St Petersburg – Russia's Most European City

 

St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, has a population of 5.3 million people. Having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, it is, culturally, historically and architecturally, the most European city in Russia, sometimes called the northern Venice for its 342 bridges over canals and rivers. It's a northern city, actually, at the same latitude as southern Alaska. It is situated on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city’s roads are in great shape. It also has sandy beaches.

Many Russians come here to get education. There are some great universities here. There are so many theaters here; the Mariinsky Theater, a historic theater of opera and ballet, opened here in 1860. There’s this park called Field of Mars, a vast expanse of green, where you can sit on the grass with your friends. There’s a toll road where you'll be going for 46 kilometers above the Gulf of Finland with a perfect view of the city. Did you know that the tallest skyscraper in Russia and in the whole of Europe is located in St. Petersburg? Yes; it's called the Lacta Center.

When it comes to public transportation, the subway is what you want to focus on. The St. Petersburg subway was opened in 1955. The city with the longest tram line globally now also has regular buses and electric buses, and recently, they've added car-sharing options with toll roads free and plenty of parking for you all over the city.

You can go on a night boat trip along the Neva and watch the drawbridges open and close. There is a great choice of restaurants, from Japanese to Georgian cuisines. In wintertime, this whole place becomes a huge skating rink. Of course, St. Petersburg is famous for its white nights, which last from June to early July, the busiest time when it comes to St. Petersburg tourism. There are three golf fields around St. Petersburg.

The main avenue of the city is Nevsky Prospekt. It's a 4.5-kilometer-long avenue lined with historic landmarks and magnificent architecture. One awesome building on Nevsky Avenue is the Kazan Cathedral. You can see the Church of the Savior on spilled blood St. Petersburg sitting on the banks of the Griboyedov canal directed toward the site where political opposition fatally wounded Emperor Alexander II in March 1881. Many people see the resemblance of the Savior on the spilled blood with Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. It's topped with colorful onion domes just like in Moscow. To the right of the Admiralty building is the city center and city palace square included in the Unesco World Heritage Sites, which has witnessed many epoch-making events.

The Imperial Winter Palace is gargantuan. Part of the Winter Palace is the Hermitage Museum, the second largest art museum in the world, founded in 1764. Then, there is a beautiful building called St. Isaac's Cathedral, now a museum and observation deck. Kunz Camera is a museum of anthropology and ethnography, with architectural collections from Russia and worldwide.

Author Name Sarang Chari