The City
St.Petersburg is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. It was founded in 1703 when Peter the Great decided to move the Russian capital there, and chose to base the layout and the architecture on European cities he had spent time in. The city straddles the Neva River, and is criss-crossed by canals. It has the feel of may European imperial cities I have visited, with huge stately public buildings that were once palaces, and gracious parks that were once private backyards.
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| I saw a lot of wedding photos being taken while I was in St.Petersburg. |
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| The Singer Building. The bottom floor is a huge book store. |
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| Nevsky Prospect, a busy commercial street |
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| Kazan Cathedral |
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| St.Isaac's Cathedral |
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| A meat store and a pet store side by side. Hmmm... |
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| I thought it was funny to see Mr.Bean in a Russian park. |
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| Tauride Gardens |
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| Smolny Cathedral |
Of course, St.Petersburg has a very different history from most European cities. Those gorgeous old buildings and parks were once desecrated and left to ruin by the Soviets. In the decades after perestroika, a lot of money has been poured into restoring these places to their former glory, some private, and some government funding.
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| The Summer Garden |
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| At the end of the canal you can see the fantastic Church on the Spilled Blood. |
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| The view from the breakfast room at my hotel. |
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| Palace Square (facing the Hermitage) |
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