Saint Petersburg: Russias Biggest Beauty

By Oleg Kiriyanov

Contributing writer

``The Venice of the North,'' ``The Russian window to Europe,'' ``The Best Masterpiece of Peter the Great,'' ``The City of Museums, Bridges and Theatres,'' ``The City of all Russian Revolutions,'' ``The Russian Cultural Capital.'' ― Saint Petersburg has a lot of unofficial names.

Considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it is quite young compared to other European cities _ Saint Petersburg was founded in 1703. Its existence and the name itself (Petersburg means ``the city of Peter'') can be completely attributed to Tsar Peter the Great who managed in battles with Swedes to obtain access to the Baltic Sea which the Russian empire needed so badly in the 17th century.

While Saint Petersburg was originally built as a fortress, the city soon became a kind of personal obsession of Peter the Great who, inspired by the views of Venice and Amsterdam, decided to build one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Peter restricted construction of stone buildings in all of Russia outside of Saint Petersburg, so that all stonemasons would come to help build the new city. Dozens of the best Western European and Russian architects, engineers and other experts were invited to show their talents while creating the city.

That worked ― the city that appeared in a very short period of time became a real masterpiece and at the same time is considered to be the most European of all Russian cities. That is why one famous Russian poet called it ``the Russian window to Europe.'' Actually Russian-style churches there sometimes look out of place among buildings which allow you to track all trends of European architecture from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Tourists who come to Saint Petersburg agree that Peter and those tsars who followed him succeeded in creating something special and unique. The whole historic center of Saint Petersburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While walking along the streets of the city, you never stop admiring the beauty of Saint Petersburg and finally fall in love with its very special atmosphere.

Saint Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than 200 years (1712-1728 and 1732-1918) ― a fact that citizens of the city never fail to tell you. That is why even now when the capital is Moscow, the Russians usually say ``our two capitals,'' referring to Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

While the political capital is now Moscow, probably all Russians agree that the cultural capital is still Saint Petersburg. Besides its special atmosphere known as the ``Spirit of Petersburg,'' the city has about 300 museums, dozens of splendid cathedrals, churches, monuments and theatres.

Among all the museums, the Winter Palace or Hermitage Museum should be especially mentioned. It is an enormous museum of art, history and culture. The collection includes paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and many other artists, as well as historical and cultural objects from many countries. By the way the famous Mariinskiy (former Kirov) Ballet is also from the ``Venice of the North.''

Talking about the Saint Petersburg, it is difficult not to mention the water. Saint Petersburg is built on what originally were more than 100 islands created by a maze of rivers, creeks, canals, gulfs, lakes, ponds and other water that flows into the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the Neva River. The famous drawbridges above the river are one of the symbols of the city.

Despite the city's comparatively short history ― 304 years ― Saint Petersburg has a very dynamic, rich and sometimes tragic political history. All three Russian revolutions (one in 1905 and two in 1917), including the one that heralded the creation of the first socialist country, happened in Saint Petersburg. During World War II, the city was surrounded and besieged by German troops for 29 months from Sept. 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. A secret instruction from Sept. 23 in 1941 said: ``the Fuhrer is determined to eliminate the city of Petersburg from the face of earth.''

The city suffered severe destruction ― the German army fired about 150,000 shells at Saint Petersburg and the German air force dropped about 100,000 bombs but they never managed to enter the city. As a result of the Nazi siege, about 1.2 million of three million civilians lost their lives because of bombardment, starvation, infections and stress. For the heroic resistance of the city and tenacity of the survivors of the Nazi Siege, the city was the first city in the former Soviet Union awarded the title Hero City in 1945.

Such a turbulent history of Saint Petersburg is well reflected in its names. The city changed its official names three times. Since the day of its foundation till the start of the World War I (1703-1914) it was Saint Petersburg. Then from 1914 till 1924 it became Petrograd (also ``the city of Peter'' but in Russian) for the reason that Petersburg is a German name while Russia at the time fought against Germany. In 1924 when Lenin died, the city was renamed as Leningrad ― meaning ``The City of Lenin.'' In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, most citizens voted in favor of regaining the original historic name of the city ― Saint Petersburg. Probably a fair decision as the city itself was created by the Peter the Great.

Nowadays Saint Petersburg is one of the most favored destinations for tourists ― both Russians and foreigners. Due to improving economic situation in Russia, the government spends a lot of money to preserve the historic beauty of the city, making it better and better.

If someday you visit Russia, be sure to go to Saint Petersburg. You will never be sorry about that decision and upon leaving the city, you will be completely charmed by its special spirit. To receive 100 percent satisfaction, it is advisable to visit Saint Petersburg during the most romantic period ― the so-called ``white nights'' (from mid-May till the end of June). It is so bright at that time that even at night you can read a book without using artificial light.