet company and opera above. Leading ballet dancers, such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Rudolph Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Galina Ulanova and Natalia Makarova, were principal stars of the Mariinsky ballet. We saw the Nut Cracker and we also saw an opera preformance accross the street another night below.

They were both out of this world.

 

The White Nights Festival in Saint Petersburg is famous for spectacular fireworks and massive show celebrating the end of school year.