Petersburg City- Venice of the North

Added: 12/28/2005

Saint Petersburg, formally known as Petrograd and Leningrad is a city that is located in Northwestern Russia. It was established by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703 and served as the capital of Russia until 1918. As of 2002, the city contains more than 4.7 people living there, ranking as the second largest city in Russia and the fourth largest city in Europe. It is also known as an important European cultural center and the major Baltic Sea port in the Russian Federation.

Today's grand appearance of Petersburg City was achieved by a number of architectural details, like decorative sculptures, monuments, boulevards, parks, and gardens. The city's majesty is created by the Neva River with its many canals and bridges. It was the river that gave the city its nickname "Venice of the North." The position of the city puts it close to the Artic Circle. This causes twilight known as the white lights that lasts from May to July. The center of Petersburg City sometimes known as the Museum of Classicism claims to be the first listed among the World Heritage Sites of Unesco.

Petersburg City is famous for its palaces and churches. One of the first constructions was the Summer Palace that was designed for Peter I in the summer garden. The Winter Palace that now is home to the Heritage Museum is seen as the most magnificent of the imperial palaces. It was designed by the architect Bartholomew Rastrelli. He also designed the Stroganov Palace, the Vorontsov Palace, and the Anichkov Palace, which acts now as a wax museum, a military school, and a children's palace respectively. Erected for Emperor Paul in 1798, St. Michael's Castle is to be the foremost of neoclassical palaces. Not far from it is the Tauride Palace of Prince Potemkin, a seat of the first Russian parliament. Neoclassical style is also represented in the Marble palace, the Yuspov Palace, the Razumovsky Palace, the Yelgin Palace, and the Shuvalov Palace.

The largest church in St. Petersburg City is St. Isaac's Cathedral that was constructed 40 years ago by architect Auguste de Montferrand. Kazan Cathedral built during the period of 1801-1811 was based on the model of St. Peter's Vatican. The most popular is the Church of the savoir on Blood, which was built in the Russian style to commemorate Alexander the Second's assassination. The symbol of the city is the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which is mostly a museum. Made out of baroque structures, the most famous are the Smolny Cathedral, the Naval Cathedral, St. Sampson's Cathedral, St Andrews Cathedral, and St. Pantaleon Church. There are also many neoclassical churches that include: St. Valdimir's Cathedral, The Transfiguration and the Trinity Cathedrals, and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

St. Petersburg has also two small churches that were built in the Gothic Revival style. They are named St. John the Baptist and the Chesmenskaya churches that were both designed by Yury Velten. The most prominent symbol of the city is the statue of Peter the Great, which is located in the Senate Square. The Palace Square is famous for the unique Alexander Column, the tallest column of its kind in the world. Among the public monuments in St. Petersburg City are the statues of Catherine the Second and Alexander the Third, horse statues of the Anichkov Bridge and the Tercentenary Monument. St. Petersburg is home to many Russian and international politicians, aristocrats, scientists, and artists. These include the composers: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky, and novelists Vladimir Nabokov and Fyodor Dostoevsky. There are also painters Kazimir Malevich and James McNeil Whistler.

Most of the buildings are unique to St. Petersburg City only. The tours to St. Petersburg are extremely popular among tourists worldwide.

Rate this article:

Bad

Good

Article comments:

No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!

Return to top of the page